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Drink photography is its own niche because it commands unique styling, lighting and photographic technique. Photographing drinks is anything but just putting liquid in a glass. Drinks have texture, they are colourful, they dance with the light and they have the power to make us lust after an icy cold one on a hot day.

But for most food photographers, drinks and cocktails are hard. Hard to style, hard to photograph.

If you feel limited by just pouring liquid into a glass, or you can’t seem to make your drink photos stand out – this tips post is for you!

Here are 32 tips to photograph beverages – let’s dive in.

Drink Photography Requires Photoshop Compositing

Photoshop compositing is a technique where multiple images are combined into one photo. With drink photography, compositing is a standard technique to help perfect lighting and reducing reflections.

With commercial or advertising beverage photography, photoshop compositing is a required technique. It’s actually really easy to learn and can take your shots to new heights. I can teach you Photoshop compositing in my retouching food photography masterclass.

Strong Lighting Before Styling Drink Photos

Let’s be real, liquid can be boring to photograph. However, if lit properly, the drink can really stand out to the viewer. Focus on manipulating your light first for tonal or colour contrast, then style your scene. In the next tip, I’ll be sharing the angle of light that’s my go-to.

Shoot Backlight to Make Clear Drink Photos Interesting

Backlight is an impressive angle for drink photography. Especially for clear drinks. At the right angle, you will pick up a nice shine on top of your beverages that helps create dimension in your photos.

Drinks do have texture and backlight is a direction of light that picks up the most texture. This direction of light can not only be used to emphasise texture in your drinks subjects but also to illuminate the scene you are shooting.

Using Artificial Light Will Reduce Reflections

Most professional beverage photographers will use artificial light for a few main reasons. They can control the light in drinks and liquor bottles, and control (and reduce) reflections.

With artificial light, you can reduce reflections that would normally be picked up with ambient light in the room. If you do use artificial light, you’re likely dealing with fewer reflections than natural light and are in a good place to start reducing reflections even further.

Drinks Styling Guide

How to Style Photogenic Drinks

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Double Diffuse to Reduce Unwanted Reflections

Depending on the type of modifier you’re using (in either natural or artificial light), you may be able to see the reflection of the modifier in your glassware. If the modifier is large enough, you’ll get a nice highlight on the glass. If it’s a small modifier, instead you’ll just see a round or square highlight that isn’t as flattering.

In this case, you can use double diffusion to create softer, more flatter highlights and reduce reflections. Double diffusion is where you use two modifiers. For example, a softbox and a large scrim/diffuser together to light your scene.

Use White Foam Boards to Minimise Reflections

White foam boards are typically used to bounce light back onto your subjects and the scene you are shooting. You can, however, use them to reduce reflections and add nice highlights to glassware or bottles.

Use large white foam boards that can stand up on their own to help reduce any reflections picked up by ambient light or the flash you’re using. You can even use a white foam board to be in front of the camera (with a hole cut out of course for the lens) to reduce any reflections from the camera itself.

Photoshop Will Help you Remove Unwanted Reflections in Glassware

It’s almost impossible to remove all of the reflections you might encounter when doing drink photos. Even if you minimise all of the reflections with your lighting, unless you’re lighting one single drink on a very large background, you’ll still likely get reflections from other subjects.

Photoshop is necessary for drink photography. Using a combination of the Clone Stamp Tool and The Spot Healing Brush, you can further remove and retouch the last of the reflections in Photoshop.

I teach an online class on just how to do this in Retouching Food Photography.

Clear Ice Elevates Drink Photos and Catches Light Better

Clear ice is better for drink photography for one simple reason. It has fewer imperfections and distractions in it and therefore picks up the light nicer.

I’m always distracted by the clumps of white imperfections in ice, rather than looking at the drink itself. Clear ice at home isn’t easy. I do recommend a simple and affordable clear ice maker in my drinks style guide. But you might also want to think about using quality fake ice if you get into this full time.

Use Good Quality Fake Ice

If you’re going to get into the drink photography game full time, you might want to consider some quality fake ice cubes. They are pricey and not a lot of companies make them. Saving up for a few key pieces is a good way to start.

Check out Trengove Ice Cubes for more information on fake ice.

Crushed Ice is a Good Way to Get Started. It Lasts Longer Than You Think

I hear from a lot of photographers that they avoid shooting drink photos because they aren’t sure how to work with ice or are scared of working with ice. My advice is to then start with crushed ice. You can get more time with crushed ice than you think. Even up to an hour on a cool day. That’s plenty of time to play with a few shots.

For crushed ice, most blenders have a crushed ice setting. I simply buy a bag of ice from the grocery store and crush it using my blender.

Use Less Liquid with More Ice & Ingredients to Avoid Them Floating to the Top

It’s true, most ingredients and ice that you use in drinks are likely going to float to the top of the glass. Leaving the top crowded and the bottom vacant. This doesn’t always look at good as if the peach slices and ice cubes were sitting nicely in the glass from bottom to top.

The trick, in this case, is to get the ratio of ice, ingredients and liquids right. Add more ice and less liquid.

The liquid level shouldn’t be full. There will come a point where the liquid will allow the ice to float. Fill the glass with ice and ingredients, then just 3/4 full with liquid.

Cheap Plastic Decorating Cubes Are Good to Help you Practice and Light Drink Photos

You can find these at craft or DIY stores. I don’t recommend them for the final shot, but when you’re using real ice they make a good option to light your drinks for test shots so you don’t waste ice.

Cloudy Ice Works For Cloudy or Muddled Drinks

Having said that clear ice is best for drink photography, I know it’s not always possible. If you can’t make clear ice at home, then use cloudy ice in cloudy or muddle drinks as it’s less obvious.

Adding fruit or fruit juice to ice cubes can further hide the fact that the ice isn’t clear – win! The bonus is that it also looks nice in photos.

Buy a Glass Cleaning Cloth

A must-have item if you are shooting drink photos is a glass cleaning cloth. No matter how many times you try to wash a glass, there will be some marks left. A good cleaning cloth designed to clean glassware is a lifesaver. It will reduce the time that you need to remove unwanted marks in photoshop.

I found this one from Crate & Barrell and it’s awesome. I came in a three-pack and I solely use it for cleaning glassware on set.

Drinks Styling Guide

How to Style Photogenic Drinks

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Use a Variety of Interesting Glassware

If you’re going to get into the drink photography game, glassware will become an obsession. Not only is there a type of glass for each cocktail, but having a variety of interesting and vintage pieces will make your photos better.

In my drinks styling guide, I cover different types of glassware you’ll need for different drinks. But here are the top four types of glasses I recommend:

1. Vintage coupe
2. Rocks glass
3. Clean lines tumbler
4. Tall Tom Collins

Consider a Balance Between The Height of Your Glasses & Liquor Bottles

One thing many photographers don’t think about when they get into drink photography, is that they need a variety of tall and short glassware. Some glasses might seem very tall and large, but when you think about it most liquor bottles are very tall.

Using a very tall bottle and a very short glass can cause an imbalance. We want to aim for harmony between the height and visual weight of any bottles, decanters and glassware that we use.

Drink Photography Hack: Use Sticky Tac to Help Glassware Stand Up Straight

Between distortion and glassware imperfections, can be hard to get glassware to stand up straight sometimes.

As I like to get them as right in-camera as possible, I will use sticky tac and place a small piece under the glass to make it stand up straight. Then I photoshop it out in less than 30 secs. I’ve found this to save the most time and give the best results.

Perfect The Foam in Your Cocktails Using the Dry Shake Method

One of the things that got me into drink photography is the foam on cocktails. That buttery, meringue-like foam is so darn pretty and photogenic. But there is a technique to it. If you don’t have the right combination of ingredients or don’t use the right shaking method, you can end up with airy foam that looks curled.

For the perfect foam, use the Dry Shake technique. You shake the ingredients first, without ice. Then add ice for a second shake. Learn how to do the dry shake technique in this post.

Replace Simply Syrup For Clear Spirits When Testing to Save Money

When you are doing a lighting test of your drink photos you may not want to waste precious spirits as they aren’t cheap. Some clients will even ask you not to use clear spirits to save money on photoshoots.

This needs to be approached with caution. Cocktails are a delicate balance of textures and liquids. You can’t simply omit the spirit and the cocktail always look the same. In this case, I’ve found using a 1:1 ratio effective. Simply substitute simple syrup for clear liquors.

Help Identify the Temperature of the Beverage With Steam or Icy Conditions

Drinks either cool us down or warm us up. There’s not much in between. In summer, our job is to want to make the viewer cool down with an ice-cold beverage. In winter, our job is to get them to cosy up with a hot drink.

Help the viewer connect to these ideas by either capturing steam or condensation.

Capture Freshly Poured Beverages

Freshly poured beverages are when the drink is the best to photograph. There is movement happening in the glass, there might be bubbles or foam adjusting to its new container. This gives beverages life. Think about your first shot vs the shot you take after an hour. There’s less life in the one that’s been sitting around.

Don’t be afraid to reshoot the beverage a few times to get the freshly poured look. It really does make a difference.

Be Prepared to Make Drinks 2-3 Times For the Perfect Shot

Maybe this goes without saying, but as a food photographer, we don’t have to make every recipe a couple of times to photograph in the same shoot. But with beverages that’s normal.

When prepping for ingredients, make sure you have enough to make the drink a few times. Being able to shoot the drink two to three times will help you capture the freshly poured look.

Drinks Styling Guide

How to Style Photogenic Drinks

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Top Up the Liquid on Set to Avoid Rim Marks

I always recommend doing test shots for composition and lighting with a test drink. Then when you’re happy with how the photo is looking, bring in a freshly poured hero cocktail. However, if that’s not possible, in order to avoid rim marks on your glass as your moving and setting things up, underfill your cocktail.

Then when you’re ready for the final shot, top up the liquid on set with a small jug or syringe.

Have Short Straws For Short Tumblers

Reuseable metal or glass straws are great options for styling drinks. You will want to avoid putting very tall or long straws into small tumblers. The proportions will look off and distract from your hero subject.

Instead, source small straws around 5″ to 6″ (12cm – 15cm) that will sit nicely in your smaller cocktail glasses.

Cocktail Picks Add Interest and Class to a Drink

Probably the most essential styling prop for cocktail photography would be the cocktail pick. It’s not only the best tool to skewer and present garnishes, but it adds interest and lines to any cocktail photo.

You can find these in metal, wood, bamboo or glass. It’s a good idea to have a couple of different shapes and lengths to suit different glasses and recipes.

Find Interesting Garnish Ideas

Garnishes are literally the cherry on top of hero subjects. Liquids in glasses can be rather boring until we focus on a nice garnish. Create a mood board of garnish ideas for all kinds of cocktails and drinks that you can reference later.

I have a post on garnish ideas: 13 Simple Yet Stunning Cocktail Garnish Ideas For Drinks Photos.

Show Off Your Drinks Texture

Drinks have texture. They can be smooth, creamy, silky, foamy, bubbly, icy, hot, stirred, muddled, chunky, thick or thin. It’s our job to communicate what the drink might feel like when it hit our mouths.

Ways to highlight the texture in your drink include using:

• Backlight to bring out texture
• Ice or steam to communicate the temperature and hint at texture
• Size of glass
• Layers on drink like foam
• Lens choice like marco to capture textures

Shoot With a Narrow Lens to Reduce Distortion

When it comes to drink photography, we are often working with tall subjects. In order to reduce distortion, shoot with a narrow lens. For example:

• 85mm, 105mm, 70-200mm on a full-frame camera
• 60mm on a cropped sensor camera

The goal with a narrow lens is to compress the subjects so they look straighter. Therefore, you’ll need more space for the camera to be further away from your subject.

Learn more about lenses: Ultimate Lens Guide for Food Photography

Don’t Shoot too Shallow of an Aperture

Viewers want to be immersed in the feeling of the subjects. They want to feel the texture of the drink and daydream about what it would be like to unwind sipping on a cocktail. They can’t do that if we shoot a shallow aperture and only capture the garnish or rim of the glass in focus.

I recommend capturing your subjects at apertures of f/5.6 to f/8 as a place to start. But always explore different depths of field too.

Use a Fast Shutter Speed to Capture Pour Shots

Action or pour shots in drink photos are fun ways to use interest. They can also help with composition when our subjects lack interest. To capture high-speed shots, use a fast shutter speed. With natural light that might be 1/500 sec or above, with artificial light your strobe’s highest sync speed.

