Travel Photography of Culinary Subjects

Poor Light, Composition and Styling Are Enemies of Fine Food Photos

Jan 14, 2009
Maddalena Delli

Poor Lighting and Glares May Be an Issue - Marc Iserman, United Kingdom

What are the main challenges of photographing food while traveling, and how to overcome them? What should you be aware of if you plan to sell your photos as microstock?

There's little denying that under ordinary circumstances, quality food photography is first and foremost about lighting, composition, and styling/props.

Unfortunately, those three keypoints are exactly the ones over which you'll have little or no control when traveling...

Main Challenges of Capturing Food While Traveling

POOR LIGHT - Most food photography opportunities will be indoors, and to make bad things worse, travelers are most likely to dine in a restaurant for their evening meal, when it's dark. Moreover, restaurants are often dimly (even candle) lit, for the benefit of ambience.
POOR COMPOSITION - Although spectacular visual presentation is a constant feature in top-notch restaurants, picture-perfect food plating will hardly be the norm any traveller will meet. In fact, gourmet restaurants will not even want guests to capture their chef's signature creations on film or file. When you can't meddle with your subject, a change of angle or bold cropping sometimes plays wonders to make even the most unattractively laid sandwich look delicious, or at least intriguing.
NO CHOICE OF PROPS - Diners obviously have no choice of prop styling in restaurants, cafes, brasseries or other dining establishments. When trying to capture their food, they also will often have to struggle with cluttered and/or distracting backgrounds.

Familiarize With the Capabilities of Your Camera

Experiment and practise before leaving. While still at home, pretend you are traveling, and grab photo opportunities on familiar turf: take your camera to the market, to the restaurant, to any party or festival you visit. Then, while the memory of the circumstances is still fresh, critique your own work, weigh what worked and what didn't, and figure out why. Know your camera (and lenses, if applicable) inside out, and learn how to quickly tweak its settings for best results under various circumstances. It will prove invaluable practice once you're away!

Photographing Food With a View to Selling Your Photos Online

If you plan on selling your travel snaps as microstock photos to earn some extra cash, remember that capturing logos is a major no-no, and your submissions will be turned down if you do. The rules are less strict if you will be selling your images for editorial purposes. The same applies to people: humans are highly desirable in a photo, but if the subject is recognizable, microstock sites like Fotolia, Shutterstock, BigStockPhoto, 123RF or Dreamstime will require a model release. For optimum chances of having a saleable portfolio of culinary travel pictures, go for appropriate body parts (hands, arms mouths...) rather than full faces.