The right background can make all the difference
Today I’m writing about choosing a background for food photography. The right background doesn’t have to be expensive but it will make a big difference.
Rustic backgrounds
You’ve probably seen the crisp, clean backgrounds used for fine dining food photography, this is perfect when the dish is beautifully plated with nothing to distract you from the chefs creation. Many people don’t have access to this level of food and the styling of an accomplished chef. That doesn’t mean you can’t shoot food.
In my photo of French Onion Soup, I took our supper and arranged it on an upturned apple box, added a couple of props and made a picture.
The rustic nature of the meal and the texture of the apple box, complement each other, giving you a pleasing photo of a hearty meal. Combine this with the light coming into the scene at a low, wintery angle and you have a nice characterful photo.
Obviously the size of one apple box has it’s limitations, so I recently took myself off to find some additional backgrounds. I came across a company who had a stack of broken pallets that were no longer usable for their needs. A quick visit to the office, a polite enquiry and a smile resulted in a car full of wooden pallets, perfect for turning into various styles of wooden backgrounds.
I’ll be turning these into cool backgrounds, painting some to give very different looks. Stay tuned to see how I get on and any tips I can pass on to you for creating your own backgrounds. In the mean time, keep your eyes open and think outside the box, you’ll be surprised what you can find that will give your food photography a unique look.
That’s all for now, see you back here very soon.
Have a brilliant weekend.