For more on settings, read the ultimate guide to camera settings.

Capture Zest Spray of Effervescence using Backlight and Dark Backgrounds

Looking to capture that magical show that is effervescence or a zest spray from a citrus peel? It’s much easier to do on a dark background using backlight.

Make sure to take test shots to get the lighting and angle right before attempting your final shot.

Brighten Up Shadows in the Drink to Clearly See Texture

Whichever lighting you use for your shots, in the editing stage, bring out the shadows in the drink itself to make sure the viewer can see the texture of the drink. I like to use the shadows sliders in Lightroom or Capture One first, rather than adjusting all tones.

If you’ve made it this far, thanks for reading all these tips. Did you have a favourite? Which tip will you work on next? Let me know in the comments below.

Two Loves Studio was not paid to write this post, however, it may contain affiliate links. If you purchase an item from an affiliate link, we do get a commission on the sale which helps us run this site. Only affiliates for products/services we believe in appear on this site.

The post 32 Awesome Drink Photography Tips To Improve Your Drink Photos appeared first on Two Loves Studio.

This post may contain affiliate links. Only affiliates for products/services we believe in appear on this site.

Creating an interesting and eye-catching cocktail garnish can really lift your cocktail photos. It can help a classic cocktail to stand out, and it’s an easy way to make it your own.

But you don’t have to overcomplicate your cocktail garnishes for them to be interesting and unique. In this post, I am going to share with you a few very simple ways to elevate your cocktails using, simple but surprising garnish ideas!

Are you ready? I’ve got lots of examples for you.

Freeze Dried Berries

Simple, but delicious. Freeze-dried berries are a great garnish option. You can crumble and sprinkle the berries over the top of foam-based drinks for a delicate and luxurious feel to your cocktails.

Pink Pickled Onion: The Unexpected Cocktail Garnish

An interesting take on a standard cocktail garnish. A pink pickled onion is the unexpected. Sometimes, giving a standard garnish an unexpected twist can be a really nice touch – and it’s simple too.

A pink pickled onion is just a small red pickled onion. Why not try it as a garnish for a pink martini?

Fruit Cut Into Shapes

A star is an impressive shape, so it can bring a little magic to your cocktail garnishes. If you have little fruit or cookie cutters, you can cut interesting shapes into your garnishes.

I took a slice of apple and cut a start shape into the middle. It made for an elegant garnish to sit onto of a highball of ginger beer and whiskey. If the fruit has a shape to start with, like star fruit – you can use that too!

A Dusting of Freshly Grated Spice

Not only is this a delicious way to top off a cocktail, but it’s also a composition tool to use as you can add that element of movement to your shots.

Perhaps you can even make a moving still by creating a GIF! Here I grated fresh nutmeg over my Irish Coffee to give it a festive feel.

Drinks Styling Guide

How to Style Photogenic Drinks

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Smoking Herb or Fruit

Another fun way to add some movement to your shots is to garnish your cocktail with a little bit of smoke. Whether it’s a smoking rosemary leaf or a caramelised grapefruit slice, it adds interest and movement to the frame.

This can help the viewer imagine what it will be like to sip on this beverage. You can either use a long stick match or a culinary torch.

A Floating Berry

Never underestimates simple done well. Just like a floating raspberry in a champagne or bubbling cocktail. The delicious and crisp bubbles will hug and dance with the berry, making for some interesting texture at the top where the bubbles hang out.

A Maple Leaf

I saw this in a cocktail book once and I fell in love with the idea! Especially because I was living in Canada at the time and there were so many varieties to choose from.

Remember to wash your maple leaf, and some garnishes are there for show only! Sitting nicely onto a pulpy cocktail can be a nice touch.

Edible Cocktail Garnish: Pearl Dust

If you’re looking for an ‘out of this world’ type garnish, then edible pearl dust just might be for you. I used this for a Halloween cocktail and there are two ways you can use it to your visual advantage.

Sprinkle it on your cocktail, then give it a stir to see the cocktail do it’s magic! 

Caramelised Citrus Slice

Adding a slice of fruit to the top of a cocktail can be a lovely way to add texture and dimension to your photos. If you’re cocktail calls for it, think about caramelising your garnish in some butter and sugar first for that delicious caramelised look.

Use a culinary torch to caramelise the garnish in place on the drink.

Edible Gold

The ultimate New Years Eve cocktail garnish is edible gold! You can use it on top of a whiskey sour, or bubbling in your champagne.

Edible gold can be found at speciality ingredient stores or online. It’s pricey for a gram (or ounce), but a little goes a long way.

Drinks Styling Guide

How to Style Photogenic Drinks

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Vegetable Ribbons: Cucumber or Rhubarb

Using a regular vegetable peeler, cut long strips of cucumber or rhubarb that will make impressive twists for your tall collins style glasses. To help them stay in place, press them to the glass then add crushed ice and your cocktail.

Edible Flower

All about the presentation, you can use an in-season flower to sit on the top of your foamy-egg white cocktails for a bit of pizzazz. If your flower isn’t edible or organic, make sure to wash it and let your guests know it’s just for show.

Pineapple Spear

Yes! You can use the pineapple leaves to make fun garnishes. If you’re game, you can use some fun shaped craft scissors to cut the sides of the leaves and sit them into your drink or slushy.

Mmmmm…I’m getting thirsty just thinking about all of these delicious and fun garnishes. Do you have a favourite? Which will you try first? Let me know in the comments below.

Two Loves Studio was not paid to write this post, however, it may contain affiliate links. If you purchase an item from an affiliate link, we do get a commission on the sale which helps us run this site. Only affiliates for products/services we believe in appear on this site.

The post 13 Simple Yet Stunning Cocktail Garnish Ideas For Drinks Photos appeared first on Two Loves Studio.

This post may contain affiliate links. Only affiliates for products/services we believe in appear on this site.

Cocktails with foam make for some of the prettiest sips around. That perfect creamy foam can really elevate a cocktail not only for taste but for beverage photography. If you’re asked to shoot a cocktail with egg whites you want to make sure that your foam is creamy and fluffy, rather than full of air and lumpy.

The secret is all in the dry shake. In this post, I will show you how to perform a dry shake.

How To Perform A Dry Shake

The dry shake essentially has an extra shake, without ice, as part of the process of mixing your cocktail. Simply, it goes like this:

• Add all of your liquid ingredients to a cocktail shaker (WITHOUT the ice).
• ‘Dry shake’ for 20 seconds.
• Add the ice and shake for 15-20 seconds.
• Using a Hawthorn strainer, strain the contents of the cocktail into a cocktail glass.

Egg Whites Make The Perfect Foam

How do you get the perfect foam in cocktails? It all comes down to using egg whites in your mixtures and how you perform the shake.

Since I am a photographer (and this is a photography blog), I am all about how to make the foam look delicious on camera. So I’ve tested both a freshly cracked egg and pasteurised egg whites. For me, I don’t see that much of a difference. The real difference comes from performing a dry-shake with your cocktails.

If you’re worried about using egg whites, I use store-bought pasteurised egg whites that come in a carton from the grocery store. I find for photography it’s easier to measure and add them to your cocktails when you have to make many cocktails on set.

Drinks Styling Guide

How to Style Photogenic Drinks

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The Perfect Foam For Cocktails is All in The Dry Shake

In the world of mixology, the dry shake is when we shake the cocktail ingredients without ice. This is done before we add ice and the idea behind it is that the ingredients will emulsify better, producing more aeration. The results are thicker, creamier and fluffier foam for our cocktails.

Ice is an essential ingredient in cocktails. Not only for chilling liquids but to dilute cocktails and enhance flavours. Once we have performed a dry shake, we can add ice to the cocktail to chill and dilute.

When we use the dry shake technique, we are only adding an extra minute or so to the process.

Example: Blueberry Gin Sour Recipe

Two Loves Studio was not paid to write this post, however, it may contain affiliate links. If you purchase an item from an affiliate link, we do get a commission on the sale which helps us run this site. Only affiliates for products/services we believe in appear on this site.

The post Dry Shake Cocktail Technique: How to Make the Perfect Foam For Cocktails! appeared first on Two Loves Studio.

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Like all still life photography, beverage or cocktail photography relies on using the right drink photography props to help make your scene interesting. There are lots of prop ideas for beverage work, but there are a few standouts that I use all the time to create my drinks photos.

The drink photography props that I recommend the most for cocktail photography are usually glass or matte metal. They really dance nicely with the light in our shots and it’s one of the reasons I enjoy creating with them so much.

Here they are in no particular order!

For more ways to style photogenic drinks, grab my e-guide.

Drinks Styling Guide

How to Style Photogenic Drinks

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#1 – Cocktail Picks

Probably the most essential styling prop for cocktail photography would be the cocktail pick. It’s not only the best tool to skewer and present garnishes, but it adds interest and lines to any cocktail photo.

You can find these in metal, wood, bamboo or glass. It’s a good idea to have a couple of different shapes and lengths to suit different glasses and recipes.

#2 – Matte Cobbler Shaker

The more you get into cocktail photography, the more you’ll discover there is nuanced equipment for making various cocktails. The Cobbler Shaker isn’t the preferred style of shaker for making cocktails, but it’s much more photogenic than the Boston Shaker.

It also tends to be smaller which is easier to style and photograph alongside your cocktails.

Try to avoid the brand new, shiny shakers. They will be hard to deal with in terms of reflections and retouching. If you can find a second-hand one that has had a little love, it’ll add a nice matte glow to your shots instead.

#3 – Best Drink Photography Prop: A Coupe Glass

For me, the coupe glass is the most photogenic cocktail glass and the drink photography prop I recommend the most. With a long thin stem, and a wide bowl to house the cocktail, the proportions are pretty stunning.

The coupe glass is one that you want to splash a little more cash at. It’s worth it. You can find these second hand or order them from cocktail specialty stores. It’s a good idea to have a couple of different options in terms of height. A short pair and a tall pair will help you make different cocktails and style different scenes.

Classic cocktails that are served in coupe glasses are:

• Gimlet
• Bichon Frise
• Whiskey Sour
• Sidecar
• Daiquiri

#4 – Rocks Glass

A fancy rocks glass also goes a long way as a styling prop for cocktail photography. Lots of very photogenic drinks, especially those shot with backlight, use a rocks glass.

You can find lots of subtle patterns that play with the right and lines in your composition, which adds interest and depth to our work. Unlike coupe glasses, rocks glasses are usually serviced with ice. Which is another essential (and beautiful) part of cocktail photography.

Classic cocktails that are served in rocks glasses are:

• An Old Fashioned
• Negroni
• Whiskey on the Rocks
• Margarita
• Gin & Tonic

#5 – Glass Syrup Containers

What is so fun about cocktails is that a lot of the ingredients used to make cocktails are photogenic. There are lots of fun recipes to try when it comes to syrups. Especially in summer and fall, when you can make syrups out of abundant produce and seasonal flavours.

Keep an eye out for some interesting vintage glass containers to show off the syrups in your recipe. Glass always works best, as you can see the colour of the syrup. It also plays nicely with the light in your photos.

Syrup containers also double nicely as vessels for juices or sour mixes.

#6 – Glass Garnish Dishes

Garnishes help bring interest to cocktail photos. So be on the lookout for different types of glass dishes to sit your garnishes in on set.

Lime wedges, olives, cocktail cherries or pickled onions work nicely in a little glass dish. Find ones that are vintage and on the smaller side to help you balance your images.

Drinks Styling Guide

How to Style Photogenic Drinks

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# 7 – Metal Tray

Metal trays can be gorgeous drink photography props for cocktail photography. Just make sure to get something vintage and matte. Trays can give your images a luxurious feeling and help with layering.

Finding the right size can be tricky, as you’ll likely want one large enough to fit a few drinks on and possible a garnish vessel. Having a few different shapes and sizes can help you create if you have the budget. I got mine on Etsy.

#8 – Vintage Glass Decanter

These are one of my all-time favourite props for cocktail photography. Finding a nice vintage one is really special because the patterns and cuts of glass can really dance with the light on set, creating something magical.

While you may encounter a lot of vintage decanters that are priced too high, if you keep an eye out at vintage and thrift stores you can usually find them for a deal. The bonus is that they are really pretty on your bar cart as well.

