Who is not familiar with the shot from the hip, shaky and noisy photos of various dishes, with which Facebook users, Instagram-Poser and Twitter Users let the world in on your "enjoyment" part. This is also different: We show you how to photograph food and how to edit food photos in Photoshop and Lightroom so that the viewer all the water runs together in mouth.

In the Smartphone era is footage of food besides cat pictures and photos of feet on the beach, probably one of the most common motifs. The Problem here is that Many Amateur photographers do not create it, your food really appetite to scan stimulating. Light and angle of view not often agree on, even the food is decorated, often very careless, and often quite banal in art, scanned light from a lot to a great distance.

Tips how to make really good food photos 

It is not always easy to shoot great pictures of a court. Some basic rules should be followed. We will show how to do it with these 10 tips for Food photography with beautiful results.

1. Preparation

In the design of food photography subjects there are no clear rules which you must observe. Important in the preparation of Food pictures is the planning. You should make in advance thoughts on the image design. Test different utensils to see what is in harmony with each other. In any case, always a couple of test photos to shoot before you start with the right recordings.

2. Polishing and cleaning

If you want to take good Food photos with a camera and it needs to be cleaned. As in any other photography genre, it is so important that no fingerprints are seen. And full messy plate edges or crumbs look unappetizing. Therefore, it is essential that you make before and during the shots, everything is nice and clean. Of course you can having to retouch unwanted stripes in hindsight – but this requires a lot of work. Of course, intentionally, a few crumbs can be arranged. This gives the image a more natural look.

3. Background & Shooting Angle

Another tip is the color. In the case of very bright subjects, you should choose a simple Background. Depending on what mood to convey the image, you can vary the color. A brown Background with white plate appears to be rather down-to-earth. A colored Background looks more "woken up" and black is usually elegant. With White, it is almost always right. But also here: Less is more.

It is not so easy, the perfect angle of the photos in advance. In the case of Food photography, although there are no clear rules to which you must hold with respect to the recording angle. A: liquids, such as, for example, a glass of lemonade, you need to always be mapped. This should also be in the nature taken into account. We are referring here to the sea, lakes or rivers.

4. Supporting items

If a small cherry tomato is added to the tomato soup, this is called a "supporting object". It becomes clear that it must be a tomato soup. One automatically associates that the tomatoes are also contained in the soup. Chopsticks are served with Asian dishes. A chocolate cake can also be presented with a well draped chocolate. There are countless ways to get a court in the right light.

5. Figure

Especially in the case of delicate subjects, such as finger food, you can make a full-surface recording. Food on the other hand, look less spectacular, should only be part of the photo. You leave the court with sufficient space to develop. Here, less is more!

6. Golden Ratio

The Golden ratio States that you should not place the main subject in the center of the image. It can be calculated. However, this is at the Food photography is not as important. You should be aware that the photographic object is easily scanned offset.

7. Less decoration is more

Also when decorating, Less is more. It is reduced the decoration to the bare minimum: "It should never be forgotten, that in the case of Food photography, the decorative drum the food is the Star." The decoration should therefore be used only to accentuate, in order to obtain later a more vivid photo.

8. Image history

In General, you look at an image from left to right. It comes through our reading habit. But if you have a particularly salient object in the image, e.g. a red tomato in the Background, then the eye goes immediately to this "eye-catcher". Therefore, you should note this in the image design.

9. Exposure of the courts

The best food photography is to succeed in the light of day. Also additional light sources are not necessary. It is still too dark, are neon lights a good way. If you can't take pictures in the daylight, and should illuminate the court as well as possible. Because when using flash you should note that directly flashed objects often seem very cold and simple-minded. A tripod allows longer exposure time, there is nothing blurred.

10. Depth of field

The sharpness is something for experts. A bit of Practice you should bring. The depth of field is limited by the photographer as tight as it goes. As a result, the main subject looks sharp; the Background is out of focus. Something you should remember: The sharper the Background, the smaller the aperture opening will be. The Background so out of focus, should be enlarged on the aperture.

11. Make the right perspective

As with all photographs, the perspective has, of course, also Food-photos a huge impact on the effect of the picture: "in Principle, the high courts, a birthday cake will be photographed more of the page, shallow dishes such as a soup rather from the top". However, everyone should try for themselves which perspective works best, nobody should set too much. One’s proposal: "Bend you around, climb a ladder, crawling on the floor playing with perspective!" Only in this way could individually be the perfect perspective for the photo is determined.

