Building up layers in food photography

Baked Pasta- Building up layers in food photography| www.jonathanthompsonphotography.com

Giving your food photography depth and dimension by building up layers

Hi Guys. I want to share some of the techniques we use to build up depth and interest in food photography by building up layers.

You will see it time and time again. Some of the nicest food photos have several layers, built up with chopping boards, napkins, boxes and just about anything that can bring depth and texture.

You don’t have to look too far for your props. One of our favourite backgrounds we love to use is our very well loved baking trays. Material stores will be your best friends. You can get just about any kind of material, from silky and shiny to hessian and rustic.

Murdered Cherries- Building Layers in Food Photography| www.jonathanthompsonphotography.com

Here’s one of our baking trays that we murdered these cherries on as part of a post.

Oven Baked Pasta, building layers in food photography | www.jonathanthompsonphotography.com

Let’s take a look at this image. The 1st layer is an apple box giving a rustic, textured starting point. Layer 2 is the white plate. this gives a bit of height to the scene without distracting from the subject. Layer 3 is the hessian material, folded for further layers and has great texture. Layer 4 is the metal skillet which also brings texture as well as height. Then finally the pasta is full of depth and varying layers.

In this shot, we have a second skillet, bread and herbs in the background. This also brings a depth to the shot when you shoot from the front as well as additional interest for top down.

Baked Pasta- Building up layers in food photography| www.jonathanthompsonphotography.com

As you can see the layering technique gives us a much more interesting photo. We try to bring plenty of textures to the layers for that extra components.

So there you have it, building layers in food photography is pretty straight forward. You can overdo it if you’re not careful but let me leave you with a couple of bites of advice. Don’t get too caught up with getting it all perfect, just go with it. Secondly, like anything else, practice, practice, practice. Even without adding the food, practice setups, using empty plates or dishes. Once you’ve layered up a scene, grab the camera, and practice shooting that. It’ll give you a better understanding of how your styling will look in the camera.

As always, if you have any questions, leave them in the comments below and I’ll answer them, I love hearing from you.

I’ll see you back here very soon.

JT signing off

7 Comments on “Building up layers in food photography”

  1. This is great! I have been trying to think about this more when I photograph my food! Some foods I find a bit harder to think of what layers to add- I shoot a lot of desserts (cupcakes for one) and struggle thinking of ideas of how to add layers for those…thoughts? Thanks!

    1. Hi Heather,

      Some foods can be really challenging can’t they. Let’s take your lovely cupcakes and top down shots. Having a surface which has an interesting texture and a colour which compliments the cakes is a good start. Your surface could be as simple as a lightly wrinkled linen sheet of material. Put some gentle folds to create some nice shadows, and then place your cupcakes in amongst the folds. Maybe think of them as band members with a new album cover.
      You can add old tins you’d find at junk shops and garage sales. Start to tell a story about the cupcakes. Most of the time we have food theirs a story to be told. Even if you’re on your own, sitting on the sofa, snaffling down a cheeky cupcake. Maybe you have a coffee or tea with it. Do you read a book because this is your quiet time from all the busy life of your home. So many stories, they’re everywhere.
      Once you have an idea of the story to tell, perhaps the props, textures and layers will become more obvious to you. Plan one story idea a week, lets say Friday’s the day. All week this story is in your head, your brain will look out for things that might work to tell this story. You’ll find a perfect this and a wonderful that. Try it on, see how you like it.

      It’s not much different for ¾ shots, looking down. I would’t go too overboard with your layers, take it one layer at a time. Build the scene. Don’t rush it, enjoy the experience telling the story.

      Does this make sense to you and does it help?

      Please let me know how you get on, I’d love to see your tasty stories.

        1. Thanks Scot, really great to see you too. Glad you’ve found this helpful. If there’s anything specific I can help with, just drop me a line.

  2. I very agree with you. No way without that practice, practice, and practice. It’ll give me a better understanding of styling will look in the camera.

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