#9 – Bitters Bottle

Bitters bottles are fancy bottles that we pour your bitters into. They serve to look nice and deliver more precise quantities of bitters into your cocktails. You can find them in very pretty shapes, which can add a nice touch to your cocktail photos.

They typically only make sense to use them in photos where the cocktail calls for bitters, but they are a nice option to use in whiskey cocktails and old fashioned. I got mine on Amazon.

Of course, there are lots more ideas for styling props for cocktail photography. These, however, I think are the things I couldn’t live without when I am photographing cocktails.

Do you have a must-have drink photography prop for your cocktail shoots? Let me know in the comment below.

Two Loves Studio was not paid to write this post, however, it may contain affiliate links. If you purchase an item from an affiliate link, we do get a commission on the sale which helps us run this site. Only affiliates for products/services we believe in appear on this site.

The post 9 Must-Have Drink Photography Props For Stunning Cocktail Photos appeared first on Two Loves Studio.

Like countless other photographers, I just adore black and white photography. This simple medium has such powerful story telling and really allows you to focus on the emotion of the overall image.

As food photography is all about storytelling and the emotional connection we have with food, it’s incredibly strange that black and white food photography just looks so wrong.

A few years ago, I set out on a journey to challenge the fact that black and white food photography couldn’t look appetising. To do this, I focused on real food that didn’t have any colour other than blacks, whites, browns or pale yellows. I didn’t convert the shots to black and white but instead tried to focus on texture in void of interest from colour.

To keep up to date with this photo series, you can check out my portfolio of black and white images.

Black and White Food Photography

Black and white are two words that don’t seemingly go together in food photography.

It’s most likely because food is part of what keeps us alive and our brains are so hardwired when it comes to how food should look, feel and taste that colour and texture plays such an important role.

I’m sure we’ve all experienced just how ‘wrong’ images of food can look in a black and white medium. If you’ve ever accidentally applied a black and white filter whilst editing, you’ll know what I mean. You can’t press the undo button fast enough.

Yet despite that, I am still so fascinated by the idea of Black and White food photos. I wanted to take the concept and shoot something beautiful, something that didn’t instantly repulse the brain.

So I decided to flip the term to create Photography of Black and White Food.

Same same but different. Actually beautiful. Now I will be the first to admit that this idea isn’t unique to me, as Elizabeth Gilbert would say this idea has visited other food photographers on its journey to realisation, this is my take on it.

Here are some of these shots and I hope they inspire you!

I even entered one of these shots into the Pink Lady Food Photography competition and it was shortlisted! That just goes to show that black and white photos of real food can be beautiful!

For more black and white food photos inspiration, you can check out my portfolio of black and white images.

Have you tried to take any black and white photos of food? Let me in know in the comments below!

The post Black and White Food Photography Like You’ve Never Seen Before! appeared first on Two Loves Studio.

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Curious about the food photography equipment a professional food photographer uses? Of course you are, everyone loves taking about gear.

Before you scroll down to check out the food photography gear that I have, remember that I didn’t start out with everything on this list. I am writing this 10 year into my photography journey. In that time, I’ve worked out what gear helps me spark creativity. I hope that you enjoy reading through this list.

Let’s check out my food photography equipment!

Camera & Lenses

I am a Nikon shooter, and currently, shoot with the Nikon Z6 mirrorless (full-frame). I use an FTZ adapter as my lenses aren’t mirrorless lenses.

The lenses I use are:

• Nikkor 105mm 2.8 micro (highly recommend)
• Nikkor 85mm 1.8
• Nikkor 60mm 2.8 micro
• Sigma Art Series 50mm 1.4
• Nikkor 50mm 1.8
• Nikkor 35mm 1.8

Read more about the lenses I recommend for food photography.

Ultimate Guide

Lenses For Food Photographers

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Tripod & Accessories

I use a Manfrotto 058B Triaut Tripod, which is a very sturdy studio tripod. I also use the Manfrotto 131D overhead arm and the Manfrotto 410 Junior Geared Head (highly recommend) to make slight adjustments. This is the tripod I use most of the time in-studio.

For on location, I have a Gitzo GT2541EX Explorer carbon fiber tripod and a ball head (my preference now is a geared head).

Read my ultimate guide on tripods for food photography.

Natural Lighting

I rarely shoot with just window light. I am always manipulating the natural light that I have to meet the theme or concept I am shooting. But my food photography equipment for natural light isn’t complicated!

For refelctors/diffusers I use this 4″ x 6″ Neewer (highly recommend). I also have two smaller ones, a circular and handheld. Then I use lots of black and white foam boards (highly recommend) to block or reflect light. You can get these from your local stationery supplies store.

To learn more read my post on the basic natural light setup for food photography.

Food Photography Gear & Accessories

For those miscellaneous food photography equipment items that we can’t live without, here’s a quick list of common items I get asked about:

• 2TB Seagate Slim hard drives
• 5TB Samsung SSD drives
• Heavy Duty Clamps (highly recommend)
• Neewer Photo Clamp Holder (highly recommend)
• Manfrotto Nano Stand

Artificial Lighting

When it comes to lighting for food photography, I shoot with both natural and artificial light, but I love the flexibility that artificial light gives me (especially for client work).

Profoto B10 (250 w/s) is what I use most of the time, and also have an old Profoto B1 (model discontinued). I have their Air Remote TTL-N trigger and use a Manfrotto 420B Combi Boom (highly recommend) lighting stand for most of my modifiers.

The main modifiers I have are the 2′ x 3′ soft box, a 1′ x 4′ strip box (I have a second hand discontinued model) and a 2′ octa box.

Photo Editing & Software

I use Adobe Lightroom Classic, Adobe Photoshop and Capture One Pro for my photo editing.

To learn how to edit in Lightroom, check out my masterclass Lightroom Magic. I also teach foundational retouching in Photoshop in my masterclass Retouching Food Photography.

Got any questions about any of my gear? Let me know in the comments below!

Two Loves Studio was not paid to write this post, however, it may contain affiliate links. If you purchase an item from an affiliate link, we do get a commission on the sale which helps us run this site. Only affiliates for products/services we believe in appear on this site.

The post Food Photography Equipment: The Gear You Need appeared first on Two Loves Studio.

Tethering is a game changer, when it works…

But our equipment or technology can let us down, failing to connect so we can tether. We’ve all been there!

Tethering is the catalyst that made me a better photographer, for sure. It hands down, helped me improve my images in so many ways. There is so much power in seeing the results of your capture right away. Really, that’s invaluable.

So what do you do if you’re unable to connect? What do you do if Lightroom, Capture One or another software that you use isn’t finding your camera?

Let’s look at the first three simple troubleshooting tips for tethering I recommend.

Troubleshooting tethering connection issues is a process of elimination. In Tethered Flow, my comprehensive tethering mini-course, I’ve put together a checklist of all the possible issues you might face.

Being able to eliminate causes, will help you get closer to the culprit.

3 Simple Troubleshooting Tips for Tethering

At a quick glance, here are the three troubleshooting tips for tethering that I recommend you start with.

1. Check your camera is supported by the software, (either Capture One or Lightroom)
2. Make sure your computer recognises your camera to pin-point the issue
3. Try another USB port or another camera to further isolate the issue

Read on for more information.

How to Check if Your Camera is Supported by Lightroom

For Lightroom supported cameras, check out Adobe’s official guide. Be sure to check the minimum version requirements for each software, where applicable.

You cannot currently use Sony & Fuji with Lightroom. You’ll need to use Capture One or another tethering software.

It’s important to note that the older your camera or computer is, the more tech issues you might face. Very old cameras might not be on the list of cameras that can tether. If you have a brand new camera, Lightroom can take a few months for it to be added to the software.

How to Check if Your Camera is Supported by Capture One

For Capture One supported camera’s, check out Phase One’s official guide. Be sure to check the minimum version requirements for each software, where applicable.

Capture One supports more camera brands for tethering, including Sony, Fujifilm, Olympus, Leica, Pentax, Panasonic, and more. Capture One is usually better at integrating new cameras quickly into their software.

How to Check if Your Computer Recognises Your Camera

It’s important to check that your computer will recognise your camera when plugged in via USB. That will help you eliminate whether there’s an issue with connecting to the computer or the software.

Let’s check the following steps to see if your computer recognises your camera. Make sure your camera is plugged in a turned on!

Mac: plug in camera > System Information > Hardware > USB

If your camera is supported, it’ll pop up in the USB section if it’s recognised by the computer.

PC: plug in camera > Start Menu > Devices Manager > USB

Your camera should show in the list if it’s recognised by your computer.

2 Things to Try if Your Still Can’t Connect

If you still can’t connect and your camera is supported, then these are the next two troubleshooting tips for tethering I recommend performing:

Try a different USB port on your computer.

It sounds almost too simple, but it does work. On my old Macbook Pro (Early 2013) model, there was one port that worked seamlessly and one that didn’t.

Try another supported camera (where possible).

You need to eliminate whether there is an issue with your camera. If you have another camera you can try and it connects, that gives you the insight that you will need to investigate your camera or model further.

It is possible to damage or loosen your camera’s port, which means you’ll lose connection.

Quick FAQs Troubleshooting Tips For Tethering

Here are some quick FAQs troubleshooting tips for tethering in Lightroom and Capture One.

The post 3 Simple Troubleshooting Tips for Tethering with Lightroom & Capture One appeared first on Two Loves Studio.

This post may contain affiliate links. Purchases from affiliate links provide us with a commission to help us run this site.

I always find it interesting to see which lens professional food photographer. So I’s love to invite you to take a peek inside my camera bag to see which lenses I have and what I use the most!

I’m going to share these in order of most used and most loved! With images and settings. It’s always fun to see how other photographers use their gear to make their magic.

I’ll also share some camera settings so you can see how I use different lenses in different ways.

Lenses Professional Food Photographers Use

The main top 4 lenses that I use the most in my food photography are:

Nikkor AF-S 85mm F1.8G

This would have to be my favourite lens! I love the shallow depth of field I can capture with it, it’s lightweight and is great for shooting food portraits – my favourite style of food photography!

You might be asking, why isn’t your favourite lens your ‘go-to’ lens? The reason being is that the 85mm doesn’t have a good minimum focusing distance and there are times when I need to be closer to capture texture in my subjects.

But the 85mm focal length for me captures the right amount of ‘space’ and story in my images. I would have to use it on every shoot! Especially cocktail shots where I need more a scene.

Nikkor AF-S VR Micro 105mm F2.8G

This is my ‘go-to’ lens for a couple of reasons. This *the* lens professional food photographers use.

Shooting a lot of drinks and cocktails, the 105mm macro beautiful at capturing 45-degree angles. It’s also a macro, so it has a generous minimum focusing distance, (the one complaint I have with the 85mm). I even use it for my overhead shots to really compress the shot, as I love to shoot just the necessary subjects.

It helps me to reduce distortion the closer I am to my subject, which I think gives a sense of quality to the photo.

I do also like to use it for slightly wider scenes you might not suspect were used with a narrow lens!

Because the 105mm macro lens is quite heavy and the focus can be tricky, I tend to only use this on a tripod. Which is great for studio work. This lens also captures less light at the same settings than some of my other lenses, which makes shooting in low light almost impossible for hand-holding.

Ultimate Guide

Lenses For Food Photographers

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Nikkor AF-S Micro 60mm F2.8G

I have such a soft spot for the 60mm lens. It was the first lens I purchased with my own money. I mostly had second-hand gear and this was the first brand new lens I owned.

Apart from that, I love the way it captures light. There isn’t anything quite like it for me. It has a lovely vignetting and as I like to capture less in the frame, it cuts out just a little more than a 50mm. It’s not a lens that most photographers use on a full-frame, so I like that I am seeing through different glass.

If I need to shoot a flatlay, or fit more into the scene, I reach for my 60mm every time. Before my 50mm even.

Sigma 50mm f/1.4 DG HSM Art Series

Talk about sharp! This lens is a pleasure to work with. I don’t use it enough, because I tend not to shoot with as much space anymore. But I would use this lens over my nifty fifty 50mm any day.

It is also great for low light, having that extra ability to shoot larger apertures…and did I mention that it was sharp? This lens sure is heavy though, so for me, it’s something I have to be using a tripod for, which I am mostly being in the studio.

