Food photography

Food photography is a still life specialization of commercial photography, aimed at producing attractive photographs of food for use in advertisements, packaging, menus or cookbooks. Professional food photography is a collaborative effort, usually involving an art director, a photographer, a food stylist, a prop stylist and their assistants. 

For a long time, food photographs tended to be shot and composed the way people were used to encountering their food. The color and texture of the background is selected so as to effectively complement that of the food and to assist with its lighting.

Stylists accordingly arranged the food to appear good from above, with the items arranged flat on the plate and clearly separated from each other. The light, background and setting is carefully prepared so as to present the food in an as attractive way as possible without distracting from it 

The process of food photography begins with the purchase of the food and ingredients. Because only the most visually perfect foodstuffs are acceptable and multiple backup are usually needed, this is a very time-consuming process. The actual photography takes place in a studio under controlled lighting conditions.