Even though a food stylist’s role is to make the food look good for the camera, in a real life shoot setting, the food stylist, prop stylist and photographer are all interacting to make the photograph work. Because of this, it is helpful to notice as much as you can about the image and the set to bring the food into the best possible relief. Most of these things are the job of the photographer to control and some the prop stylists but it’s always helpful to have an overall idea of what’s going on.

The Horizon: Unless the set is on a sweep which can be an actual plastic table with a back that bends upward and out of the frame or a piece of fabric suspended from a rod, the picture will have an horizon line. The horizon divides the image in two and usually cuts across somewhere in the frame of the picture. Here are some things to think about regarding the horizon line:

a) Is the line straight? Most images have a traditional straight horizontal horizon line, but sometimes, especially in images for magazines, the camera is tilted so the horizon becomes diagonal. This gives images a more casual hand-held look and also allows more of a plate for example to be included in the image since it can go from corner to corner instead of from side to side.

b) Where in relation to the horizon is the food? Do you want the food to cut across the horizon line or to be above or below it? Do you want props to cut across the horizon line or break up the line? Do you want to use the horizon line to break up arcs or round props such as plates?

c) Where in the image is the horizon line? If the food is very vertical it might be necessary to keep the horizon low in the image so there’s room to show the food. If the camera is angled sharply over the food, the horizon line will be relatively high up in the image.

The Background: Depending on the positioning of the horizon line, the background can occupy a large proportion of the image. Often, fabric or foam core is used to make the background. What color do you want the background? Do you want the background evenly lit or bright in the middle and dark on the edges? Do you want to break up the light with streaks and shadows? A black background is sometimes used for a Dutch still-life effect while a lighter background is used for higher key images.

The Surface: What color is the surface? What material? What texture? What do you want to imply by what kind of surface the plate or bowl of food ends up on? Do you want something austere and elegant such as a white tablecloth? Wood? Do you want something reflective? Some shiny surfaces such as polished wood, will end up bright and take on the color of the sky or whatever soft light is being used for the shot.

Second Surfaces: After selecting a surface, you may end up putting the food on a second surface such as a placemat or napkin. A second surface can be placed on the plate to add a line or lines, or a corner to break up the roundness of a bowl or plate. For example if you have a red fabric surface, you may want to place a black placemat over it to frame a plate or bowl with black while still leaving some of the red visible around.

The Relation Between Background and Surface: It’s sometimes a useful exercise to make an image exciting and dynamic before even putting the food in it. Think of a late Rothko painting in which the juxtaposition of a background over a horizon line, and for us what would be a surface below the horizon line, creates all the excitement. Use the color chart in the back of this booklet to recognize complimentary colors that you might want to juxtapose.

The Front Edge: If you’re shooting on a table or other such surface, you may want to include the edge of the table in the shot, in essence creating a second horizon line. Sometimes the line provided by the front edge is a welcome contrast to a round plate or bowl; sometimes it’s too much. But be aware of it.

The Serving Vessel: What shape and color and size is the plate or bowl in which you’re going to put the food? If it’s too big it will take up the whole frame and eliminate the background or other elements in the photograph. If it’s small, you may want to include something in the image such as a spoon or fork that, by comparison, indicates the size of the food. What degree of formality do you want to connote? Do you want to convey a sense of place? Do you want to show the food on more than one vessel such as say a plate and a platter in the background?

Position of the Food in the Photograph: Once you’ve chosen a vessel to hold the food, you may want to make a “dummy” plate for you, the photographer, and the prop stylist to work with to position the food in the shot. At this point the photographer will be working on an angle from which to shoot the food. This angle will dictate the layout of props, second surfaces, and of course the placement of the food in relation to the horizon line and the front edge.

Shooting Angle: The position of the camera in relation to the set is going to have an enormous affect on the layout of the food and props. The angle can range from a straight overhead shot to one in which the camera is level with the set and the front edge and the horizon line are squeezed together in the frame. Interact with the photographer, if it’s appropriate, about what angle she or he will be shooting from. Form a square with your hands, or better yet use a pair of black cardboard framers, to look at the set from different angles.

Props: Once you have a general idea of the camera angle and the position of the food and second surfaces, you can start thinking about adding other props such as silverware, napkins, wine bottles, carafes, glasses etc. Make sure that any props you add make sense and would really appear on a table with the food you prepared. Think of the props in two ways: as telling a story and creating a sense of place and of a real occasion occurring such as a family meal, a picnic, an elegant meal in a restaurant, a snack. Second, look at the props in the frame purely graphically without assigning any meaning to them. Just notice the interplay of angles, curves, corners and lines in the shot. Notice the interplay of colors and be careful not to upstage the food.