Nikkor AF-S 35mm F1.8G ED

I’ll always take the 35mm lens to restaurants or events. Even though I don’t do as much photography in restaurants these days, it’s a great lens to have as we also shoot travel scenes with it. It’s also a great option to capture behind the scenes photos for this blog!

I do recommend this as a lens professional food photographers use. As I don’t have a zoom lens, it’s an important lens to have access to this focal length as you never know when you’ll be called to use it.

Nikkor AF-S 50mm F1.8G (Nifty Fifty)

These days, the nifty fifty gets used for personal or travelling shoots. It’s so lightweight, inexpensive with a large aperture that we just can’t part with it. I tend not to use it for my professional food works, as I prefer the 60mm over this. If I do need a 50mm, then I will opt for the Sigma Art Series for client work.

Do you have a favourite lens? Let me know in the comments.

Two Loves Studio was not paid to write this post, however, it does contain affiliate links. If you purchase an item from an affiliate link, we do get a commission on the sale which helps us run this site. Only affiliates for products/services we believe in appear on this site.

The post How I Use My Professional Food Photography Lenses appeared first on Two Loves Studio.

This post may contain affiliate links. Purchases from affiliate links provide us with a commission to help us run this site.

Have you ever wondered what would be the favourite food photography lens of a professional food photographer? I’m sure you have, I know I do.

The lens that you pair with your favourite angles and food subjects help us get our style. This is one of the reasons I’m always curious about what photographers favourite lenses are.

So I asked 23 photographers, (24 including me) to share what their favourite food photography lenses are. Let’s jump straight in!

Favourite Food Photography Lenses From Around the Community

NIKKOR Z 24-70mm f/2.8 S – Joanie Simon

24-70mm f2.8 has always been a favorite on any camera system because of its versatility to be used in a variety of food photography applications.

From 24mm for a wider angle over head shot to 50mm for portraits of people (and food!) and 70mm for tighter detail shots with nice compression.

I also love to use it for video work, giving me the ability to execute an entire shoot without swapping my lens.

Zoom lenses can tend to be criticized for a reduction in sharpness in comparison to prime lenses.

But, the glass on the NIKKOR Z 24-70mm f/2.8 S is top-notch and in combination with the mirrorless technology, rivals the quality I get with my best prime lenses.

To check out more of Joanie Simon work, head over to The Bite Shot.

Sony 90mm Macro f/2.8 – Miguel Buencamino

This was a tough call and I wish I could pick two lenses since I consider myself a hybrid shooter (photo + video). Since I was only able to pick one, this Sony 90mm Macro is it.

A majority of my content is typically focused (ha, get it?) on drinks, ice, cocktails and spirits.

The composition of most of my shots are tight and I love being able to capture the small details in the glass; whether that’s the sharp edges on a hand-cut ice cube or the citrus oil that is expressed from the zest.

This lens is perfect for those uses since the details are so tack-sharp while still providing some softness to the imagery making it a great portrait lens to boot.

I love the focus clutch built into the lens as well. It allows you to manually go from AF/MF then fine-tune from there. This lens is on my A7iii 75% of the time. With honorable mention going to my Sony 35mm f/1.8 for photo/video and Tamron 28-75mm f/2.8 for all-around use.

To check out more of Miguel Buencamino work, head over to Holy City Handcraft on Instagram.

Fujinon XF 56mm F/1.2 – Justin Sisson

The Fujinon XF 56mm F/1.2 is easily my favourite lens in the entire fuji ecosystem. When it comes to on-location shooting you need versatile gear and this lens wide open allows me to take advantage of all available light. 56mm on the fuji X system is 85mm equivalent to a full-frame camera.

This focal length is also great for portraits both in the studio being super sharp at F8 and creating creamy bokeh for outdoor space where you need a less distracting background

I personally love shooting the lens at F2 in most situations. The throw on the lens is also great for those who like to use manual focus as well. A large number of images in my current portfolio were shot with this lens and it continues to have a special place in my heart.

To check out more of Justin Sisson work, head over to Justin Sisson Photo on Instagram.

Nikon AF-S Micro NIKKOR 60mm f/2.8G ED – Bella Karragiannidis

After shooting primarily with a 50mm lens when I first started my food photography journey, I was pleasantly surprised when I made the switch to a 60mm lens.

I find the Nikkor 60mm Micro Lens to be such a versatile focal length. It fulfils both macro capabilities for close-up details and is flexible enough to allow for portraits with limited distortion.

The 60mm has become my go-to prime lens for my food photography!

To check out more of Bella Karragiannidis work, head over to ful-filled on Instagram.

Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 USM Macro – Reka Csulak

After having fun with the golden standard nifty-fifty, the next addition to my lens collection had to be a macro lens. It was a game-changer regarding it gives me the possibility to show the details and texture of my heroes like never before.

From insanely beautiful closeups and next-level lifestyle captures to high-end product photography, a macro lens is a must-have in every ambitious photographer’s gear set

To check out more of Reka Csulak work, head over to Instagram.

Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM – Leslie Grow

My favourite food photography lens is the Canon 100mm macro.

This lens offers so much versatility. Whether I’m shooting life-size macro details or mid-range subjects, this lens produces a quality of sharpness and clarity that I like to incorporate into my work.

Color is a big component of my style, and this lens has the least amount of chromatic aberrations and color fringing that translates into the most accurate colors.

To check out more of Leslie Grow work, check out their Instagram.

Canon EF 50mm f/1.2L USM – Betty Shin Binon

The lens I use most is my Canon 24-70 MM F2.8 as it’s versatile, tack sharp with little chromatic aberration and distortion.

I use this lens as it’s versatile, tack sharp with little chromatic aberration and distortion. The zoom makes shooting in tight spaces handy too.

It’s definitely my go-to lens when I’m shooting products for clients.

However that all said, my absolute favourite lens, and I think will always be, my Canon 50mm F1.2. It’s soft, not versatile in tight spaces and has chromatic aberration issues at times.

The mood, the bokeh, the depth of field in my humble opinion negates all the cons I just mentioned. Photos taken with 50 mm F 1.2 offers more personality, mystery, intrigue and emotion in photographs. All the qualities I strive for when snapping an image.

To check out more of Betty Shin Binon work, head over to Stems & Forks.

Sony FE 90mm f/2.8 Macro G OSS – Lauren Short

For me, a long focal length macro lens is so much more than just for close-ups. A tight crop is aesthetically pleasing in food photography. I don’t often want a super-wide field of view, especially for straight-on shots.

This particular lens has a minimum focus distance of just 28cm, so I can get really close to my subjects and still have tack-sharp focus.

This allows me to create impactful food portraiture shots like these cupcakes, which allows me to get an interesting angle, and capture all the detail like in the toasted meringue on top.

Whenever I think about adding a lens to my kit, it has to add something different to my work than something I already have. This lens really helped me develop my signature style. It’s definitely the one I reach for the most, and the one I’d choose if I could only keep one lens!

To check out more of Lauren Short work, head over to Food Photography Academy.

Canon EF Lens 50mm 1:18 STM – Monique Polanco

My favorite food photography lens is the 50mm 1.8. It’s the lens that I use for most of my pictures.

I also have the 24-70mm 2.8 that I use for overheads if I need to capture a large area. If not, I use the 50mm for overheads as well.

It’s a fixed lens so my camera has to go on a C-Stand to get the right height, but I love the pictures that the lens captures.

Since the F stop goes down to 1.8, I can create better Bokeh with flowers and leaves with overheads as well as with straight-on shots. The camera I have is the Canon T6i. It’s known in the photography world as a starter camera.

I’m sure I’ll upgrade one day, but for now, it still works for me. And it works great with my 50mm lens. This lens is compact and lightweight and very affordable compared to other lenses. Perfect!

To check out more of Moniques work, head over to Monique Polanco Photography.

Nikon 105mm f/2.8G Macro – Himanshu Taneja

My favourite food photography lens is the 105mm macro. I love this lens for its versatility, very shallow depth of field, and sharp output.

I use it for top-down shots as well as for 45-degree angle shots. This has become my most used lens so far.

To check out more of Himanshu Taneja work, head over to their Instagram.

AF-S Micro Nikkor 105mm 1:2.8 G ED – Jenn Davis

I can’t give enough love to the 105mm lens. It’s my favorite food photography lens.

I use it for close up detail shots for amazing sharpness, pulled back food portrait images to create a lovely bokeh around the hero, and even step back for small scenes for nice compression. It’s my most used lens and always the first one I reach for.

To check out more of Jenn Davis work, head over to Two Cups Flour.

Pentax Promaster Spectrum 7 100mm 3.5 – Erin Beutel

When I switched from SLR to DSLR I decided to stay with Pentax because it is backwards compatible with all old film lenses. I bought this fantastic old 100mm lens on Ebay for about $60 and it is just a sharp little gem.

For me, the 100mm is my favourite because of the shallow depth of field combined with the compression to give depth to the scene.

It has a magical way of rendering both color and detail. It can pull you into the image and make you feel a part of the story. It’s an unconventional setup but it works for me and I love it!

To check out more of Erin Beutel work, head over to The Teatime Baker on Instagram.

Nikon AF-S VR Micro-NIKKOR 105mm f/2.8G IF-ED – Nisha Vora

My favorite food photography lens is the Nikkor 105mm macro.

This lens brings that beautiful bokeh in a way that no other lens I have used does. It’s also my go-to lens when I want the details in a dish to truly shine – the crinkly top of brownies, the salt clinging to roasted tomatoes, the olive oil glistening in a bed of creamy hummus.

And for the quality and durability, this lens is quite a bargain!

To check out more of Nisha Vora work, head over to Rainbow Plant Life.

Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 – Rezel Kealoha

This might surprise everyone, it’s my absolute favorite. I work with mainly direct natural sunlight.

95% of my photos are taken outside in that harsh California light and for me this lens is chefs kiss. It’s not high end, but because of the light that I use and also how I edit with more texture, clarity and dehaze I am able to manipulate my images to my particular style.

It also does not distort the image as much as other lenses I find and because I only do strictly food photography I am able to get the right angles and distance for my shoots.

I’ve rented other cameras and other lenses and I *cannot* get the same shot as I do with this lens. It just works so well for me. I also use it with a Canon 550D, which is a 10 year old camera. Sometimes it’s not about the equipment, but what you can do with it.

To check out more of Rezel work, head over to Rezel Kealoha.

AF-S Micro Nikkor 105mm 1:2.8G ED – Dyutima Jha

As a macro lens, it lets me shoot subjects up close for those stunning details or zoom out & get the same high-quality in a wider shot. I love this lens because it is so versatile, allowing me to shoot at a range of angles, esp. the 3/4th angle, with negligible distortion as compared to the 50mm lens.

The wide aperture creates beautiful, blurred backgrounds but also captures sharp details to make the subject stand out.

To check out more of Dyutima Jha work, head over to My Food Lens.

Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM – Kimberly Murray

The Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM is quickly becoming my favorite food photography lens. What do I love about it? What don’t I love?! My style leans towards minimalism. I like to be able to fill the frame without feeling the need to add additional props to take up empty space.

The minimum focusing distance of the 100mm Macro (a mere 11.8”) allows me to get closer to the scene in order to achieve my desired crop in-camera without distorting the image.

(The focusing distance is what bumped the 85mm f/1.2L out of the top position as my favorite.) In addition, I love its versatility for both food portraits and flat lays.

For the latter, I simply raise my c-stand to get higher above the scene. Finally, it is tack sharp and helps me to bring out the textures and details that I want to highlight in the food.

To check out more of Kimberlys work, check out Kimberly Murray.

Sigma 105mm F2.8 EX DG OS HSM Macro – Mike Johnson

My favorite food photography lens is the Sigma 105mm macro.

It’s a high-quality macro lens with some really good features (optical stabilization, focus limiter, and extremely fast focus speed).

I use this lens the most because it allows me to shoot tight shots of my dish and capture fine detail, while still keeping a shallow depth of field.

To check out more of Mike Johnson work, head over to Mike Bakes NYC.

Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L IS USM Macro – Vy Tran

I love the utility of the Canon 100mm Macro lens. I use it for both food photography and portrait.

Image stability is a huge plus since I rarely use a tripod.

Image quality from this lens is phenomenal with very sharp images with beautiful bokeh effect.

