How to take pictures of food: daylight, the right angle, a cutout when needed

Food is a difficult subject for a simple reason: it has a short life. A plate looks its best for a few minutes, the light you need is rarely the light your kitchen has, and what the camera sees is not what your eyes saw, because your eyes had the smell and the steam as well. A good food photograph is mostly three decisions made before you press the button: where the light comes from, which way the camera looks at the dish, and what else is in the frame. This guide goes through those for a phone, and then covers the one case where software helps, which is when a dish has to leave the table and go onto a menu, a flyer or a listing.

Say the limits first. getPNG removes a background; it does not improve the light, tidy a plate or make food look fresher. Those are done at the table. The home setup of window light, a curved card and phone settings is in how to take product photos at home, and food follows the same rules with a few of its own.

Light: a window, from the side

Daylight from a window does more for a food photo than any equipment you can buy.

• Put the plate beside the window, not in front of it. Side light shows the texture of bread, the sheen of a sauce and the shape of a scoop. Light from behind the camera is flat, and every plate looks the same.
• Slightly behind works too. Light that comes from behind and to one side makes liquids glow and puts a bright edge on a crust. Soups, drinks and anything glazed often look best this way.
• Avoid direct sun. It makes hard shadows and bright patches on anything glossy. A bright overcast day is ideal, and a net curtain or a sheet of thin white paper over the glass turns a sunny window into a soft one.
• Turn the lamps off. A warm bulb and a window together give two colours on one plate, and the camera cannot get both right. One kind of light, always.
• No flash. It flattens the food and puts a harsh shine on anything wet or oily.
• Fill the dark side with a card. A sheet of white card or a piece of white paper on the side away from the window lifts the shadows. Product photography setup describes the fill card and why it comes first among the cheap upgrades.

The angle depends on the dish

There is no best angle for food, only a best angle for each dish, and there are three that cover almost everything.

1. Straight down. The camera is above the plate, pointing at the table. It suits food that is flat or that has its interest on top: a pizza, a tart, a bowl seen from above, a board of small dishes, a table spread. Straight down also makes the plate a clean shape, which matters later if you cut it out. The weakness is that tall food looks like a flat disc.
2. About forty-five degrees. The camera is a little above the plate and looking down at an angle. It is close to what you see when you sit at a table, so it is the angle that suits most plated meals, a plate of pasta, a salad, a curry with rice. It shows the top of the food and a little of its side.
3. Low and level. The lens is close to the table, looking straight across. It suits tall food, where the height is the point: a burger and its layers, a stack of pancakes, a slice of layered cake, a drink in a glass. It hides what is on top, so it is the wrong choice for a flat dish.

Take all three of anything that matters and keep the best. It takes a minute, and the one you would not have predicted is often the one that works.

Three more things shape the picture.

• Stand back and zoom with your feet. A phone lens close to a plate exaggerates whatever is nearest the camera, so the front of the plate looks huge. A step back and a crop later is better than a close wide shot.
• Leave room. Food needs air around it. If you plan to use the picture on a menu or a post, a margin gives you space for a crop to different shapes.
• Tap on the food to set focus and exposure. The phone will otherwise choose for the whole table, and a white tablecloth can darken the dish.

The plate, the surface and the timing

A food photograph includes everything on the table, and the viewer notices what is wrong faster than what is right.

• A clean rim. Wipe it. A smear of sauce on the edge of a plate is the commonest fault in a casual food photo, and it is the easiest to fix.
• A plain plate. White, grey or a single muted colour lets the food be the colour. A busy pattern competes with it.
• A plain surface. A wooden table, a slab of stone, a cloth or a sheet of paper is enough. Keep the background simple and remove what has nothing to do with the dish: a phone, a menu, a crumpled napkin.
• Fast. Hot food looks its best for a few minutes. Salads wilt, sauces skin over, ice cream melts and a cut sandwich dries at the edges. Set the plate and the light up with a stand-in first, and bring the real dish last.

When a dish has to leave the table

A photo of a dish on a table is a finished photograph for a post or a review. It is the wrong shape for a few jobs, because the table is in it.

• A menu or a price list, where a row of dishes needs one consistent background and the same lighting feel.
• A flyer or a poster, where the dish sits on a colour or a design.
• A delivery or ordering listing, where a platform may ask for a plain background. Check what the platform you use actually asks for, because the rules differ and change, and this page does not state them.
• A shop for packaged food, such as sauces, cakes in boxes or jars of jam, which is a product photograph with food in the jar. Product photos on a white background covers that case.

For these, cut the dish out of the table and put it on the background you need. A transparent PNG keeps the option open: the same cutout goes onto white for a listing, onto a colour for a flyer and into a layout for a menu.

What to check in the compare view

Food has a few edges that deserve a second look. Open the compare view and drag the divider along the outline of the dish.

