Want to share photos of a beautiful treat with your friends on social networks? Need a photo report from a corporate event? Or maybe you are a novice photographer and dream that your photos will grace the pages of famous culinary publications. Let’s say right away that one of the main secrets to success is the right image editor. dessert photography

These days, post-processing can even be done well on a smartphone or iPad. If you need to find photo editing apps for iPad, then go to the Skylum website.

Many hostesses keep their blogs, sharing their culinary secrets and recipes for their desserts. And very often they illustrate these recipes with photos of their works. Here are some simple tips to help create neat and appetizing photos of desserts.

How to make natural light better

The inexperienced photographer most often tries to use all the light that enters his room from the street through the windows. But natural light can, and, should be controlled, and here’s how:

• Shadows, for example, can be illuminated with a reflector and their brightness and saturation can be changed by moving the subject closer or farther away from the window. Thus, you can adjust the light pattern, making it softer or harsher within a wide enough range.
• You can even achieve narrowly focused light – all you have to do is cover part of the window with an opaque material. You can use any means at hand, such as a sheet of cardboard.
• What matters here is not the time of day at which it is convenient to shoot food, but the location of the windows of the room where the photograph is taken, and the direction of the light rays that fall on the subject from that window.

It is best to shoot with a single light source. After all, as we said before, there is nothing like natural light, and it only has two sources, the sun, and the sky.

A photographer is an artist dessert photography

Think back to the still lives of famous masters of the brush – each element of the composition is in its place and complements the others. Photography requires the same approach. A wrongly placed teaspoon or too bright background can spoil the picture, drawing all the attention. When creating a composition, we recommend considering:

• The background should be neutral, preferably light shades, and not merge with the color of the cream and cakes. The same is true for the tablecloth, the table, or the plates.
• Additional elements of the composition should be chosen in the style of cake design. For example, confetti, and artificial snow is suitable for a New Year’s dessert; pearls, fresh flowers, and lace are for a wedding.
• Exclusive desserts with complex decorations are better photographed without additional subjects. But if you shoot a slice of dessert, a beautiful spoon or a cup of tea in the frame will give the picture a special appetizer.

How do you know that the composition is good? The dessert should be the focal point of the picture, and additional details should emphasize its beauty and presentation. If your eye is attracted to the background or the pattern on the plate, replace them with something neutral or remove unnecessary objects.

Choosing the angle

Normally, desserts are shot from an angle that is close to the view of the person looking at them. The viewer should get the feeling that he is sitting at the table and looking at the just-cooked dessert. At this angle, it is most convenient to look at the food, which is why it is necessary to shoot about the same.

But among professionals involved in shooting food, there are also some fashionable, modern trends. For example, some people like to shoot food from above. But in this case, the angle of the picture is better to discuss with the customer or with the designer and project manager. After all, they might not like what you like.

Grab some props and shoot fast

Pay attention not only to the location of the food itself in the frame but also to what it is surrounded by. Look at what is included in the composition and try not to overload it with unnecessary things, don’t create chaos in the picture, and don’t distract the viewer’s attention from the actual subject. Be especially careful about the foreground and background of the composition.

Not all desserts, unfortunately, do not look appetizing for very long. This is especially true for baked goods. You need to carefully prepare all photographic equipment, set up the light, and take into account the details of the composition so that then the little things do not distract you from the shooting process. Shoot quickly while the food is fresh, managing to capture a moment before it begins to melt, disintegrate, wilt, or change its original color.

Don’t forget post-processing dessert photography

Regardless of whether you take photos on your phone, tablet, or camera, a photo editor should be your best friend. In addition to the well-known Photoshop, there are many simple programs that even a beginner can easily deal with. As a rule, standard editors with a few filters control brightness, contrast, and color in every phone or iPad.

In addition, you can pick up simple programs for retouching, which will help improve the quality of the photo, and make it more lively, such as Luminar Neo. You can try the free version for 7 days, and buy a subscription or a lifetime license (note that this is the most advantageous option for you). There are also many interesting articles and tutorials on the Skylum developer’s site. For example, you can read about photo editing apps for iPad and choose the most convenient solution.

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