To check out more of Vy Tran work, head over to BEYOND SWEET AND SAVORY.

Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM – Johann Headley

My favourite food photography lens would be the 100mm macro. Photography is often about showing something that’s unique or from a different perspective. The focal length of human eyes rests between 35-50mm.

So an image at 100mm can give you a perspective that may captive since it portrays the subject in a way that’s not mundane.

This lens is great for showing great up-close detail, compressed backgrounds and has very well controlled distortion. It’s a must-have for food photography.

To check out more of Johann Headley work, head over to Olive & Mango.

Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM– Bea Lubas

My 100mm! (Just don’t tell my nifty fifty please!) Why a 100mm? This lens is my favourite ‘teacher’.

It teaches me to really see. To look beyond the obvious and what I know. To pay attention to and appreciate the magic hidden in the details.

It’s a true adventure to be exploring the world through this lens.

You can often hear me say ‘Wow’ to myself when I’m in the studio creating with it. It has such an incredible ability to turn something ordinary into extraordinary.

To check out more of Bea Lubas work, head over to Bea Lubas.

Nikkor 85mm f1.8 Z – Donna Crous

I’m often asked which is my favourite food photography lens. I always equate it to how I would feel if asked to name my favourite child.

I don’t have a favourite but it really depends on the day which one gets more of my attention.  

My two go-to lenses are Nikon 85mm f1.8 Z and 105mm f2.8 F which I use an FTZ adapter to connect to my mirrorless camera.

My choice of lens depends entirely on what I’m shooting and how close to the subject I want to get, often I’ll use both lenses in a shoot and just play around with different angles.

To check out more of Donnas work, head over to Donna Crous or on Instagram.

Sony FE 90mm f/2.8 Macro – Jordan Hughes

My favourite food photography lens is the Sony 90mm macro. This lens is just so incredibly sharp! It’s amazing at capturing all of those subtle details for food and drink photos, but it also makes a really nice portrait lens as well.

I also appreciate how the focus ring acts as the switch between autofocus and manual focus.

To check out more of Jordan’s work, head over to High Proof Preacher.

Sony Sigma Art 70mm Macro – Shiela Cruz

I love this lens because it’s so versatile, an absolute must-have for product & food photography.

The lens can be expensive and for its price, it is fast enough for buttery bokeh, it has macro capabilities for capturing textures and just an overall reliable lens that produces high-quality sharp images.

The Sigma Art 70mm was supposed to be a beginner lens for me. It’s a great lens for someone who is just beginning to explore food & product photography, however, I think I will keep this lens as long as I’m doing this.

To check out more of Shiela Cruz work, head over to Flavourfilled.

Nikkor AF-S 85mm F1.8G – Rachel Korinek

I am drawn to capturing the beautiful details and textures in food. So my favourite food photography lens would be The Nikkor 105mm micro 2.8. It lets me do just that.

It’s sharp and it’s generous minimum focusing distance lets me explore a range of distances from my subject, even when I’m not shooting macro.

The narrow focal length gives me a nice compression and reduces distortion.

To check out more of my work, head to my Instagram to see what I’m up to.

If you want to see how I use all of the lenses in my kit, you can check out this post on how I use my lenses.

Two Loves Studio was not paid to write this post, however, it does contain affiliate links. If you purchase an item from an affiliate link, we do get a commission on the sale which helps us run this site. Only affiliates for products/services we believe in appear on this site.

The post Favourite Food Photography Lenses From 24 Professional Photographers. appeared first on Two Loves Studio.

This post may contain affiliate links. Purchases from affiliate links provide us with a commission to help us run this site.

Everybody loves to talk about lenses! I’ve been blogging about lenses for food photography for quite a few years now and I don’t think there is a question that I haven’t been asked.

In fact, I went through every question on the blog and Instagram to compile this Ultimate Guide For Food Photography Lenses.

Table of Contents

• Your first food photography lens
• Top Recommended Lenses
  • Top 4 lenses for food photographers
  • 2 Best lenses for crop sensor users
  • Best 2 lenses for full-frame shooters
• Prime vs Zoom lenses
  • Recommended prime lenses
  • Recommended zoom lenses
• Hint – rent before you buy!
• Lenses on a budget
• The best lens for overhead shots
• The best lens for 45-degree shots
• Best aperture for a lens
• Which macro lens is best? 60mm or 100/105mm?
• When to use a tilt-shift lens

Got a lens question? Drop me a comment. Let’s dive in…

Your First Food Photography Lens

Most photographers will start out with the 18-55mm kit lens. This assumes that you’re upgrading from this lens. The lens choice will change depending on your camera type, i.e cropped sensor vs full frame.

• A 35mm, 1.8 prime lens for cropped sensors
• A 60mm macro, 2.8 macro lens for cropped sensors
• A 50mm, prime lens for full-frame. Consider an f-stop of 1.4 or 1.8
• A 100-105mm macro, for full-frame. This is the best lens for food photographers.

If you own a cropped sensor camera and the 18-55mm kit lens, my recommendation is for you to consider the 60mm macro. This will help you get closer to food, capture details and 45-degree shots. Sharp apertures matter more the closer we get to the food.

If you own a full-frame camera and the 18-55mm kit lens, I recommend thinking about what type of images you like to capture. For wide food scenes, consider the 50mm. If you would rather capture sharp 45-degree shots consider the 100mm/105mm macro (or off-brand options like the Tamron 90mm macro).

Keep reading: Your first food photography lens!

Top Recommended lenses

Let’s now jump straight into the top lenses and focal lengths that I recommend for food photographers.

4 Ultimate Lenses For Food Photography

The top 4 food photography lenses every food photographer who has a full-frame camera should consider having in their kit are as follows:

• 50mm ‘nifty fifty‘
• 60mm macro
• 100-105mm macro
• A tilt-shift lens

You may not need to have both a 50mm and a 60mm, it really comes down to the other qualities of the lens that your camera brand makes. A tilt-shift lens is a special investment you’ll likely only make once you’ve built your collection and have an unlimited budget.

The Two Best Lenses For Cropped Sensors

A cropped sensor is essentially a smaller sensor (than a full-frame) and gets its name from what is known as the ‘crop factor’.

It means that if you are shooting the same scene as someone who has a full-frame, your image is going to be ‘cropped’. You’ll be able to fit less in the frame at the same distance.

The top two lenses recommend for cropped sensor shooters of food photography are:

• 35mm for flatlays and overhead shots
• 60mm macro for 45-degree shots

The Two Best Lenses For Full Frame Cameras

A full-frame camera sensor is equivalent in size to 35mm film, which is considered full frame. It’s the largest sensor you will find in a consumer camera. They are typically found in professional or ‘high-end’ cameras.

The top 2 lenses for food photography and full-frame cameras are:

• 50mm for flatlays and overhead shots
• 100/105mm macro for 45-degree shots

These two lenses will give you the best combination of focal length for food scenes and portrait shots, a range of large apertures for low light as well as a macro and a generous minimum focusing distance for close up textured shots.

Prime vs Zoom Lens

As each lens has its own unique qualities, it’s hard to make general statements. Proper due diligence should be done when comparing particular lenses.

The general consensus on prime vs zoom lenses are as follows:

Recommended Prime Lenses

Prime lenses tend to be sharper at the apertures you’ll likely shoot food photography. Generally, you’ll also be able to get lenses with larger apertures, which will assist in lower light situations. Prime lenses for food photography to consider are:

• 35mm and 60mm for cropped sensor cameras
• 50mm, 85mm or 100mm/105mm for full-frame cameras

Recommended Zoom Lenses

Zoom lenses are handy because you get access to multiple focal lengths at once. The drawbacks are that they tend to be less sharp than prime lenses. Gaining access to larger focal lengths prime lenses makes zoom lenses larger and more expensive. Zoom lenses for food photography to consider are:

• 24mm – 70mm f/2.8 or 24mm – 70mm f/4 mirrorless lens
• 18mm – 55mm kit lens for cropped-sensors or beginners

Hint – Rent Before You Buy!

A good lens is a great investment. Invest in the best lens you can afford should last you your entire photography journey. You’ll likely upgrade cameras, but you can have the same lenses for life.

This can make the choice of lens a little tougher as you want to make the right choice. If you can rent or borrow a lens before you purchase, it’s a great idea to see if you like it or help you decide between two lenses.

When possible, I recommend renting a lens before you buy. Especially if you’re using a cropped sensor.

Lenses On A Budget

While photography can be an expensive activity, investment in lenses are almost more important than your camera. Lenses should last you your entire photography journey, so saving up to make the best purchase you can is wise.

But when we’re starting out, we have limited budgets. Whilst you need to do your due diligence with a lens purchase, here are some two popular budget options.

• A nifty fifty 50mm
• Off-brand options like the Tamron 90mm macro

Best Lens For Overhead Shots

Depending on the brand of camera you have, there will be different specs for each specific lens, but here are the best focal lengths to look for.

On a cropped sensor camera, the lens that will capture wide overhead food scenes are:

The 35mm

On a full-frame camera, the lenses that will capture overhead flatlays in a flattering way are:

The 50mm or a 60mm.

If you’re able to get some height with your tripod above your scene, you can opt for the 85mm to help you reduce some distortion at the edges of the frame.

Keep reading: Lenses For Overhead Shots

Best Lens for 45-degree Shots

Depending on the brand of camera you have, there will be different specs for each specific lens, but here are the best focal lengths to look for.

On a cropped sensor camera, the lenses that will capture 45-degree shots in a flattering way are:

The 50mm or the 60mm macro

On a full-frame camera, the lenses that will capture 45-degree shots in a flattering way are:

The 85mm or a 90mm/100mm/105mm macro

Best Aperture For a Lens

Focal length and aperture are large components of lens choice. There are also many other considerations that go into each lens, so due diligence is needed when reviewing all lens qualities.

There is a general consensus though that larger apertures are more useful because they will:

• Assist you in capturing more light in low light situations.
• Allow you more creative freedom and control.
• Can provide sharper apertures at apertures commonly used for food, (however this is very lens specific and hard to make generalisations).

A lens that has its maximum aperture at f/4 will generally cost less than its f/1.8-f/2.8 counterpart. Which is helpful for tight budgets.

Which Macro Lens? 60mm vs 100/105mm.

A macro lens is a staple for any food photographer, regardless of if you use a cropped sensor or full-frame camera.

Macro lenses will allow you to beyond overhead food photography shots, capture up-close details of texture but also allow you to have more control with minimum focusing distance.

Which focal lengths macro lens should you invest in? One major factor comes down to your sensor:

• Cropped sensor users should consider the 60m macro
• Full-frame users will want to consider the 100/105mm macro

To read more about why I recommend the 60mm vs 100/105mm for different users, read this post.

When to Use a Tilt-Shift Lens

Using a tilt-shift lens in food photography can allow you to precisely control the plane of focus like no other lens can. Tilt-shift is a lens that encompasses two unique movements, being a tilt movement and a shift movement.

TILT – the tilt function is used to change the orientation of the plane of focus.

SHIFT – the shift function is used to adjust the position of the subject within the image without moving the camera.

Mix of focus/blur control. Using a tilt-shift allows us to have control over the plane of focus to give the mix of focus and blur we see in this shot.

Angle/subject position control. You can shoot a dish in its most flattering angle, and control how much of the story/props around the frame are included without changing the camera angle, distance or the subject placement.

To learn more about tilt-shift lenses check out this post.

Two Loves Studio was not paid to write this post, however, it does contain affiliate links. If you purchase an item from an affiliate link, we do get a commission on the sale which helps us run this site. Only affiliates for products/services we believe in appear on this site.

The post The Ultimate Guide to Lenses For Food Photography appeared first on Two Loves Studio.

This post may contain affiliate links. Purchases from affiliate links provide us with a commission to help us run this site.

Usually, it’s overhead shots that get us started in food photography. But it’s those drool-worthy 45-degree shots that keep us inspired.

The lenses for 45-degree food shots and focal length that I will recommend depend on a few things:

• Your type of camera, so cropped sensor or full-frame
• How close you will be to your subjects
• The type of scene you are shooting.

Depending on the brand of camera you have, there will be different specs for each specific lens, but in this post, we will discuss the best focal lengths to look for.

