How to Photograph a Recipe Step 1: The Set-Up (With Natural Light)

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We are excited to introduce our new YouTube series, “How to Photograph a Recipe!” For the first time, we are giving you a free, detailed look at what you get when you join Pretty Focused. And believe us, this is just the smallest taste of our entire course.

If you’ve been curious about Pretty Focused but struggled to say “yes” because you just weren’t sure if it was right for you, now is your chance. Check out our YouTube series and try photographing your very first recipe today.

But be warned: Once you start, you won’t want to stop. And be sure to follow along in our blog for even more insight. So, let’s get started!

How to Photograph a Recipe Step 1: The Set-Up

Our “How to Photograph a Recipe” series is divided into four steps, four videos, and a four-part blog. We aim to walk you through every aspect of food photography in action so you can start your first food photography session.

This series is all about photographing angel food cake—one of our favorite summertime recipes—and dives into all the particulars. Including:

• How to set up your food photography studio,
• How to use natural light effectively,
• How to prep the recipe,
• How to gather ingredients,
• How to take the ingredients shot,
• How to photograph the entire recipe process,
• How to photograph the heroes.

In this first blog and first video, we’ll focus on setting up your studio and using natural light. Are you ready?

How to Set Up Your Food Photography Studio

The first step to becoming a food photographer is deciding where you will take your photos. This can be anywhere in your house, a shed, your garage, or even a rental office. The key is having a dedicated space where you can keep your equipment, have a table, and can be consistent in how you photograph recipes.

With a studio area that doesn’t change, you can get to know your space and how it works in different lighting and situations. This will make set up so much easier and quicker and ensures that you get consistent, high-quality photos that all fit within the same brand and feel. This will be especially important when you take photos of multiple different recipes for the same blogger.

Things to look for in a good photography studio:

• Natural Light: A large window next to your photography table gives you a lot of options to play with natural light and diffusers.
• Storage Space: Between plates, cups, bowls, pans, backgrounds, and décor, there are a lot of different style items you will need for food photography and that you will collect over time. A large storage closet or cabinet can be a big help.
• Room: While you only require a small table for styling, you will need to be able to move around that table to get everything set up and ready, so more space than a closet is important.
• Access to a Kitchen: You want your photography studio to be close to the kitchen where you make your recipes. That makes things way to stressful and complicated.

How to Setup Your Food Styling Area

The next step in “How to Photograph a Recipe” is to set up a styling area. This is a small section of your studio where you will bring your ingredients and completed recipes to take photos. It’s where the magic happens.

Here’s what you need to consider in your food styling area:

• Styling Table: A small styling table—either portable or permanent—is incredibly important. We recommend a white table so you have less to worry about when it comes to backdrops.
• Backdrops: You will want to use backdrops for your photos—one for the bottom and one for the back. The bottom size should be a 24 x 36 and the back should be 24 x 24. The type of backdrop you use is up to you, but we have some recommendations on our gear page.
• Backdrop Stands: These backdrop stands on Amazon are incredibly helpful for setting up styling boards that are 1/8 inch thick. They are small, compact, and perfect for almost any studio.

How to Use Natural Light in Food Photography

Many food photographers start out using natural light or just prefer natural light for their recipes. And if you have the option of using natural light, we do highly recommend it. You can get some great photos. However, it does require a little more work.

Here are a few pieces of equipment that can help you answer the question: How to photograph a recipe using natural light?

• Pop-Up Reflector: A pop-up reflector on the opposite side of your window is a great way to bounce all that natural light and ensure the entire table is well-lit without shadows.
• Diffuser: If you have direct light coming through your window, then you’ll want to use a diffuser over the window to soften the light. Harsh lighting and food photography do not go well together.

The goal is to create a little box that bounces all the light back onto your backdrops and your food without any shadows or overly bright areas. You want consistent soft light.

Food Photography Made Simple

Well, that’s it for step one of “How to Photograph a Recipe.” The rest of the steps are already available on YouTube, and they’ll be posted on our blog soon as well. So follow along with us and see how Pretty Focused is designed to make food photography a simple and fulfilling career.