Learning Food and Drink Photography

Course details

Award-winning food and advertising photographer Bill Robbins has been sharing the art and science behind shooting food and drink photographs for years. Join him as he shows how to enhance a food's color, shape, and texture and how to convey a sense of mood, environment, and story. The course also addresses essential gear, effective prop placement, and lighting techniques, and includes tips for styling various dishes, staging and photographing drinks, shooting on location at a restaurant, and editing the final photos.

Learning objectives
Understanding what makes a food photo appetizing
Comparing emotional and graphic compositional styles
Choosing the right camera
Evaluating lens options
Choosing light reflectors
Finding creative backgrounds
Creating specular and diffuse lighting setups
Creating different looks for each dish
Creating a chill effect for drinks
Shooting on location at a restaurant
Editing photos

Concepts

0. Introduction

01 - Welcome
02 - What makes an appetizing food photo

1. The Two Flavors of Food Photography

03 - Composing graphic styled photos
04 - Composing for the emotional style
05 - Comparing graphic and emotional styles

2. Essential Gear

06 - Choosing the right camera
07 - Evaluating lens options
08 - Setting up a studio kit
09 - Choosing light reflectors

3. Lighting Techniques

10 - Best practices for lighting direction
11 - Creating a specular lighting setup
12 - Creating a diffuse lighting setup

4. Setting Up the Shot

13 - Composing a point of view - Profile or overhead
14 - Finding creative backgrounds
15 - Styling napkins, tablecloths, and utensils
16 - Adding props to a set

5. Styling and Shooting Food

17 - Staging cereal on a spoon
18 - Preparing ingredients for a salad
19 - Creating different looks with a salad
20 - Staging a grilled steak
21 - Making fake ice cream

6. Staging and Shooting Drinks

22 - Creating a chill effect
23 - Creating ice shards and water
24 - Creating hot drinks

7. Shooting at a Restaurant

25 - Finding the right location and lighting
26 - Creating a natural look with artificial lighting

8. Creative Shooting Techniques

27 - Playing with your food

9. Editing

28 - Exploring ideas for editing photos

Conclusion

29 - Goodbye