what is food styling?

Level 5 photography
Still Life- Food
What is food styling

Food styling is preparing food for the camera and making it eye appealing and tempting to eat, a food stylist goes beyond preparing foods for cooking on national TV shows, advertisements, magazines, newspapers, packaging and TV commercials. A food stylist must be a quick thinking problem solver and make foods do things they naturally do. Food styling is important as this how the food is arranged within the image to help food photographer take pictures that has the look of full of flavour and attractive. On a food photography food shoot there can be an extra person on set who is a food stylist to ensure the food look good as possible but some photographers know the basics of food styling and will feel not need a food stylist working with him/her.

Example of food stylist

Dan Macey is an award winning food stylist and food consultant with a broad range of experience in culinary writing and photography, recipe development and cooking instruction, Dan has the ability to deconstruct any recipe and produce high quality delicious food images due to his keen eye for composition and food presentation. He works in New York but has regular clients in Baltimore and Washington, Dan's services include food writing, product development, nutritional analysis, product launches and recipe development and testing. Dan is responsible for bringing all of the ingredients and his tools such as pots, pans, measuring cups, linens or a table cloth as some kitchen tv studios have the bare minimum.

My philosophy is you eat with your eyes first. Attractive food enhances the eating process, "Dan Macey


9 items that are useful in making food images:

The basics of food styling

1. Small White Plates And Bowls

Coloured or patterned plates can be a distraction as will need to focus more on the food and not the table ware. Whits plate or bowl is widely best because allows the colour, shape and texture of food to stand out. 

2. Garnish

To visually enhance a dish is to add a garnish such as fresh herbs and edible flowers give colour, adding a small piece of garnish can break up the similar looking food items with other photographs

3. Oil and Water For Shine

Some foods  look flat, dry, or dull.  Paint it with cooking oil and see the difference.  Spritz it with water. Fruit, vegetables, and lettuce will glisten after lightly spraying with water. Be careful not to spray or paint too much. You do not want the opposite effect of water or oil droplets taking away from the food. There is one thing to watch with oil, especially dressings and salads. It’s best to not put the dressing on the salad or only use a small drizzle right before photographing. Dressings will make salads limp, oily, and sometimes wilted in minutes.

4. Fresh Ingredients Make A Difference

photographing food when it is at its finest is essential. Take the time to pick through the produce when you are at the market to get the prettiest and freshest ones. Pick out and set aside the best of the best when preparing your recipe