How to Take Basic Product Photos

In the last couple articles, we’ve primarily focused on marketing: creating a customer, and then creating your brand. Well, now that you have a good idea of each, you can move into more concrete actions. The first of these is taking product photos.

I see a lot of farm and ranch websites that use a product photo of all the products in a box. This is good because it shows the customer what they’re getting and shows them a photo of everything in one place. However, customers also want to see what the actual cut looks like outside of the package.

The box photo is a little less “arranged” and “staged,” so I’m not going to focus on that as much here. Instead I’m going to run through my basic process for taking nice product photos showcasing the unpackaged product.

First, let’s talk about cameras.

Do you need a nice camera?

Yes, your photos will turn out way better with a nice camera. However, there is no point unless you actually know how to use that nice camera, or you want to learn how. If neither of those apply, some of these newer smartphones (especially the galaxy s10 and above and iphone 11 and above) can take pretty decent photos. So the short answer is, no, you don’t need a nice camera.

4 basic elements of a good food photo

I’m about to try to simplify food photography down to 4 basic elements. Those are the basics. These basics are meant to improve your food photography quickly, not instantly turn you into a professional food photographer. But using these four tricks will help you instantly elevate your food shots.

Food Photo Element #1: Background

The first thing I do when I set up a food shot is figure out my background & props.

Now, I have a whole setup of props for this very purpose. Below are a few of the props in my collection (but not all of them. I’m a hoarder and collector that way).

So before we get into all the other props you see here, let’s talk just background.

Notice the wood in at the very bottom of the shot. Those are two large boards I have that I made out of old wood and then painted and stained. Both sides of each board are colored, giving me four colors in all. The first photo below of the steak was taken against one of these backdrops.
Then we’ve got both the black tray and the black cutting board. I use both of those as background pretty frequently. We’ll get into why the black later. Note the second photo below of the steak against the black backdrop. That’s my handy dandy black cutting board, found at a used store for $2. A steal.
I also use my boards to create a vertical background or fake “wall” if I’m taking a shot that’s from an angle instead of directly from above.

Now, the background you want is going to depend on what kind of image you want to create. I like the rustic image and dark colors, so my brown and black backgrounds work really well for my purpose. If you wanted a more modern look, you wouldn’t want to use wood or a textured cutting board like mine. Instead you might want a more industrial-looking metal cookie sheet or something like that.

The second element of the background is often the plate. In the first two steak shots below, I didn’t use a plate. The first shot has wax paper under it, which I use a lot. Brown paper works too.

But if you are using a plate, keep in theme with your background. I also have different shapes of plates (square, round, rectangular, oval) to compliment different cuts. For example, the third and fourth shots below show different plates and how they fit in the image.

Food Photo Element #2: Colors

The second element of food photography is colors. You’ll notice in the steak images above that I used a lot of dark colors, primarily browns and blacks. These colors are nice because they bring out the red of the meat and make that catch the viewer’s eye. A steely gray also tends to work pretty well for red meat. But in general, when photographing red meat I try to use either neutrals or greens as my other colors. Green works because it’s on the opposite side of the color wheel from red. Observe:

When in doubt about colors, you can always go back to the color wheel. Basic color theory says that colors on opposite sides of the wheel are complements. Used together, they make the other stand out. That’s why the rosemary in the steak photo brings out the color of the steak. Another main principle of color theory is analogous colors. These are 3 colors that are right next to each other (like 2 of the blue triangles above coupled with one of the green triangles). With analogous colors, I usually use one as the primary color in the photo and then the other two as subtle accents.

And when really in doubt, you can toss color theory altogether and just pair your primary color–in the steak photos above, the red of the steak–with a neutral like brown, black, white, or gray.

Below are a couple examples of how you can use color to draw attention to the product you’re photographing and make it star.

The primary colors here are the bright blue and the orange of the salmon, which are on opposite sides of the wheel. The green and yellow still work here because they qualify as analogous colors and are also only accents.

Here the chicken qualifies as a neutral, so in order to bring attention to it I had to create contrast. Hence the black background, then the green to also contrast with the white of the chicken.

Here we have the ice and black beneath it as neutrals to draw attention to the color of the steak. The red of the tomatoes are analogous, while the green of the rosemary is complementary to the reds.

Here the butter is something of a neutral, as is the parchment paper and black background. The tomatoes and rosemary add some visual interest and complement each other, but this only works because they are both small details and don’t steal the show.

As you can see from the photos above, you really don’t need tons of props. In fact, I end up using the same props over and over again:

fresh rosemary
fresh tomatoes
fresh thyme, oregano, or basil
a dish of salt
butcher’s paper or wax paper

If you have those 5, you generally have the colors you need to create some contrast.

Food Photo Element #3: Lighting

Once you have a photo that is set up on a background with some props, now you just have to worry about lighting. The best way to create beautiful lighting is to use a combination of natural light and shadows.

Here’s a behind the scenes shot of my average food photo set up:

Yep. It’s on the floor. In front of an open door. You don’t have to do it in front of an open door (I only did it this way because as you can see the window on the door isn’t full-length, and the bottom of the door would have blocked the light). But you do need to position your shot either next to a window or a door to get as much natural light in as possible. Additionally, this has to be indirect light. If the sun is shining directly through the window/door, you’re going to get some bad glare and contrast, not the soft light you want.

…and here’s the resulting shot from that photoshoot:

See the way the shot is illuminated, with those smooth shadows on the other side of the dish? That’s what indirect natural sunlight will do for you.

Food Photo Element #4: Angle

The last key element of food photography is angle. You’ve seen the various shots I’ve shared in this article, and most of them have been from above, looking directly down on the food. This is generally my favorite angle to shoot from, especially for product shots. However, if you have an item with height (for example, a stack of pancakes), obviously straight down from above is not going to be the best angle. During a photoshoot I tend to try multiple possible angles. Here’s an example of one shoot, where just moving my camera or the plate around created a slightly different look for each image.

I would say that the two angles you see here are the two angles I almost always use. I either shoot (A) directly from above or (B) at an angle, slightly down. There are a few cases where you’d want to use a different angle, but those are the main two I use.

So here are the major take-home points

Background: use a neutral background or a complementary color that will contrast with the item you’re photographing.
Color: use props that add colors that are either complementary or analogous, and focus on contrasting with the subject to draw attention to it.
Lighting: photograph next to natural, indirect sunlight, such as a window or door that doesn’t directly face the sun.
Angle: try multiple angles when shooting, especially above and facing towards and slightly down.

And that’s it, how you can start improving your product photography! And if you don’t want to do it all yourself or you want the photos to look more professional, good news! My sister Melanie and I run a photography, branding, and design business where we focus specifically on photos for farmers and ranchers. We can come to your farm/ranch and do a product photoshoot, as well as a daylong shoot of your farm, your family, and every element of your business. Visit our website here for details and pricing on that!

And in the next article of this series, Melanie will give her best quick tips for instantly improving your people, landscape, and animal photography. Stay tuned for that!