Basically have been with me three favorite prospects out:

1. The "Frog Perspective"

2. The oblique view at about 45°

3. and the view from the top

12. Make food photography retouching meaningfully

In spite of all the possibilities of digital post-processing, Photoshop artists cannot transform a failed photo into a good image, which is why you should not rely on a digital reworking from the outset: "Whoever is photographing food should therefore always work in such a way that no further post processing is required Can be ", advises the food blogger. "However, images can still be improved afterwards - regardless of whether exposure, color correction, contrast or sharpness." Therefore, it is recommended to use the RAW format.

13. An empty belly does not like to photograph

Last but not least, a quick guide to all those who want to start eating food right away: since it's about freshness, never should be cooked for the photo. Divide the dish into several portions and eat first of all so that you can take a full and relaxed picture, especially since the food in the picture is not necessarily warm. Important: Do not set the portion to be photographed until the photo session is complete. Especially sauces, dressings and decor should be admitted only when you actually start with the photos. 

With these 13 tips you can shoot beautiful food pictures. It is also possible to create a photo album or a cookbook.

How to make food photos with a Smartphone

Colorful donuts, juicy burgers and chocolate tarts, which you would like to bite at once: The social web from Instagram to Pinterest is flooded by seemingly spontaneously photographed food that lets the water flow in our mouths. We'll show you the best tricks as you do with a mobile camera great food photos for Instagram!

1. THE LIGHT IS DECISION

Who would have thought that the social web would make us all amateur food photographers? The flood of beautifully placed food on Instagram suggests that there are mostly secret professional photographers who spend the time between two cookbooks with appetizing photos at Pinterest and Instagram. In fact, it only takes a few less trivial tricks to make a comic-looking dessert #foodporn.

First: Check the light!

If you want to take a photo of their surprisingly successful dinner, just leave the flash off and watch that you find a large window with lots of light. Natural, indirect light is the most flattering for your self-baked tarte flambée. Lightning and incandescent bulbs give your subject hard shadows and unappetizing colors that are difficult to remove with In-App filters.

2. AVOID STRONG SUNSHINE

To strong sun light for the camera more difficult to photograph the subject and throws hard shadows, which can also be due to different positioning is bad avoid. 

Better to have a cloudy sky, the sun scatters light as a giant light diffuser for more natural colors, and little shadow education provides.

3. YOU ARE SHOOTING YOUR FOOD FROM ABOVE

Everyone has experienced this Situation once before, at dinner with friends someone with his cell phone said rebellion and loud: "Stop, not yet start, I'll make a photo!" - Collective eye twisting and unnerved sigh.

But the fact is that the bird's-eye view proves to be an excellent angle for successful Food-photos - like millions of #foodporn pictures on Instagram & Co.daily.

4. YOU GO CLOSE TO IT

If you can't find the angle at which the whole court in his environment looks good, but once you get close. Close-UPS give the viewer the feeling that he was live with it and make the sensory experience of great Food photos even more tangible.

5. PAY ATTENTION TO COMPOSITION

The Background is messy and distracts from the actual subject? Here is your choice subject to a successful color contrast or a harmonious color palette? Do you want to have a simple photo or a detail-rich image with props?

It's worth it, the Food Photography with accessories and various Behind - and to experiment. Food bloggers have a whole box full of Props, which are only meant for a dish even more photogenic. A wooden Board with interesting grain patterns, antique porcelain with different Patterns, old silver Cutlery and the inevitable marble slab.

6. TO EDIT YOUR PHOTO

You play with the food photography retouching function of your camera or image editing App; make your snapshot get the polished professional Look. 

You drag the exposure slider a little high, in order to make your photo brighter. For richer colors and better contrasts, you can haggle on the saturation, temperature and contrast. 

Tip: A lot of editors is a big Fan of the image editing App VSCO (iOS and Android), because we can post-process in this more accurate than in Instagram. VSCO brings a number of built-in filters; additional filter sets can be free downloaded.

Also you can make a retouching in Lightroom or Photoshop in your laptop; we tell you later how to edit food photos in Lightroom or how to enhance food photos in Photoshop. 

7. LIGHT TO MAKE THE TENT YOURSELF

If the natural light is not playing and you don't feel like a lot of money for a professional photo booth or a light excerpt tent, here we have a brilliant Ikea Hack for you: The very cheap Laundry bag Jäll from Ikea is ideal as a DIY light tent for Food bloggers and all, the need to photograph in any Form products.

Tilt the Jall Laundry basket on a leg-side, irradiating it from the outside with the lamps and put the tent may still be a Background in your new light ready - to-use DIY-photo booth with soft scattered light for beautiful photos.