Why Using the Right Lens With 45-degree Shots Matters For Food Photos

Paring the right lenses with 45-degree food shots is almost more important than overhead shots.

The main reason is that at this angle, we see the effects of distortion more. Distortion can still occur at both angles, but it’s more pronounced with 45-degree shots.

Another reason is that the plane of focus is at an angle, rather than parallel to our scene, so we need a quality lens that can get sharp focus. If you need to brush up on the plane of focus you can read about that here.

Cropped Sensor: Best Lenses For 45-degree Food Shots

If you have a cropped sensor camera, I recommend checking out the 60mm macro to take your 45-degree shots in food photography. Because it is a macro, it will give you a nice minimum focusing distance to work with.

If you don’t have this lens or it’s not in your budget, and you’re using the 18-55mm kit lens, I recommend setting your focal length to 50mm-55mm to get the same look. You will be limited with the aperture you can use, however. This is why the 60mm 2.8 can be a great option.

You can also get away with using the 50mm. If you have the f/1.4 – f/1.8, you can get those nice blurred backgrounds we all swoon over.

Full Frame: Best Lenses For 45-degree Food Shots

On a full-frame camera, the focal lengths and lenses that I recommend using for those beautiful 45-degree shots in food photography.

The main two lenses I recommend are:

• 85mm
• 90mm macro
• 100mm – 105mm macro

Basically, any lens in the narrow or zoom category can work for 45-degree shots. I know photographers who love using their 70-200mm zoom lens. Whilst I have this lens, I find the minimum focusing distance isn’t optimal for the way I like to photograph.

When to Use the 35mm or 50mm For 45-degree Shots

When it comes to creative choices, there are no rules. So I am not saying that you can’t use the 35mm or 50mm for 45-degree shots because for sure there is a time and a place.

If you’re going to use these lenses or focal lengths, I recommend it for more journalistic type shots or restaurant scenes. Just make sure that if you need to get an up close 45-degree that you have access to one of the lenses above.

Do you have a favourite lens that you use for 45-degree shots?

Two Loves Studio was not paid to write this post, however, it does contain affiliate links. If you purchase an item from an affiliate link, we do get a commission on the sale which helps us run this site. Only affiliates for products/services we believe in appear on this site.

The post The Best Lenses for Delicious 45-degree Food Shots appeared first on Two Loves Studio.

This post may contain affiliate links. Purchases from affiliate links provide us with a commission to help us run this site.

When we talk about lenses for overhead food shots, we’re talking about the ‘birds eye’ view angle. The view we see above the table as we are sitting down to a meal.

Or this could be the view that we are seeing as we making the food in the kitchen and serving at the table.

Overhead shots can be both wide and spacious or tight and minimal. So what are the best lenses for overhead food shots? Well, the answer depends on:

• Your type of camera, so cropped sensor or full-frame
• The height of your camera
• The type of scene you are shooting.

Depending on the brand of camera you have, there will be different specs for each specific lens, but in this post, we will discuss the best focal lengths to look for.

Best Lenses For Overhead Food Shots on a Cropped Sensor

There are two focal lengths that I recommend you check out for overhead shots if your camera is a cropped sensor.

If you’re looking to shoot large flatlays or scenes with a cropped sensor I would recommend the 35mm. If you have the 18-55mm kit lens that most photographers start out with, you can use this to get even wider by setting your lens to the 24mm focal length.

• 35mm for flatlays
• Using the 24mm focal length on your 18-55mm kit lens

If you’re looking to capture a tight overhead shot and need to reduce distortion I recommend using the 60mm focal length.

Ultimate Guide

Lenses For Food Photographers

CLICK TO READ

Best Lenses For Overhead Food Shots on a Full Frame

This advice will differ if you use a full frame camera.

• 50mm for flatlays
• 60mm can also capture flatlays and potentially reduce distortion
• 105mm if you’re after tight overhead shots

If you’re looking to shoot a large scene or flatlay with a full-frame camera I would recommend the 50mm focal length. If you’re looking to create a super larger flatlay, you can try the 35mm. You need to be mindful that you will experience some distortion at this focal length, depending on your height. If you choose to use this creativity, there’s no need to worry. Sometimes that distortion can be a nice touch.

If you’re looking to capture a tight overhead shot, as I often am, you can use something like the 85mm. You will just need to make sure you can get high enough above your scene. Usually with a tripod.

Best Lens For Large Overhead Flatlays

To make sure your angle of view is generous enough to capture all the elements to tell your story, you’ll want to check out a few lenses in the ‘wide angle’ to normal view category.

On a full frame, these focal lengths will be:

• 35mm for very wide scenes and human elements
• 50mm for flatlays
• 60mm can also capture flatlays and potentially reduce distortion

These focal lengths are great because you don’t have to be too high to capture your scene. Standing on a chair or having your scene on the floor can help you capture more into the shot.

When to Use the 85mm or 105mm/100mm For Overhead shots

You can absolutely use a narrow lenses for overhead food shots, in fact, I do it all the time.

The pros of using a narrow lens to capture overhead shots or flatlays are that you can reduce distortion at the edges of the frame.

I regularly use my 85mm or 105mm to capture tight overhead shots. As I have a very sturdy and tall tripod, I can get quite high above my scene to narrow in on the subject I am trying to capture.

Do you have a favourite lens for shooting overhead?

Two Loves Studio was not paid to write this post, however, it does contain affiliate links. If you purchase an item from an affiliate link, we do get a commission on the sale which helps us run this site. Only affiliates for products/services we believe in appear on this site.

The post The Best Lenses For Beautiful Overhead Food Shots appeared first on Two Loves Studio.

This post may contain affiliate links. Purchases from affiliate links provide us with a commission to help us run this site.

One of the most common questions I get is which lens for food photography should I buy?

The answer to which lens should you buy for food photography comes down to how you like to photograph, your style, your budget and the stage of your journey.

Focal length and aperture are large components of lens choice. There are also many other considerations that go into each lens, so due diligence is needed when reviewing all lens qualities.

Which Lens Should I Buy For Food Photography?

Generally, there is a flow to what I recommend food photographers buy. I a recommending this based on already owning the 18-55mm kit lens that most beginners get with their starter DSLR and it goes like this!

1. 60mm macro 2.8 for cropped sensors
2. 35mm 1.8 for cropped sensors
3. Upgrade to full-frame
4. 90/100mm/105mm macro 2.8 (focal lengths changes per brand)
5. 50mm 1.4 (consider selling your 60mm)
6. 85mm 1.8
7. 24-70mm f/ 2.8 (if you need flexibility and have the budget)

Keep Reading: Ultimate Lens Guide.

The Two Focal Lengths I recommend For Cropped Sensors

Most of the time I hear from photographers who have crop sensor cameras that the 50mm is the lens most recommended to them. My advice for these two lenses is based on your already owning the 18-55mm kit lens.

Which lens for food photography should you buy if you have a cropped sensor? The two that I recommend you look at are the:

1. 60mm macro for 45-degree shots
2. 35mm for flatlays and overhead shots

Having a cropped sensor means that if you are shooting the same scene as someone who has a full-frame, your image is going to be ‘cropped’. You’ll be able to fit less in the frame at the same distance.

This means the 60mm macro becomes a 90mm equivalent macro and the 35mm becomes a 50mm equivalent. These are the top two focal lengths that I recommend for full-frame users.

Keep reading: Focal Lengths For Cropped Sensor.

Ultimate Guide

Lenses For Food Photographers

CLICK TO READ

Keep or Sell the 35mm and 60mm When You Upgrade?

If you upgrade to a full frame camera, you now have two lenses that are less used for food photography. So should you keep them?

The 35mm is great to keep if you think will be doing restaurant work and don’t already have a zoom lens, (like the 24-70mm). Having the 35mm focal length is good for capturing restaurant interiors and atmosphere shots. The bonus of the 1.8 f-stop is that it will help you in low light situations.

The 60mm is more redundant if you prefer a 50mm focal length and would like to upgrade this lens to the 50mm 1.4. I personally kept the Nikkor 60mm when I upgraded as I loved the quality of the lens how and it captures light.

If budget is tight, this is a lens you can resell and put the proceeds towards getting the 50mm 1.4.

Why I recommend Having a 50mm 1.4

The 60mm macro is great for cropped sensors, but the 50mm 1.4 is going to be more versatile and give you more creative freedom.

These higher apertures do come at a price however. So by the time you get to this stage of your lens journey, you might have more cash to spend.

If you need a little bit more room than the 60mm provices and you shoot natural light and are in need of higher apertures, the 50mm 1.4 lens is a great option.

NOTE: The ‘nifty fifty is the 50mm 1.8 which is very inexpensive. Another option to consider if you’re budget-conscious.

Which Macro Should You Get? The 90mm, 100mm or 105mm?

When it comes to getting a narrow macro lens, there are a couple of options and it mostly depends on the brand of lens and camera you shoot with. There are many considerations that go into each lens, so due diligence is needed when reviewing all lens qualities.

• 90mm for Sony
• 90mm for ‘off-brands’ like Tamron lenses
• 100mm macro for Canon
• 105mm macro for Nikon
• 105mm macro for ‘off-brands’ like Sigma lenses

Focal lengths from 90 – 105mm for a narrow macro are highly recommended to have in your photography kit.

Why is the 24-70mm Zoom Lens Last?

This lens comes last on my list of lenses as it’s expensive. This is more of a personal preference If you really love the flexibility of the zoom lenses and don’t mind that it’s limited to f/ 2.8 – then go for it!

In my experience, many photographers just don’t have the budget for this lens and one of the pricer macro lenses.

Keep reading: Prime vs Zoom lenses.

Got a lens question? Leave me a comment or check out my Ultimate Lens Guide.

Two Loves Studio was not paid to write this post, however, it does contain affiliate links. If you purchase an item from an affiliate link, we do get a commission on the sale which helps us run this site. Only affiliates for products/services we believe in appear on this site.

The post Beginner to Professional: Which Lens Should You Buy For Food Photography? appeared first on Two Loves Studio.

This post may contain affiliate links. Purchases from affiliate links provide us with a commission to help us run this site.

Dark food photography is actually my favourite ways to shoot food. There’s something so magical about shadows and low-key lighting. To make dark photography work the best, pairing a dark background and moody light is essential.

Those two key elements alone will take you far if you take the time to really plan your concept.

Yet, some photographers find it hard to photograph dark backgrounds. If that’s you, here are some tips to help you get the perfect food with mood shot!

Three Quick Ways to Get Even Lighting On Dark Backgrounds

You may have noticed that when you photograph dark backgrounds seem ‘lighter’ or ‘less black’ the closer you are to your light source or window. The colour and depth feels better further away from the window.

What you’re seeing is called ‘light fall-off’. The light is brighter the closer you are to the light source/window and the power ‘falls off’ as you get further from the window. If you’re interested, this is due to the Inverse Square Law which I cover in my ebook Art of Light.

To get even lighting on our dark background, we need to work with light fall-off and the inverse Square Law. So here are three quick ways to even lighting.

Set Your Scene Further From the Window

Light becomes more even the further you are from the light source. The easiest way to have even lighting is to move your set up further from the window.

The caveat here though is that there is less power the further you are from the light source, so your photos might feel flatter or less ‘lively’. This can actually be a good thing when photographing dark backgrounds. I don’t recommend this for bright or airy shots, however.

Create Even Exposure to Photograph Dark Backgrounds by Blocking Light

Given the choice, I always try to get my photos right in-camera. Which means that if I can, I want to manipulate my light to be as ideal as it can be before I take the photo.

If you’re dealing with too much light at one end of dark background, you can simply add some black foam core directly next to your window to help reduce the light falling onto that part of the frame.

A tip is to play with blocking the light low and high. You will get different results. It’s good to play with both to see which better suits your subject and idea.

Add a Local Gradient Filter or Mask in Post-Processing

If you tether, this is also very easy and can be applied to each new photo that you take. Whether you use Lightroom or Capture One to tether you can add a Graduated Filter (Lightroom) or a Gradient Mask (Capture One) to help you with even exposure.

Once you’ve added the local adjustment, you can reduce either Exposure, Brightness, Highlights depending on which program you use. I personally opt for reducing Highlights first before exposure. But as you’re the visionary for your art, I recommend playing with a few sliders and seeing what works best.

A little bit of post production goes a long way when photographing dark backgrounds if you’re trying to get even exposure.

