Food photography composition is incredibly important, especially if you’re looking for ways to improve your food images. The composition of your image is how you put all the elements together, including your surface/backdrop, the food and the props. The tricky part about practicing different composition techniques is that there are no set rules, so it can be tricky to figure out where to start. In this post, I’m sharing some food photography composition tips to help you improve your food images.

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Food Photography Composition Tips

When thinking about food photography composition, you want to consider four things:

• Orientation
• Angles
• Arrangements
• Color theory

All of the food photography composition tips below will help show you different ways to experiment with each of these four things. So, let’s dive in!

1. Shoot Tethered

One of the first things I tell people when they want to improve their food photography compositions is to shoot tethered.

Tethered means that your camera is hooked up to your computer so you can see your images on a larger screen as you shoot as opposed to the small screen on the back of your camera. Tethering requires a little more setup in the beginning (basically an extra cable and software), but will ultimately save you time during your photo shoot and during editing.

iPhone and Tethering

If you’re using your smartphone for food photography, you are “kind of” already shooting tethered (no extra cables required, though). This is because you can see your food composition as you shoot since the screen acts as your viewfinder. Your smartphone screen isn’t huge, but it’s definitely larger than the screen on the back of a DSLR or Mirrorless camera.

TETHER CABLE

To shoot tethered with a DSLR or Mirrorless camera, you need a tether cable that connects your camera to your computer. Check out Tether Tools to figure out which tether cable is compatible with your camera and computer port. First, type in your camera make and model and then add your computer port and it will guide you towards the right cable.

EDITING SOFTWARE

You’ll also need to use editing software like Lightroom or Capture One during your photo shoot in order to see your images pop up on your computer screen.

Check out the image below. I have my camera hooked up to my overhead setup and connected to my iMac using Lightroom.

READ MORE ABOUT: HOW TO SHOOT TETHERED FOR FOOD PHOTOGRAPHY

2. The Rule Of Thirds

The rule of thirds is a great place to start with practicing different food photography arrangements. The rule of thirds is basically a grid composed of two vertical lines and two horizontal lines creating nine squares. Where the lines intersect are where you could consider placing your food and props.

Your camera should have a grid overlay option within the menu that you can turn on to help you. Or, if you shoot tethered, you can use a grid overlay within your editing software.

If you’re using a smartphone camera, you can turn the grid on within your camera settings.

See the two image examples below to show you the grid and how the rule of thirds works.

Notice how the pomegranates are highlighted on the right vertical grid line and are positioned to intersect with the right two intersection points?

Then, notice how the bowl of cherries is lined up with the bottom horizontal grid line and intersect with the bottom two intersection points?

3. Play With Angles (Angles)

There are three popular angles for food photography:

• OVERHEAD
• 45 DEGREE ANGLE
• STRAIGHT ON

Figuring out what angle to choose really depends on the food you’re shooting and I share more about food photography angles in this post.

When I first start experimenting with my food photography composition, I think about the food that I’m going to be shooting and which angle will highlight the details the best. Sometimes it’s one angle and sometimes it’s multiple angles.

For example, in the oyster images below, I was able to shoot them at all three angles. Starting from left to right: overhead, 3/4 angle and straight on. I find it incredibly helpful to stabilize my camera on a tripod once I know what angle I want to shoot at.

If you’re using a smartphone camera, I also recommend using a tripod to find the best angle. You can read more about my iPhone Tripod setup here.

4. Consider Your Orientation

In order to figure out what orientation will be best for your images, you need to think about where you are sharing the image(s). Different media has different size requirements and one main thing to consider is if you should shoot your image horizontal or vertical.

For example, if you are shooting an image for the homepage of your website, you will need a horizontal orientation of the image and a vertical orientation of the image. This is because your website is either being viewed on a computer (horizontal) or on a mobile phone (vertical). It’s important to make sure you capture the correct orientation for where you will be sharing your images.