Light: While the lighting setup is the photographer’s job, it’s going to have a profound effect on how your food looks. Try to avoid juxtaposing very dark objects such as cooked mushrooms and very light foods or props because the combination is very difficult to light. Try to make the dark mushrooms lighter and whatever’s light, darker. If the photographer is using window light or a large soft-box opposite the camera, wide flat surfaces such as sauces surrounding foods or soups will be covered with bright highlights which should be broken up with something. (These can also be attenuated with a polarizing filter.) If the photographer is using direct light, either sunlight or artificial light that’s raking across the food, then the surface texture of the food will be emphasized and even exaggerated. Try to avoid foods that are very dark green. Light is a complex subject and almost impossible to predict but its effects will be visible when you start looking at screen images. Here are a few distinctions to keep in mind:

a) Soft versus Hard: Soft light is light that comes from a light source that is large in relation to the set such as a window facing north or with no sun shining through it. The sun, being a small point, is a small light source and hence produces hard light. Photographers often soften it by placing a scrim—fabric such as cheesecloth or muslin—between the light source and the set. Very hard light sources make unpleasant looking little points of light on the food—called specular highlights—and are usually avoided by placing some sort of scrim in front of the light source. Some photographers combine both soft and hard light.

b) Light Color: Natural light comes in different colors. The sun is considered a warm light source, especially in the very early or late parts of the day when it becomes more amber. The sky, which is usually blue, is a cool light source. Many photographers try to emulate natural light or work with it so there’s a relatively hard light source that’s warm like the sun and a fill light that’s blue like the sky. This creates the blue shadows seen in so many still life photographs. Shadow color can be altered by placing different colored fill cards next to the set or by placing filters over the camera and over the light source.

c) Light Direction: Notice the direction of the light by looking at the shadows. If the light is very soft, such as a soft box placed directly over the set, you’ll barely see any shadows at all. If the light is pointing toward the camera it will create hard and bright reflections that can cause glare.

d) Contrast: The contrast of an image is the range from the brightest object to the darkest object. To some degree contrast is a function of the objects themselves; very dark and very light objects in the same image are going to make it a high contrast image. Contrast is also a function of the relationship between the key light, which is the main light shining on the object, and the fill light which is the ambient light. If you’re in a dark room and shine a bright light on an object, it’s going to cast very dark shadows and create an image that would be described as “contrasty”. Photographers sometimes like to see high contrast but it’s also necessary to control high key areas so they don’t “blow out” and fill in dark areas so they don’t just turn into dark masses with no information. Nowadays, if an image has more contrast than the camera can handle, the photographer can take two images—one more exposed than the other—and then combine them in Photoshop.

e) White Balance: Because different lighting conditions create different color casts, cameras must make up for the variations. It used to be that film came in daylight and “tungsten” and was balanced for shooting in the open daylight or with incandescent lights. Now the photographer has much more control because he or she can set the white balance for the exact lighting ambiance. To set the white balance, the photographer takes a photograph of a neutral object, often a gray card, and then has the camera assign neutral white values to that object. White balance should be controlled before color casts are introduced into the images or the camera in many cases will compensate automatically for the casts and eliminate them.

Focus: You’ll often hear terms like “selective focus” “depth of field” “soft focus” etc. These have to do with how much of the image is in focus. It’s become popular in many photographs nowadays to have just the food or part of the food in focus while everything else goes blurry. This emphasizes the graphic components of props and can be used to draw the eye to an exact point. If, for example, you’re showing a large platter of food such as lasagna, it’s not necessary that all the food be in focus since if we see a little, we see it all. If, on the other hand, you’re showing a large platter of hors d’oeuvres, all different, then it’s likely you’ll want them all in focus. If the photographer is using a view camera—an old fashioned looking camera with a bellows—he or she will be able to alter the actual plane of focus so that objects in various parts of the photograph can be chosen to be in focus or not.

Length of Lens: The photographer can control the amount of background that’s included in the photograph by choosing a different length of lens. This usually is of little concern to prop and food stylists per se but on shoots where there’s no prop stylist, the food stylist may find herself arranging the props on the set. If the photographer is using a “short” or “wide-angle” lens, more of the background will be included; if she’s using a very long lens, then only that background directly behind the food will be visible.

Theme: Is there an overall feel to the photograph? Do you want it very graphic and angular with lots of squares and lines? Is it Asian or European? If you combine Asian and European elements such as silverware and chop sticks, make sure it makes sense and that it’s really something you would do if serving the food being photographed. Is the scene bucolic with lots of wood and antiques? Or urban and urbane? Is it a process shot or a finished shot or both? It’s sometimes exciting to include elements used in the preparation of the food and juxtapose them with the finished food.