How Our Food Photography Works

Dishes are shot to a plan agreed with the kitchen, because food has a short window at its best and the camera position must be set before the plate arrives. Angle follows the food: overhead for flat compositions and layered bowls, a low three-quarter view for height and layering, straight-on for burgers and stacked items. Lighting is a single directional key with fill, commonly placed to the side or behind the subject so texture and steam read, since flat frontal light removes the surface detail that makes food look edible. Diffusion size is set to the subject. Surfaces and props are chosen to support the dish without competing for attention. Shooting is tethered where possible so composition and focus are judged on a calibrated screen rather than a camera back. Capture is raw with a colour reference in the first frame of each setup, so colour can be corrected accurately afterwards; food colour is the detail viewers notice when it is wrong. Delivery is a colour-managed edited set at full resolution plus web-sized and square crops for menu and social use.