• The rim of the plate. A white plate on a white cloth has almost no edge to follow. A surface of a different tone gives the cutout something to find, and it is worth choosing before you shoot.
• Anything see-through. Steam, a glass of water, a wisp of sauce or a thin sheet of glaze lets the table show through. The edge is kept soft, so a partly clear area keeps some of its transparency, and a very faint wisp may go altogether. If it matters, paint it back with the brush.
• Fine detail. A leaf of herb, a sprinkle of sugar or a crumb of cheese is a small edge. Look at it at full size, not at the thumbnail.
• A coloured rim. Food on a green cloth or a red table can leave a rim of that colour around the edge. Clean edge colour takes the old background back out of the soft pixels at the edge, and the white halo guide explains why a rim forms.
• The shadow under the plate. A cutout removes it, and a plate with no shadow can look as if it floats. The drop shadow option draws a soft one under the dish from its own outline, and you set the strength and distance.

Leave the edge soft. The edge of a dish photographed at full resolution is a gradient a few pixels wide, and getPNG keeps that softness rather than cutting it hard, so do not sharpen it back.

What a cutout cannot do

A cutout takes away what is behind the dish. It leaves the dish exactly as the camera recorded it.

• It does not fix dull or yellow light, so a photo from under a warm bulb stays warm.
• It does not clean a smeared rim or straighten a sagging salad.
• It does not remove a reflection in a glossy sauce or in a glass, because that is inside the outline of the dish.

The honest order is therefore light first, plate second, angle third and cutout last, and only if the picture has to go somewhere the table cannot.

What usually goes wrong

• A flat, grey photo, from lamps or from a dim room. Move to the window and turn the lamps off.
• An orange or yellow cast, from a warm bulb. Use daylight, or set the white balance on a white plate.
• A shine or glare, from flash or from a lamp behind the camera. Light from the side.
• A messy rim or background, from not looking at the edges of the frame. Wipe, then check.
• A dish that collapsed, from setting up while it cooled. Set the shot with a stand-in and bring the real plate last.

A window, a plain plate, the right angle for the dish and a quick hand are most of what a food photograph needs. The cutout is the last step, and only for a dish that has to go onto a menu, a flyer or a listing.

The steps, in short

1. Find the light. Put the table beside a window, out of direct sun. Turn off the lamps so there is one colour of light, and do not use the flash.
2. Set the plate. Wipe the rim, choose a plain plate and a plain surface, and place the light so it comes from the side or from slightly behind the food.
3. Choose the angle for the dish. Straight down for flat food, about forty-five degrees for most plates, and low and level for tall food. Try all three and keep the one that shows the dish best.
4. Shoot fast and shoot several. Hot food collapses, melts and goes dull within minutes. Take a handful of frames, tapping on the food to set focus and exposure, and move on.
5. Cut it out only if it must leave the table. For a menu, a flyer or a listing, drop the best frame into the background remover, check the plate edge in the compare view and save a transparent PNG or a version on white.

Questions

What is the best light for photographing food?

Soft daylight from a window, with the food beside the window and the light coming from the side or slightly behind. Side light shows texture, while light from behind the camera flattens everything. Direct sun is too hard and makes harsh shadows, so a bright overcast day or a net curtain is better. Turn the room lamps off, because a lamp and a window together give two colours of light on one plate.

Which angle should I use for which dish?

Straight down suits flat food: a pizza, a bowl seen from above, a spread of small dishes, a board. About forty-five degrees suits most plated meals, because it is close to how you see a plate when you sit down to it. Low and level, with the lens near the table, suits tall food such as a burger, a layered cake or a stack of pancakes, where the height is the point. If you are unsure, shoot all three and compare.

Should I use the flash for food?

No. A flash is a small hard light beside the lens, so it flattens the food, puts a bright shine on anything moist or oily and gives a cold colour. A window and, if you have one, a white card on the dark side give a softer, more appetising result.

Can I cut food out of its background to put it on a menu?

Yes, for most dishes. Check the edge of the plate and anything on it that is thin or see-through in the compare view, such as steam, a glass of water or a wisp of sauce, because those are the places a cutout can go wrong. The brush can rub out what was kept and paint back what was removed. getPNG keeps the full resolution of the photo and the picture is never uploaded.

Why does my food photo look dull or yellow?

Usually the light. Warm room lamps tint the plate orange, and a photo taken without enough light comes out grey. Move to a window, turn the lamps off and, if the colour is still off, set the white balance on a white plate or a card in the same light. Food that has sat for ten minutes also looks tired, so shoot soon after it is served.

Does cutting out the background fix a bad food photo?

No. A cutout takes away what is behind the dish and leaves the dish exactly as the camera recorded it, so dull light, a smeared rim or a sagging salad stay in. It is a way to place a good photo somewhere else, not a way to rescue a poor one.