5. Play With Color

Colors in food photography are incredibly powerful. Depending on the food that you’re shooting, the color(s) of the food can help guide the other colors you choose to work with in your props and surfaces/backdrops. When thinking about color in your food photography compositions, there are two color temperatures:

• COOL COLORS
• WARM COLORS

The cool colors consist of the greens, blues and purples. The warm colors consist of the reds, oranges and yellows.

MONOCHROMATIC

Monochromatic is when you focus on one color, but use different shades of that color ranging from light to dark. It can be a more subtle, yet harmonious color technique for your compositions. See the far left image below.

COMPLIMENTARY

Complimentary colors are two colors that are directly opposite each other on the color wheel. This combination produces more contrast and can be really impactful. See the middle image below.

ANALOGOUS

Analogous colors are colors that sit next to each other on the color wheel. These colors can feel more soothing together. I find it helpful to use one color as the dominant color and the others as accent colors so your image isn’t flooded with too many colors competing for attention. But, definitely experiment to see what works best for your own images. See the far right image below.

6. Switch Out Your Backdrops & Surfaces

Food photography backdrops and surfaces are incredibly important because, much like the props you use, they help bring your creative vision to life.

Backdrops sit behind the food to create a less distracting background and surfaces sit beneath the food to help set the foundation of the image.

When you go from light to dark, it drastically changes the mood of the image.

Check out the image of the eggs below. It’s the same bowl, the same eggs and the same lighting. But, one surface is dark and the other one is light. Notice how it changes the mood of the image?

READ MORE ABOUT: THE BEST BACKDROPS FOR FOOD PHOTOGRAPHY

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7. Play with Props & Ingredients

We always want the food to be the star of the image. And, while I’m a big fan of simplicity in food photography, sometimes the image needs a little more than just the plated food alone to tell more of the story. Including some props and ingredients can help you create a composition that is visually interesting.

Watch the soup image below come to its final form as different props and ingredients get added.

8. Depth Of Field

Depth of field is how sharp or how blurry elements are within the frame. You can achieve different depths of field by adjusting the aperture or the f-stop on your camera.

If you’re using an iPhone camera, you can adjust the depth of field in Portrait Mode.

When you shoot with a wide aperture (lower f-stop), you get a shallow depth of field which creates that dreamy/more blurry background or foreground.

When you shoot with a smaller aperture (higher f-stop), you get more depth of field and the background or foreground is more in sharp and in focus.

Note: Keep in mind that your aperture setting will affect the exposure of your image too, so be sure to make adjustments to your ISO and shutter speed for a properly exposed image.

See the image examples of the Caprese salad below.

The overhead shot on the left has everything in focus, which means I used a larger f-stop/aperture.

The angled shot on the right uses a smaller f-stop/aperture focusing directly on the cherry tomato on the plate. This causes the other elements in the foreground and background to become more blurry.

READ MORE ABOUT: HOW TO SHOOT IN MANUAL MODE

9. Negative Space

Negative space is the space that surrounds your subject. When there’s less going on in the frame, you may have more negative space. When there’s more going on in the frame, you will have less negative space.

See the images below. My client needed an overhead shot of the chili with more negative space on the left side and bottom of the image so they’d have space to put the recipe.

10. Leading Lines & Shapes

Leading lines and shapes will help guide people’s eye within your composition. It can be fun to play with the placement of lines and shapes in your composition to see how different patterns and placements can affect the image. You can create lines with silverware, linens and sometimes even with the food itself. Consider repeating patterns and mixing and matching your shapes too.

See some examples below of how you can use shapes and lines in your composition.

I hope this post gave you some helpful tips to guide your food photography compositions. Remember, composition isn’t about rules. It’s about your creative vision. Use the tips as a guide to help you push your creative vision further. Reach out with questions anytime and be sure to follow me on Instagram.

Happy Creating!

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All images ©Regan Baroni 2021.