I’m starting to think that Fridays might be my day to chat about food photography. I may throw an extra post in one other time during the week, but I want to stay on a schedule (fingers crossed!) that will allow me to share a “photographing” post on Fridays. Any thoughts on that? Leave me a comment below and let me know what you think. Now, on to Photographing Chocolate.
I’ve found, from my own personal experience, that chocolate lends itself nicely to darker photography. The color looks rich, the texture shines through, and the darker images really allow the light to do its thing. Not that you can’t successfully pull off a light and bright photograph using chocolate, you absolutely can. In fact, I came across this image this week on Pizzazzerie and really loved the way the chocolate stands out against the white…
Pizzazzerie
But, one thing I notice is how different the “feel” is from this bright photo and my darker images. It’s noticeable, right? Maybe it’s just me.
So, here are my 5 tips for photographing chocolate. I plan on creating a post that goes a little deeper into what I do, so be on the lookout for that soon.
- Give dark and moody a try. Maybe it’s not your normal style, but give it a go and see what happens. For me, I’ve found that my shoot goes much much faster if I just set it up this way and start snapping. I’m almost always much happier with my images than if I try and do something else. Plus, it’s good to practice things that are out of your comfort zone. It will make you an all around better photographer and will allow you to appreciate that which comes easily to you.
- Use the light to help show off texture and color. For me, natural light will always be best. I’ve found that the “color” of light can’t be exactly duplicated with studio lighting. Using a more indirect light will allow the textures and the colors (because chocolate has varying depths of color) to really shine through. So, photograph near a window but not right beside it.
- If possible, capture the shine. This obviously won’t work if you’re photographing a chocolate cake (unless it has icing) or a dish where the chocolate is “baked” into something, but if you’re photographing a chocolate sauce, a chocolate candy, or even sometimes a really gooey brownie, you’ll notice the shine. You’ll want to highlight that if you can. That shine is what makes the chocolate look extra appetizing.
- Take it easy on the editing. Oftentimes, just a little contrast boost is all you’ll need to really show off your dish when photographing chocolate. If you go too severe on the editing, the food will look flat, and even worse, fake. Not the look we’re going for when we’re trying to sell the viewer on the treat.
- Keep it simple. As you can see from my images and also the image that I found on Pizzazzerie, simple styling is best here. There’s no reason to overdo it and force your dish to compete with other things in the image. By keeping your styling simple, you allow your dish to shine and all the interesting elements that make up your dish will shine through. Simple is almost always best in my book.
So, there you have it. A few little things to keep in mind next time you find yourself photographing chocolate. Chocolate is one of the easier things to photograph, so relax and have fun with it.
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