On Photographing Soup

The other day, I had a Pinterest Round-Up of recipes I planned on using for the upcoming week.  I knew I wanted to make Vegetarian Kale Soup, but when I went to find a nice picture that went along with the recipe, there were none to be found...The photos were either grainy, out of focus, or just grotesque looking.  So, in that blog post, I said I might give photographing the soup a try.  Well, I did.  And, while they may not be amazing, they are certainly better that looking at a zoomed in image of someone's pot of soup. ICK.

Vegetarian Kale Soup

When photographing soup, or any food, really, there are several things you should focus on in order to avoid the unappetizing food photograph.  Who is going to want to make and eat something that looks gross?  

It seems pretty easy to make this mistake, but the gross factor can be avoided.  

Use natural light--I tried photographing some food, inside, at night--all the photos went into my trash--they were yellowish, and glaring, with a contrast that was too high to fix.  Bleh.

Allow you subject (food) to have room to breathe--don't go and zoom all the way into your pot/bowl--when I see food photography,  I want to drool over it, not feel like I'm drowning in it.

Quality, not Quantity.  So you made your soup in a pot...We know...But, really, do you think that a HUGE pot of liquid, with stuff floating in it is going to be attractive?  Take your ladle and spoon some of that scrumptiousness into a bowl.  Make it look pretty and neat--ready to eat :)

Focus on the "stuff"; clearly photographed broth, with blurry solids is a no-no. 

When editing, lower the contrast if necessary--contrast really brings out the gross factor.  

I by no means claim to be the guru of food photography; in fact this was my first really successful go at it.  My struggles with this subject, combined with the unappetizing food photos I sometimes come across, led me to write a little something on the topic--something is better than nothing, right?

leave your own tips down below!