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10 Tips to Improve your Food Photography
TBEX NA Fort Lauderdale, Florida Thursday, October 29, 2015
Julie Deily // TheLittleKitchen.net
juliedeily.com@TheLittleKitchn
In Memory of Joan Hayes
chocolatechocolateandmore.com
#chocolateforJoan
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Quick Intro
• Started my food blog called The Little Kitchen in Dec. 2009
• Have spoken at BlogHer Food and other conferences; organized several food blog conferences & the great food blogger cookie swap
• Food photography has appeared in print, recognized as a foodie instagrammer to follow by Orlando Weekly and one of 30 bloggers to follow in 2015 by Southern Living
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1. Practice Practice Practice
I know…so annoying
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juliedeily.com@TheLittleKitchn
2. Lighting
• Natural light (again so annoying)
• Get a table near a window
• Lunch!
• Pay attention to lighting when being seated
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3. Shoot Different Things
• Shoot the menu at the restaurant
• Capture the ambience of the restaurant
• Take a photo of the restaurant sign
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juliedeily.com@TheLittleKitchn
4. Use the tools you have
• Use other people’s hands
• Use napkins to reflect
• Use strobe or flashlight from someone else’s phone
• Stand up, stand on chairs
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juliedeily.com@TheLittleKitchn
juliedeily.com@TheLittleKitchn
5. Focus
• Make sure the food is recognizable
• Don’t need to be so close to the subject
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juliedeily.com@TheLittleKitchn
6. It’s all about the details
• Move things around, wipe the plate
• But don’t move around so much that it’s not the same plate you were served
• Move your glasses, get rid of clutter
• Pay attention to what’s around the dish or on the table
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7. Edit, edit, edit
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juliedeily.com@TheLittleKitchn
juliedeily.com@TheLittleKitchn
juliedeily.com@TheLittleKitchn
8. Use Apps
• For the desktop, I love Adobe LightRoom
• Apps for the phone (all allow you to copy & paste edits and apply to other photos) Snapseed - great editing tool, transform feature VSCO - filtersPicTapGo - filters, allow you to combine
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Snapseed Demo
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PicTapGo Demo
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9. Dos & Don’ts
• Don’t use unnatural angles (overhead or 45 degree angles)
• Please don’t use flash on people or food
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juliedeily.com@TheLittleKitchn
10. Consider equipment
• smartphones
• dSLR
• lightweight mirrorless cameras (the one I love is a Panasonic Lumix — reviewed here.)
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Questions?
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