Food photography is one of the most followed niches in social media sites such as Instagram. People just love to look at images of food that are good enough to make them drool. Today, more people are sharing the meals they are having by taking a photo of it first before eating.

You might notice your shots are not as appealing as the ones you see in your Instagram feed. Food photography may look easy at first since your subject is not moving at all. But it can be challenging. You need to capture food to express how good it tastes through its looks.

If you’re a foodie who wants to share your passion for all things food but struggles with food photography, here are some tips that you should try to improve your skills:

Use props

You can tell a story that goes with your food shot by using props. Perhaps you are on the beach while eating the food. Then you can gather shells and place them nearby your food. If you got the food on a roadside diner on the way to a destination, capture it with a map. If you cooked the meal yourself, you can capture it in your kitchen, surrounded by the tools you used while cooking.

Create an interaction

Plain photos of food on your plate can get boring. Try adding some interaction. Perhaps capture the moment when you slice into a lava cake and the chocolate filling oozes out. It can be something as simple as a hand holding a spoon over a bowl of soup or a kid about to take his first bite. This human element from time to time can make your feed more interesting.

Shoot in multiple angles

I know you are hungry and you think one angle is enough but you should hold on to your huger for a while and take multiple shots from different angles. The right angle is important in food photography. The most common angle is shooting from above since it shows the details of the food and its background. Taking a shot from the side will bring out more details of the food. Shooting the food diagonally will show three dimensions of the food.

Light and angles

Direct natural light is a no-no for food shots because they cause harsh shadows. You can diffuse the light with a piece of paper. Backlighting is considered to be the best lighting for food images because it gives a more crisp picture and will allow steam to be captured in the image.

Details matter

The best food shops are crisp, closed-up shots that show the details. Try to capture the texture of the food (smooth, crumbly, drippy) and you will be able to produce a mouth-watering image. Do not be afraid to zoom in the details. It is always the tiny details that make your food look realistic and this will stir any viewer’s hunger.

Do not forget to practice. You can not learn all these tricks in just a day. Some may take a bit of time before you get the hang of it. It also helps if you already have a good smartphone from the start. If not, you should think of investing in one. The HUAWEI camera kit is a good model for food shots. Soon, your social media pictures will look better and you will be incurring more followers on Instagram.