Speciality-Food-Magazine-November-December-2024

8 @specialityfood For more information contact: louise.barnes@artichokehq.com 01206 508629 TAKEPART INOUR PRODUCT SAMPLING PROMOTION! We are looking for ten companies to offer a product sample to our readership. Get in touch for more details and costs. Are you a Producer? Are you a Retailer? Look out in our January/February Issue for the opportunity to sample new product ranges. It’s a competitive world out there. For your offering to stand out, you absolutely must have images that make people’s mouths water. Perhaps your marketing budget stretches to a few professional shots for big launches, but it simply isn’t practical to use a pro for the regular stream of photos you need to feed the hungry beast that is social media. Great news. You are not biting off more than you can chew by doing your own food photography. Your phone camera is more than capable of producing stunning images – and so are you! Armed with these top tips for photographing food and products with your phone, you’ll soon be snapping shots that have ‘social sizzle’. TELL A STORY Before you even start setting up your shot, decide on a theme or simple story that will engage the viewer and get them to imagine themselves preparing or eating the food. It can be a very simple story such as a tomato being prepared, which suggests a tasty chutney is being freshly made with juicy tomatoes. INVEST IN BACKDROPS Use photography backdrops to help tell the story. This way, it doesn’t matter if you don’t happen to have a rustic farmhouse table or distressed metal surface. You can create the look using wipe clean, vinyl backdrops. KEEP IT SIMPLE It’s very easy to get carried away with lovely props and lose sight of the fact that the food should be the hero of the shot, and everything else is simply the supporting act. Remember that less is often more. USE A TRIPOD The main reason for using a tripod isn’t to keep the phone steady, but Appetite grows for international flavours Recent research by HRA Global and Rochester PR Group has found that 80% of British consumers are keen to see a greater variety of international foods on shelves. According to the study, 90% of shoppers are keen to experience new flavours, while 92% state that they consider their dining experience to be improved if it contains international tastes. The research also showed that consumers are highly likely to purchase new-to-them international foods, with 73% “likely to buy”. 80% of respondents stated that they buy international foods regularly – either weekly or bi-weekly. Hamish Renton, managing director of HRA Global, said, “This research reinforces what we’ve been seeing on the ground – a strong appetite for international flavours and a growing openness to try new products from global markets.” How to make your food photography stand out in the crowd to hold it in the same place while you arrange the items in your shot. You’ll discover that there can be a lot of faffing about with the food and props, and it makes it much easier if the phone is in a consistent position. You don’t need to spend a fortune on a tripod, just make sure it’s sturdy enough to hold the phone in place. As a lot of food photos are taken from above, it’s handy to get a tripod that also has a horizontal arm. HAVE A DRESS REHEARSAL If you’re photographing plates in your cafe or restaurant, start with empty dishes, before the food is even prepared, and play around with the position of them until you’re happy. Only then should you add the food, with the hot (or frozen) dishes at the last moment. USE NATURAL DAYLIGHT You can get beautiful results using natural light. You just need to set up the shot next to a window, but out of direct sunlight. Position yourself to the left or right of the window, so that the food is lit from the side. Sidelight shows off textures and also creates gentle shadows. For more food photography tips, check out the full feature on specialityfoodmagazine.com Posting on social media is a daily task in retail, and getting it right can reap huge rewards. Professional food photographer Jane Burkinshaw explains what you can do to up your game