Photography tips: Food composition

Food serves one ultimate purpose, which is to be consumed. But why not add a bit of spice to the mix and take a picture of your culinary skills? It makes sense.

Food photography is, after all, an important part of "cooking". Without good pictures, cooking books would be lacklustre and a poor point of reference. Pictures of food also make for good images for any still life photobook.

This guide is a simple one – composition.

Go macro – get up and close and shoot the detail that ordinarily goes amiss. An extreme close-up of, for example, a strawberry, reveals the almond-like detail that makes the fruit so distinct.

A straight on shot, though often frowned upon – rule of thirds – can make the image striking, clean and linear.

An over-head tilt is like leaning off the edge of a swimming pool: the water is inviting you in. The same works for food. Take a shot of a juicy steak from this vantage and the viewer feels like they're being sucked towards the dish.

A diagonal shot gives the food an angle that reveals varying aspects of its shape. So a chocolate cake that has been sliced open is visible on all sides from its chocolate top to its soft spongy centre. It gives the shot a range of detail to enjoy.

The great thing about this type of photography is that your object is edible.