Food Photography {With Styling Tips}

I’m sure most of you have ways you enjoy relieving stress. If I had to name my top 5 it would be: singing, listening to music, coffee with a friend,  decorating and photography. Let’s talk about that last one. I was looking for a photo recently, and looking through my Instagram feed, apparently I love food photography…ahem…especially dessert food photography! Dessert just looks prettier than a pork chop or steak when you throw in some flowers, or a cute home decor item, right? 😉

I thought I’d share of few of my favorites here on the blog, with a few styling tips for your social media posts at the end.

My kids have been wanting donuts lately. I was out early yesterday, so I decided to stop and get some. I know this is the first thing you do when you buy donuts. Ha!

 

One of my favorite things to bake (and eat) is gooey chocolate chip cookies. I can’t take credit for these, though. A friend of mind makes the BEST, and I haven’t been able to convince her to give me the recipe! Rude, huh? HAHA

Another friend made me these delicious scones. Apparently, my friends want me to fatten up!

Anyone love cake? I’m not the biggest fan of cake *gasp*, but it sure makes for a yummy photo!

This was the cake at my best friends 40th birthday shindig. I didn’t make it, but I “styled” it by adding the flowers. 😉

How about some heart-shaped brownies?? I made these for the kids on Valentines Day this year.

My kids love these super cheap, easy-to-make Martha White muffin mixes, so we make them pretty often.

How about some more chocolate chip cookies since they’re my fav?!

I tend to be a mocha or hot chocolate-a-holic in the winter….I consider this dessert in a mug!

And last, my latest from-scratch baked good is this chocolate merengue pie. Chocolate pie is one of my favorites during the holidays. I got in the mood to make one a couple of weeks ago and it was so good! I made it for a family reunion so I wouldn’t be tempted to eat the whole thing myself!

 

Now that you’ve been overloaded with photos of my food photography, I’ll give you a few tips for styling your food.

1. Obviously, you need some food to photgraph.
2. Natural light ALWAYS.
3. I like to create layers in my food photography. Layering is necessary in decor, and really, you are sort of decorating when you’re setting up a food display. Find objects you can layer with like cake stands, towels, table runners, etc.
4. (Extra-free tip) Flowers make any picture more beautiful, but that’s just an opionion. 🙂
5. Close-ups are great with food photography because they focus on the details.
6. Don’t add too many elements, or the picture gets too busy. Remember, less is more.
7. Don’t be afraid to be messy with a food photo. Sprinkle some flour around and throw in some measuring spoons. Or, like my hot chocolate photo above, let the drink spill over the side.
8. Overhead shots look great on social media.
9. Keep practicing and you’ll get better.

Feel free to pin for future refererence.

Food photography can be so fun! And it’ll definitely make you want to eat….Don’t say you weren’t warned!

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Till the next time,

Kassie