With more and more restaurants and street vendors setting up shop in London, it’s been voted as the best food city in the world by National Geographic. But, with all this competition how do the food joints stand out from the crowd? Usually, it’s with photography that you can’t help to drool at! In fact, it’s been shown that the restaurants that pay for a professional Cairns Photographer to take pictures of their food are much more likely to attract people off the street than those who do it themselves. Another way photos can promote local food places is through Instagram and it’s fair to say that London is a hub for culinary delights and food Instagrammers.

But with 358 million posts on Instagram for #food, how can you make your food photographs stand out from the other 358million? Below are a few of the pointers on how to make your food photographs exceptional. Using perfect lighting, backdrop, range of equipment (from a brand similar to Look Depot), story depiction, etc., can enhance your pics to grab the attention of the people.

London food photographer Sid Ali has shared his top tips!

1. “As a food photographer it is really important to turn your client’s vision into reality. To do this, you need to understand the limitations of your equipment, you need to be able to tell a story with your photo and you need to be able to set the mood with your lighting. If you’ve bought some photography equipment from a company like Asset Factory, make sure you know how to use it effectively. The same applies if you’re buying a new camera. Be prepared and knowledgeable!”
2. “When you first start out, use natural lighting so you understand how it works. Experiment with shooting on a sunny day and then shooting the same dish on a cloudy day. Once you understand how natural lighting works (and how to use it) you can move on to artificial sources of light.”
3. “One of the biggest misconceptions in food photography is that it’s easy and anybody can do it. But what food photography really relies on is a deep understanding of the food that you are photographing.”
4. “Shooting food overhead can be fantastic for making food look extremely beautiful and graphic; however, it doesn’t work for all food or for all occasions. Experiment by shooting the same food at different angles to learn what works and what does not.”
5. “When I look for inspiration I look at lighting, form, composition and story. The more places you draw inspiration from – paintings, books, films and everyday life – the more informed and unique your work will be.”
6. “There are many ways to set the mood in a photograph – using lighting, props, colour, form and story. Decide what you want the image to depict and then make technical decisions around it.”
7. “I always shoot tethered (connecting your camera to a computer or tablet) so that I can see what I am creating on a big screen and make adjustments accordingly.”
8. “Sometimes the best way to get the shot you want is to get five different shots and composite them together in Photoshop. Take as many shots as you can so you give yourself and your retoucher as many options as possible”
9. “I always try to make my shot look as perfect as I can in the camera, and then make small tweaks to enhance the shot in post-production (contrast, sharpness, darkening background if needed, enhancing the colours of the dish).”
10. “The best way to become a great photographer is to never stop being inspired and to never stop shooting.”

For more tips on other areas of photography please click here: https://techtalk.currys.co.uk/photography/dslr-csc-cameras/photography-virtues-vices-expert-advice/