Change Your Angle to Perfectly Photograph Dark Backgrounds

Reflections and or glare is actually a complex subject if you want to get into the nitty-gritty. For this post, the most important thing to note is that glare or reflections are caused by the position of the light relative to the position of your camera.

To remove glare or reflections when photographing dark backgrounds, you need to change either the position of your light, the position of the camera or the camera angle.

Even if you use window light, you can change the position of the light relative to your camera. Backlight vs sidelight is doing just that.

Try these and see how the reflections or glare change:

• Shoot a different camera angle, like overhead, 45-degrees or straight on.
• Position the camera differently to your window, side-light vs backlight.
• Move your artificial light, closer or further, from side to side.

Working with White Balance on Black Backgrounds

White Balance is important to consider both in-camera and when post-processing with dark backgrounds.

While ‘White Balance’ does refer to how ‘white’ our whites are, it also affects black. We can have cool blacks, warm blacks or anything in between.

You may find that you can’t use the eyedropper tool well as you can’t find a neutral grey to select. If that’s the case, a tip is to use the preset options that you will find both in your camera and in Lightroom or Capture One.

Anytime I am struggling, I use the presets as a guide. I select the one that gets me as close as possible then use the Temperature/Tint (Lightroom) or Kelvin/Tint (Capture One) sliders.

Use the Kelvin White Balance Option In-Camera if You Can’t Tether

I don’t know about you, but White Balance throws me. When I am tethering I have to get the WB as close as possible for me to continue to visualise the light and the shot.

If I can’t tether, and I need to get the WB to be as close to concept as I am after, I will use the Kelvin setting to set a custom white balance. If you shoot in RAW and tether you don’t need to do this. But if you are able to get it right, it does save on editing time.

Think of it like having the White Balance sliders of your editing program right into your camera.

Black Tile Collection from Bessie Bakes Backdrops

Leslie from Bessie Bakes Backdrops and I created a tile collection together, that looks and photographs like real tile, but is much cheaper and lightweight.

To check out the collection, head to Bessie Bakes Backdrops.

Two Loves Studio was not paid to write this post, however, it does contain affiliate links. If you purchase an item from an affiliate link, we do get a commission on the sale which helps us run this site. Only affiliates for products/services we believe in appear on this site.

The post 5 Quick Tips to Perfectly Photograph Dark Backgrounds appeared first on Two Loves Studio.

Before I really understood just how easy it can be to shape natural light at home, I thought that I needed to have a fancy studio and expensive equipment to have beautiful light.

But my friends, we have a wonderful array of aids readily accessible to help us around the house we aren’t even using to help us with our natural light food photography.

I’m here to tell you today that you don’t need to have fancy anything. Some of the most simple things around the house can help us shape beautiful light. Even some things considered trash! 

In this post, I will be sharing some eye-opening items that you never thought of using before to shape natural light at home. Including:

1. Repurpose packaging into reflectors
2. Orientate slat binds
3. Use small mirrors
4. Masking tape or plants
5. Baking paper for a diffusion

If you want a bigger laundry list of things you can use, grab my free guide here.

1 – Packaging Can be Repurposed Into Reflectors

My hubby was the one who allowed me to see the value in everyday items and he’s often looking at how to repurpose the packaging that we get with deliveries.

I hate waste and loath the fact that a lot of packaging isn’t recyclable. So if I can reuse something to shape natural light, I am all for it.

I recently received a background rolled up in reflective bubble wrap that holds its shape. I kept this thin strip to help me reflect light back onto my scene when shooting natural light food photography.

2 – Orientate Slat Blinds to Shape Natural Light on Your Scene

Living in rentals during most of my early photography days, I got to see the light shaping abilities of different blinds in the apartments that we lived in. I learned a lot.

Even if slat or venetian blinds aren’t my most favourite blinds to look at (mostly because of the dust they collect!…), they are very handy at increasing or decreasing light, as well as the look of your shadows.

Depending on the look you are going for, play with adjusting the blinds so they orientate up or down. This will add or remove light to your scene. I use this technique for years to shape natural light at home.

Watch what happens to your shadows, it’s a great way to get the depth (or lack thereof) you’re after.

3 – A Small Mirror Can Create Concentrated Fill Light

I first encountered using mirrors in photography when working as a food styling for packaging. The photography studio would use mirrors to reflect light very intentionally onto one small area of the photo. Usually, an area that needed more light.

Sometimes you don’t want light to be reflected onto the entire scene, but rather a really small amount on a particular subject.

A small compact sized mirror can help you do just that.

4 – Use Masking Tape or Houseplants With Hard Light for Creative Light

Lines and shapes are used in photos to direct our eye and can bring both strength and harmony to an image.

If you don’t have venetian or slat blinds at home, you can easily create that look by using masking tape. Tap to your windows that have direct, hard light. You can also get creative by using leaves or plants to add shapes.

This is usually best used with East or West facing windows.

5 – Tape Baking Paper to Your Windows for a Soft Diffusion

Baking paper can be used in place of a diffuser to help create soft light, and you can re-use it over and over. It’s a great hack for natural light food photos.

You might be asking why use baking paper when you have a diffuser? The simple reason is you can strategically cut it to fit your window or half the window. It’s extremely versatile and a great way to shape natural light with a combination of double and single diffusion.

If you’re ready to take the guesswork out of natural light and have consistent and beautiful light to work with in your food photography, grab a copy of my ebook: Art of Light.

I hope you’ve been inspired by this post to find everyday items around the house and play with them when you’re shaping natural light. For more ideas on things you can use around the house, grab my free guide here.

Do you have a favourite item around the house that you use to manipulate your natural light? Let me know in the comments below. I’d love to know what you’ve been using.

The post 5 Everyday Items You Never Thought of Using to Shape Natural Light appeared first on Two Loves Studio.

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This post is written from the perspective of photographing in manual mode.

Knowing my camera settings won’t necessarily help you. Sure, camera settings matter, and yet they don’t.

Of course certain settings control light and DoF, freeze and blur motion and capture sharp, in-focus, quality photos. But what those exact settings are depends on a range of things.

Unless you are shooting in the same space as me, at the same distance, with the same light, the same lens and are going for the same creative elements as me, your settings will be different.

Shooting with natural or artificial light makes a difference too.

Instead, what matters is understanding the relationship between concept and desired exposure. This will help you unlock the best camera settings for food photography.

That’s where this guide will help you! We’ll cover general guidelines for camera settings, including:

• Best quality
• Controlling light
• Freezing and blurring motion, in natural and artificial light
• Controlling Depth of field, including tackling flatlays with different heights

In this Ultimate Guide to Camera Settings for Food Photography, I’ll cover each of these with images and example settings.

The Relationship Between Concept & Desired Exposure

It’s important to understand that the relationship between our creative concept will be dictated by settings that will get us to optimal, desired exposure.

Our settings are going to be affected by the following:

• The amount and quality of light we’re using
• The type of light, either natural or artificial command different settings
• What lens we’re photographing with
• The distance we are from our subject
• What creative elements we want in our photos i.e. motion blur, shallow DoF

Because settings are dictated by the above, these are general guidelines for settings rather than hard and fast rules. However, when it comes to still life, we’re more likely to predominately alter our shutter speed as subjects don’t move.

Camera Settings For Food Photography: Achieving The Best Quality Images

For the best quality images, we need to shoot in good quality light with a quality lens. Assuming we’re photographing in good quality light, generally speaking:

Low ISO and fast shutter speeds give us get the best quality images.

This is certainly reflected in the use of artificial light, strobes or flashes specifically, and is one of the reasons photographers like artificial light. Our ability to change the power of the light, allows us to select a low or base ISO and faster shutter speeds. 

Lowering the ISO to base ISO gives us the least amount of noise or grain. Faster shutter speeds help to increase sharp focus and reduce camera shake.

We want to aim for the lowest possible ISO and fastest shutter speed that still gives us the desired exposure for the concept.

Base ISO on the Nikon Z6 is ISO 50.

It’s the combination of settings, a good quality lens and flash that can give a quality look to an image. But that doesn’t mean you can’t achieve good quality images outside of flash photography.

How to Use Your Settings to Control Light

One of the main reasons we photograph in manual mode is to control each setting to bring our creative vision to life. Optimal exposure is a relationship between shutter speed, ISO and aperture.

To let more light into our camera, increasing aperture or ISO, or reducing shutter speed will result in increased exposure.

To reduce the amount of light into our camera, reducing aperture or ISO, or increasing your shutter speed will reduce exposure.

The combination that we choose will depend on:

• ISO – how does the camera handle ISO and are our other settings still giving us access to optimal exposure?
• DoF – can the concept still be communicated with a change in aperture and depth?
• Shutter Speed – can the photo be taken on a tripod allowing more room to reduce shutter speed by eliminating camera shake.

Here are some examples:

This was shot at sunset in autumn. As the light faded, I chose to reduce my shutter speed (to 1/15 sec from 1/30 sec) to let in more light for my desired exposure. I was able to do this due to shooting on a tripod.

I then decided I wanted to capture a shallower depth of field, and changed my aperture to f/2.8. As I wanted the same desired exposure, I reduced my ISO for quality (rather than increasing shutter speed).

Camera Settings to Freeze Motion

Freezing motion requires a fast shutter speed. When I say fast, I am talking about 1/800 sec and higher.

When freezing motion, it’s most important to focus on getting the shutter speed to be fast. The other settings will depend on the type of light we’re using.

How to Freeze Motion With Natural Light

When using natural light, we aren’t easily able to control its power, (unlike with artificial light). Because we need a fast shutter speed, we’ll either change ISO and/or aperture to get our desired exposure.

A higher aperture (smaller f-stop) will let more light in. Or you can increase your ISO to increase captured gain (ISO) of the final image.

The exact shutter speed will depend on the quality and amount of light we’re using. 

I shot this baked brie dish on a light autumn day with my 105mm macro. Because I wanted to ensure the movement was captured in the plane of focus, I decided to use a smaller aperture (larger number) of f/8.

With the combination of a smaller aperture and a fast shutter speed needed to capture the honey drizzle, (1/800 sec), I had to also increase my ISO to 6400.

Camera settings for this photo are 1/800 sec, ISO 6400 at f/8.

As I had more light to work with, I knew having an aperture with more depth would help me capture the drip in focus. No matter how fast your shutter speed is, if you’re subject in motion is out of the plane of focus, it won’t be *in focus*. It will be blurry or soft, but not because of movement.

ISO 6400 isn’t always an option for everyone depending on the type of camera you have and how new it is. Older cropped sensors won’t handle ISO the same way as the newer technology in full-frame cameras.

Now there are two things you can do here if you need to further control the aperture and DoF, allowing me to reduce ISO.

You can move further away and use a narrow focal length (lens). This puts more distance between the camera and the subject. Larger apertures (smaller f-stop) will appear to have more depth than if you were closer to the subject.

How to Freeze Motion with Artificial light

Settings choices will be different when shooting artificial light because we can now control the power of the light.

Most flashes or strobes have what’s called a maximum shutter sync speed. This means there is a limit to the shutter speed we can use. This limit is usually 1/200 sec.

1/200 sec might not seem fast enough to freeze motion, but due to the extremely short duration of the flash, 1/200 will indeed freeze motion. When I want to freeze motion with my strobe, my camera settings for food photography be set at 1/200 sec.

Because we can control the power of the flash/strobe, we don’t have to increase ISO to reach our desired exposure as we do with natural light. 

For a bright shot using artificial light, I will reduce my ISO to base ISO where possible or close to, and keep my aperture at an f-stop that matches my creative vision. Then change the power of the light.

The caveat here is that if you’re using a fast continuous capture, you may have to reduce the power of your flash/strobe and adjust your settings to accommodate. This is so the strobe can still sync (usually not at full power) and take into account any recycle time.

Where I need to use high speed capture, I’ll reduce the power of the light for it to continue to sync. Then increase my ISO as it’s generally near or close to base ISO.

The power of the light for this french onion soup shot was fairly high with base ISO. To use high-speed continuous mode and still sync the strobe, I needed to increase my ISO so I could reduce the power of the light by about half.

How to Blur Motion with Natural Light

Blurring motion or movement in an image is somewhat easier than freezing motion. To blur motion, we need to have a slow shutter speed, generally under 1/200 sec.  The slower the shutter speed the more blur we’ll see in the movement.