Laundry basket Jall from Ikea

for 4 Euro

8. THE PRIVATE COOKING BOOK 

From its beautiful food photo can make recipes you are by the way excellent photo books. Here we show how easy to get a book for your own cooking. A Lot of fun!

How to edit food photos in Photoshop or Lightroom

What would we be without Photoshop? It is certainly not quick. And our pictures look a little fader. Because in spite of the equipment, we go over all of the images again with Lightroom over it, correct the colors, exposure, to cut out the images and provide you with the obligatory baking makes you happy-framework. And with Lightroom is extremely fixed. Lightroom builds its own image database and keeps track of every Change you can create virtual copies. We should also use food editing Photoshop tutorial to make our photos perfect. 

How to edit food photos in Lightroom: 7 tips for great blog pictures

With Lightroom, you can really get some from his photos. You can really let go in this program and direct photos in a certain direction. Dramatic, lovely or black and white - there are no limits. I'll give you some tips and tricks today and tell you what I care about food photography retouching.

1. File formats

I shoot my images in RAW and JPEG Format. That takes up more space on the memory card; however, you have in files in RAW Format a lot more editing to the game room and. A RAW file is uncompressed and loss is written to the memory card. Therefore is important also the size. Example: white balance and color tone settings are stored separately and can be changed in retrospect. They may incorrectly set the white balance in the image processing change. JPEG is not possible.

However, I have to say that I have the JPEG photos as editing also use like a basis. Although it is said that in losing photos in the JPEG Format at the quality, but when I look at my pictures so, I think you are already of a high quality. I think it always depends on the situation. You are shooting in perfect light with the right settings, and no longer have to rework much, enough, in my opinion, a photo in JPEG Format completely. But to be on the safe side, I take a photo in both formats.

2. Retouching and repair

In Lightroom, you can retouch. The area of repair you will find to the right of the crop tool, or press "Q". Here you can switch between the clone stamp and the repair mode. Thus, pimples or other blemishes can be quickly mended. You can even paint larger surfaces with the brush. These are then replaced by other, similar surfaces. I like to use when in the Background a little Disturbing.

3. Custom presets create and save

We come to my favorite part of the Lightroom image-editing. If you would like to bring your own style in your images, it is recommended to requirements. This not only saves a lot of editing time, but also simplifies, in my opinion, in General, the image-editing. On the left side, you have several presets for diverse occasions. When I edit new photos, I'll look first in the Navigator, which preset is the best fit. Then I'll take a few more subtleties, because most of the photos are not shot in the same lighting conditions and also the environment is constantly changing. If you don't know what style you want to convey or how to edit food photos in Lightroom, you can buy presets in Lightroom import.

4. Hue, saturation, and luminance

Here you can edit individual colors selectively. You can move the Sliders according to your mood and see the results instantly. I usually take the Red or Orange something out, and sometimes Green, when we are photographing under trees or in front of a Meadow. If you click the double circle to the left of the knobs, and then in the image to a specific area, you can change the range by dragging the color. 

5. The own image style

It is also very important to have your own post-processing style; you can make your blog and show your photos to people. More information and tips you can find there How to start a blog about fashion photography tips?

How to enhance food photos in Photoshop

Of a special treatment, with Photoshop only portraits not benefit. Also Food shots usually only after a solid basic retouching as well as color and contrast corrections are really good enough to eat. And the techniques of food editing Photoshop tutorial are similar even to those of Beauty body retouch

On photos in cookbooks, everything looks delicious.

Step 1: get rid of the Dirt

If you want to print your photo later, tall, fall, small errors such as fusels, dust, or pressure on, especially quickly uncomfortable. To remove this interference, the patch tool, the clone stamp or the healing brush. You zoom in close, and they work best on a layer copy.

Step 2: Smooth Surfaces

In order to conceal small irregularities that must be drawn in the skin of the peas is soft. Smooth surfaces look more aesthetic. You choose to do this, first avoid the inner area (the edges!) each pea with the Lasso tool. The selected area you will have to copy and then Ctrl+J to a new level.

Step 3: Blur

In order not to lose the Overview, you reduce all of the peas-copy-layers to a single layer. To Smooth the copied interiors, you can call the Filter > blur > Gaussian blur. Depending on the size of the image to apply the Filter with a Radius between 10 and 15 px.

Step 4: Friendly

Especially in the case of fruit and vegetables, which were photographed in front of a bright Background, it is important that the Arrangement is friendly. You bright your image is the best so far, that the Background is almost white (but not overexposed). For this purpose, an adjustment layer - > tone comes curves or > correction of the total value in question.

Compare the result before and after photo retouching. Now you see how to edit food photos in Photoshop, you can also create a digital retouching portfolio with high end retouching before after samples to track your progress in food photography retouching.

