When i asked Lubna to do a guest post about food and prop styling for me, she immediately accepted my request and she has come with this fabulous post. I am sure, many of you know her, she is a famous food blogger in blogsphere and also very talented person. Her food photography series event is an inspiration for many food photographers who want to improve their food photography skills. She has an amazing blog called Yummy Food. She is one of my favourite food blogger and also whom i consider as a very good friend. I am so pleased that she is sharing some awesome tips about food styling with you today by this post......When Valarmathi of Simple and Yummy Recipes asked me to do an guest post on food styling or rather say behind the scenes of food setup….I was little in doubt what I can come up with. As she was in no hurry with the post…I took my time and came up with these points….Hope these are helpful and useful to take you to next level in food styling..
TO START WITH:
As you all know natural light, good backgrounds and related props when come in combo make the food look appetizing…..no matter what the food is…I always feel there must be an dedicated place for taking out photos….but it is not so possible for people living in compact houses and in the places where finding natural light is bliss. You know how many times I run from kitchen to prop displayed showcase to fridge to the door or window to capture the perfect food picture…To kitchen to cook or fill the plate or bowl…to check what props and background will go with the recipe and then where the light is coming depending on the time of the day and depending on the weather outside….If you think creating an recipe or cooking a recipe is a creative thing then plating and styling is more creative than this….When the food is plated and served it is first eaten with eyes…so, an appealing look of the food drags the person to grab it….
According to me the food click you capture describes the person you are or the mood phase at that time you are going through or your inner reflection…I don’t say I don’t struck while clicking food pictures…lots of recipes make me numb…how to plate, what to use in the background, what props goes with the recipe, what’s the angle, how to cut the edges, how to set the props, how much light is needed for the related recipe, is light too hard for the recipe, etc…..
CRACKING STYLING:
Food styling…. is it easy or complex subject? Let’s solve this question with some simple examples, If I need to put it into simple words then as you slowly learn to master your camera you will slowly gain confidence in clicking good pictures….same as it…as time go by you will slowly master this art of propping, plating and styling.
Let’s start with this simple example of Drumstick-Raw Mango Curry. I started on a simple note like just filling the recipe in a white bowl and with blank mind like what goes in the background and what props go with it….I just used crinkled an brown paper and used it as background…. Then I felt something is missing, so I used wooden plank in the background along with a fresh coriander leaves in the side…just to add some color to the recipe…..and clicked some shots….