Reducing shutter speed will let more light in. We therefore need to adjust either aperture and/or ISO.

For a bright shot, I’ll lower ISO (as long as I am still maintaining optimal exposure) and maintain an aperture to an f-stop which matches my creative vision.

To capture blur in a moody shot, I’m generally working with less light to start with so I may need to either increase my ISO and/or aperture. Here I will think about what f-stop is the highest that can still work with my concept and how far away from my subject I am. Then I will also increase ISO to where I am comfortable with.

The Nikon Z6 that I shoot with handles ISO very well, so I can generally push ISO more than other cameras or older cropped sensors might.

You can see the difference between blurred motion above, on the left, we have a slow shutter speed which blurs the falling icing sugar. On the right, exceptionally quick speed of a flash will freeze the falling edible pearl dust at approximately the same shutter speed.

Blur Motion by Using a Continuous Artificial Light Source.

It is possible to blur movement with artificial light, and by using a continuous artificial light source you can get this look most easily.

A continuous artificial source could be a continuous light like my Aputure Light Storm 120D or the modelling light on my B10 Profoto Strobe.

The main difference between a continuous light that’s artificial vs natural light is that we can control both our settings and the power of the light. Often times this means that we won’t have to use very high ISO values in comparison as we have the power to change the light.

To blur this pour shot, I set my shutter speed to 1/60 sec so the motion was blurred. I used the modelling light on my strobe, which doesn’t have as much power as my continuous light.

You can use your shutter speed to give you a degree of creative effect over your movement. For example, this is a fizzy liquid, and you can almost see no bubbles in the liquid due to the amount of motion blur.

Settings for Controlling Depth of Field

A high f-stop (smaller number), will have a shallower DoF. Conversely, a lower f-stop (larger number), will give more depth with more in focus. But nothing in photography is simple. There’s always a relationship.

The amount of depth in your photos depends on the aperture we shoot, the distance from the subject as well as the plane of focus.

How to Capture Deep Depth of Field With a Macro Lens

Because depth of field is affected by aperture and distance, it can seem like narrow macro lenses (90mm/100mm/105mm) are more shallow than regular lenses.

That’s not the case. Macro lenses have a very generous minimum focusing distance that allows us to get closer to our food. 

This compresses the subject and exaggerates the effects of depth of field.

The closer we are to our subject, the more we’ll want to test a smaller f-stop (larger number). I usually aim for f/5.6-f/8 as a starting point for my 105mm macro and then reduce it even further to f/11-f/16 if I’m very close.

RELATED: Secret to Macro Photography – Plane of Focus

Capturing a Deep Depth of Field With a Regular Lens

Non-macro lenses have a meager focusing distance so we’re generally further away from our subject. This means that aperture appears to have more depth.

An aperture of f/5.6 will appear to have more depth with a regular lens than a macro lens. On a regular lens, I will shoot between f/5.6 and f/8 to capture depth.

Always be mindful of your distance and compression, then adjust accordingly.

How to Tackle DoF When Shooting Flatlays With Varying Heights

When dealing with varying heights when shooting overhead we want to utilise distance to our advantage.

This means thinking more than just about the camera settings for food photography, or aperture. The trick is to position our focus on a subject whose height is halfway between the background and the top of the tallest subject.

This will allow us to capture more depth than if we were to focus on the extremes, (i.e the background being the shortest subject with no height, and the top of the tallest subject).

In this shot, (was created for my composition masterclass), I would focus my focal point on any of the three fruits with the pink circle.

In combination with the position of the focus, we’ll want to try to use a smaller aperture (larger f/stop) to capture the subjects in focus. 

Camera Settings For Food Photography: How to Capture a Shallow Depth of Field

If we’re looking to capture a shallow, yet soft buttery depth of field, the good news is that the closer we get to the subject (or the more the lens compresses the distance) the shallower the DoF will be.

For macro lenses, we can find that f/3.5 might give us a shallow DoF as we’re closer. A regular lens however, you might need to go to f/1.8 to get that feel.

I love my 85mm lens, however, the minimum focusing distance means that I can’t get close to my subject. So for portraits, I’m sometimes further away than when I use my 105mm macro. This means to capture that soft buttery DoF, I often need to shoot apertures between f/1.8 – f/2.8 to achieve that look with my 85mm.

From capturing motion to blurring motion, controlling light and DoF, we’ve covered a lot of guidelines for settings.

If you have any questions regarding the best camera settings for food photography to achieve some of the techniques we discussed in this post – leave me a comment and let’s chat.

The post Ultimate Guide: Best Camera Settings for Food Photography appeared first on Two Loves Studio.

When I first started out doing food photography, I had the hardest time finding cake stands. In almost a decade, I think I’ve only ever found two cake stands at Thrift Stores!

Maybe I’m just unlucky…

Cake stands are a must-have prop for any food photographer and they can be expensive. Ideally, every food photographer should have a couple of cake stands to use with different sized cakes.

This simple hack for a diy cake stands for food photography will save you money, give you more creative options and improve your cake photography!

Let’s take a look at the three main ways I make these diy props for food photography.

DIY CAKE STANDS IDEA 1: PINCH BOWL + PLATE

First up is my favourite diy cake stand.

It uses a pinch bowl and a plate! Genius, because I have so many little pinch bowls that I can really mix it up depending on what height and size cake I have.

IDEA 2: TRAY + STAND

This next diy cake stand hack uses cake stands that you already have and turns them into new ones.

To do this, you’ll need cake stands that have removable stands. When I buy cake stands I look for ones with removable bases for this exact reason.

It gives me endless options for composition and styling.

RELATED: Food Photography Prop Checklist – Build Your Collection The Right Way.

DIY CAKE STAND IDEA 3: STACKED PLATES

Stacked plates can make for great diy props for food photography.

I tend to use different sized plates to add some dimension and usually focus on 2-3 plates.

This gives height like a cake stand and brings a different look.

You’ll see in these two images that the pavlova on the single plate looks like, well a cake on a plate. But if you use 2-3 plates, it gives it more of a diy cake stand look.

IDEA 4: BAKING TIN + PLATE

This hack is like the staked plate idea, but combines both a plate and a baking tin.

I usually go for round baking tins as most cakes are round shapes.

Do you have any diy cake stands hacks? I’d love to hear what you do to make your prop collection go further. Leave me a comment, I’d love to know what you use!

The post Create 4 DIY Cake Stands with these Food Photography Hacks appeared first on Two Loves Studio.

Every food subject has a hero side. A side that is more flattering and appealing.

One of the simplest tricks to improve your composition and food photos is to present the food at it’s best, by finding the hero side!

How to Find The Hero Side of Food

To find the hero side of food, you need to look at every side from every angle.

The quickest way to do this is to put your food on set and spin or turn the plate or bowl. From the camera side, look at the dish to see what looks best.

When you think you’ve found the best side, position that side so it faces the camera. It’s super important to also look at the food through the camera to find the hero side of food.

Because what the camera sees is different from what our eyes see.

The Camera Sees Differently

Now you’ve found the best looking side, it’s time to test that side in camera.

To further make sure you’ve got the most flattering and appealing side of food, test a few angles and rotate the food as necessary.

You don’t need to go crazy viewing every angle from 0 to 90-degrees, but if you’re shooting at say 45-degrees, changing your camera angle by 10-degrees each way can help you find little adjustments that make the food look 10-times better.

The final image and hero shot has been retouched in Photoshop.

RELATED: 4 Ultimate Food Photography Lenses For Beautiful Photos

Examples

Because we’re visual learners, let’s look at some examples of how I got to the final shot in this Black Forest Cupcake and how I saw the hero side.

By spinning the cupcake towards the camera, I could look at each side to see what looks best. What am I looking for, and what does best describe?

I’m looking for:

• Interest in the swirl of the icing
• Height in the icing swirl
• Movement in the icing and cherry on top
• No damage (or the least) to the cupcake, icing or cupcake liner
• The best arrangement of chocolate shavings that reveal the icing

To put it simply, this cupcake is a good example of how important finding the hero side is. The cupcake either looked intricate and luxurious. OR it looked like a bit of a mess with all the toppings going on.

Just this small action, look it from a 4 to an 11 on the scale of drool-worthiness.

Hopefully this post can show you how the simple trick of finding the hero side of food can make a huge difference.

Great photography is made up of a lot of little things done well.

Matt Korinek

Can you see the difference just a little rotate makes? Let me know in the comments if you agree!

The post The Simple Trick For Better Food Photos: Finding the Hero Side. appeared first on Two Loves Studio.

Photographing color in food photography used to be a challenge for me. I was scared of using bright colors as it often looked like a dog’s breakfast.

We all know that when it comes to food photography, color is very important and appealing! I’ve discovered a few secrets that are a must when shooting color confidently! Quickly, they are:

• We need to use color theory to create harmony.
• Use color contrast and soft light if you’re new to photographing color.
• White balance also affects colors, not just whites.
• Choose creatively you’ll approach colored shadow and highlights.
• Desaturated colors are just as powerful.

Let’s take a look at some of those tips so you can get color happy!

To Create Color Harmony, Rely on Color Theory.

It’s very easy to get lost when it comes to photographing bright colors. We mostly shy away from using anything to crazy or colorful, but the problem isn’t the color.

It’s how we pair or use our colors together.

Color Theory is a set of practical guidelines on how to mix colors and the visual effects of colour combinations. Color Theory explains why certain colors have given sensory experiences and are aesthetically pleasing.

When we are using bold colors to photograph food, we need to think firstly about the color of our food. Then by using different types of Color Theory, we can start to pair ingredients, props, backgrounds and other supporting elements in a way that feels harmonious.

Basic Color Theory pairings can be:

• Monochromatic
• Analogous
• Complementary

For more advanced Color Theory, enrol in my Composition Essentials masterclass.

Pick the type of Color Theory you want to use, then start to pick props, create a background and source ingredients in that color palette.

Use Color Contrast & Soft Light if You’re New to Photographing Color.

Light is everything in photography and a lot of times light with a lot of contrast catches our attention more than very soft light.

But super soft light can really work when you are shooting lots of color, and especially when working with brightly colored backgrounds.

Soft light can ‘soften’ our colors and make them inviting. You don’t always need to shoot color with soft light, but it’s an easy choice if you’re new to exploring color.

Colored shadows will also be less pronounced with soft light if that’s an annoyance you have (we’ll cover this later).

Soft light helps us focus on color contrast and ‘feel’ each color. I don’t tend to use very soft light much in my food photography outside of shooting lots of color.

White Balance Also Affects Color.

White balance doesn’t just affect whites, it also affects how colors show up in our photos.

It’s therefore important to make sure we are correcting our white balance to suit the colors we are shooting. It’s not enough to just use the eye-dropper tool once and hope for the best.

In actual fact, just using the eye-dropper tool is holding you back as you’re basically letting your RAW editor decide color correction for you.

If you take a moment to ‘feel’ the shots above, the warmth of coolness of each photos brings a different meaning to colour.

How to Approach & Correct Colored Shadows & Highlights.

My biggest annoyance when working with brightly colored backgrounds is they result in colored shadows and highlights/reflections.

Colored shadows or highlights are inherently good or bad. They are just part of photographing color.

How you deal with these problems creatively, is up to your style and your creative vision.

Here are some ways you can think about these areas in your photos:

• Create deep and darker shadows that look more black than colored.
• Shape soft and airy shadows so they feel less noticed as being colored.
• Retouch colored shadows & highlights to your liking (something I teach how to do in Retouching Food Photography Masterclass).

Let’s look at some examples here.

Don’t be Afraid to Desaturate Color.

The cliche ‘less is more’ couldn’t be more true when it comes to color.

Creating and sharing work on Instagram for years now, has led me into a lot of insight on what others find ‘colorful’.

Colorful doesn’t equal lots of color, or even bright colors.

Colorful is harmonious and pleasing. This includes adding different hues of color and even desaturating some colours.

Think about which color is the ‘hero’, or the ‘star’ of your photo. Do the other colors feel harmonious, or do they compete? What happens if you paired a desaturated color? Or desaturated the color in post-production?

I hope this post have given you some tips to think about when you next integrate bright colour in your work!

The post 5 Secrets to Confidently Photograph Color in Food Photography appeared first on Two Loves Studio.