The top 10 food blogs in the world

Here, only the eye doesn’t eat, the hormones of happiness beat at the sight of the colorful and appetite-inducing images somersaults. After a stop at our digital sources of inspiration we can't wait to get there, the creations, and to serve our friends. Here is our 10 sources of inspiration are – as we find – best food blogs in the world:

1. Panaceas Pantry

The Australian sisters Keth and Jade have raised the bar of visual treats but high: With over 150,000 Instagram followers, you can give your vegan meals on the clock. The fact that in your family's health always was written and the Hobby of photography through the generations has been indulged, it seems that the equation “healthy recipes + hammer photos = successful food” to bloom blog.

2. Our Holistic Kitchen

Also in the land Down Under is home to: Anna and Bree have made it their vocation to create new recipes, to the profession and share their raw and vegan eye-catchers with the whole world. Main focus-less is repentance (because it is free of refined sugar) treats, such as homemade Snickers, Bounty bars or the lime-coconut ice-cream. 

3. Deliciously Ella

Ella the Queen is among the Food bloggers. The British announced their vegan and gluten-free recipes, including positive life energy, but not only online – in addition to the successful Internet presence Ella also sells books, an App, an online store and a Restaurant.

The entrepreneurial spirit seems to be the successful business woman from your well-to-do has inherited the family. The impetus starts a Food Blog, but with a rare disease that you get with healthy food.

4. Jessica Sepel

After Jessica Sepel from Sydney asked always as a Teenager, whether the meal is “thin or thick”, it presents the question today is, “if it'll make you happy”. And your Knowledge all about Feel Good Food, she shares with hundreds of thousands of people have also count the nose, full of laborious calories. Your brand JS Health is a holistic guide to health and happiness, therefore the headings “travel”, “Fitness” and “Beauty not to be missed” on the Website.

5. Yummyyummyyummy.food

Cute – cuter – yummyyummyyummy.food. A bit spirited when it comes to Food Blog by the Mexican Creative Director Michelle Tribouillier. It gives food, especially sweet temptations, a cute face, and makes it seemingly alive.

6. Nutrition Stripped

The Dietician McKel Hill has started a vegan, gluten – free and organic movement FOR more Balance and well-being, and AGAINST boring diet plans. As in the case of Deliciously Ella, a pressure (migraine and acne) was the reason to come up with a healthy diet deal – and to share the Knowledge with the Internet community. It offers not only delicious recipes and natural Beauty tips; it also reveals meticulous diet myths.

7. Dariadaria 

Granted, the Lifestyle Blog of the Viennese Madeleine Alizadeh presented on behalf of food blogs – however you can look with the category of “Food” on the plate boundary of the Alpine Republic. She is an advocate for animal rights and fair trade. According to these criteria, she cooks and keeps mindful Foodies on the last state of things.

8. foodstarz_official

These immaculately prepared dishes for both the adventurous as well as artistic are a true highlight of the food presentation. Clearly, sometimes the creations look more and more like a Terrarium than a meal, but with each new Post, You feel as if you look at just the finals of a cooking competition.

9. fooditsgood

On this Account the gluttony reigns; the chocolate and caramel which are dripping delicious monstrosities on many of the images leave no doubt. You've always wondered, where on Instagram all the sweet sins hide? You found it. Caution: Your heart coronary arteries strongly recommend to look at these photos of a treadmill.

10. food52

@food52 went as a platform for chefs at the start on you the recipes, tips and Tricks. On the Instagram presence of @food52, the accompanying photos are to be found and lead to immediate like. Sometimes the Account photo contests for its Users, but all Posts — whether by Amateurs or professionals, whether sweet or savory — organized you are the mouth-watering.

All these famous photographers use food editing Photoshop tutorial, because retouching is very important for professional photos. After reading this article you understand how to enhance food photos in Photoshop, it requires a special knowledge and a lot of time. Enough time to process photos has not every photographer. Many photographers, even the most famous use of the services of a professional high end portrait retouching, this applies not only to the post processing of food photos, and skin retouching online or jewelry retouching. More about that you can read in our blog for example: What jewellery retouching techniques are used to underline beauty of our treasures? Photo post processing takes place in several stages and at different levels to have a really high-quality photos and to pleas your customers, you have to be competent in retouching or use our service. Our retouchers have extensive experience in this field, and our main advantage is that we work with each client individually, while maintaining his personal style. Our photo retouching prices also will make you happy because they are not expensive, and meets all the techniques and the complexity of processing. All information you can find on our website. We hope for co-work and we wish you success in business.