Food photography is a dynamic form of art that has no strict boundaries on how to go about it. There are no rules set in stone on how to best bring your food to life. All you need to have is a little creativity and a good camera and you can create masterpiece food flatlays.
Spontaneity in food photography is actually a good thing because it will make your images stand out in a unique and beautiful manner.
Perfecting The Art Of Food Flatlays
There are various tips you could follow if you want to present a work of art.
As a food influencer, you already have some sort of designated steps in your mind you would like to follow to bring out best possible picture of food.
A combination of your predetermined steps and this tips will not only enhance your experience in making the photographs, they will make it a breeze.
Selecting the perfect background for your food flatlay
The background of your flatlay is equally important to the food you are photographing.
You do not want your background to stand out more than your food as that would defeat the point of the flatlay.
Your background has to be clean and stylish.
Go with cooler backdrops that will give lighter tones.
You want to accomplish a realist scene with your photography by picking more relatable backgrounds like marble worktops and wooden work-benches.
Deciding on a theme to follow
You will want to structure your flatlay towards a theme to avoid confusion and an unnecessary overfilled picture.
You do not want to include elements that will interrupt your theme but those that will improve the type of food you are photographing.
This means that your selection of ingredients and the dish should complement each other.
Where you are going with desserts, fruits or main course meals, the arrangement and composition should have a smooth flow.
You can also use props to make the picture stand out.
Props could be a range of anything from the utensils used for cooking to what the food is plated on.
You do not have to follow the rigidity of using plates and blows. You can literally use anything as a prop.
Choosing the Perfect Lighting for Your Food Flatlays
Lighting is probably the most vital element in your photography.
You will want to bring out the accents and the outlays of the food.
Your food flatlay has to be evenly lit for the best results in your photographs.
Going with a soft source of light is advisable if you are a beginner as you will not want a too brightly lit flatlay.
The optimum wattage to use to achieve this is about 700 to 1,000.
You could use flags to create shadow adding more effect to and character to your overall picture.
The Perfect Colour Pallet
With a combination of the perfect lighting and bright colour tones, your flatlay will look spectacular.
The flatlay should pop with colour making it rich and attractive.
Achieve a beautiful flatlay by selecting contrasting colours.
Lens Selecting And Camera Settings
Depending mostly on the camera you are using, mostly a DSLR one, the perfect choice for a lens would be a 35 mm.
This is a basic lens and will pretty much get the job done.
The lens is also dependent on the camera settings in terms of image quality and positioning with the stand you are using.
Summary
In the end, there are no written rules with flatlays. You should select the best possible way to get the Monalisa of food flatlays. It all depends on your preference.
