How to Take Food Pictures for Your Recipe Blog

You probably know how important images are to creating successful blog posts. Especially when it comes to a food or recipe blog – having quality photos is SO important! To help you learn how to take food pictures for your blog, today I’m going to share all of the tools that I use to take awesome pictures for my blogs.

Some of them are on the pricier side and are likely going to be purchases to make a little farther down the road. One of them is your phone camera. I’d bet you already have that one! Do the best with what you have and the only place you can go is up, up, up!

Before I go into this list I’d like for you to go to Pinterest and do a little digging. I’ll want you to take a mental note of these things:

• What comes up when you search your niche (Try several searches)
• What pictures are you most attracted to?
• Why?
• Do they use certain props?
• A certain background?
• A certain towel?
• A certain font?
• Text Layover? No text layover?

10 Tips for Taking Beautiful Photos for Your Blog

Here are my 10 best tips for how to take food pictures for your blog.

1. Use natural light

This is by far the most important rule. If you shoot your subject with artificial light it will no doubt turn out with a warm undertone that you would rather not have.

This does mean that you’ll want to make dinner just a tad earlier, or take your pictures on select days where you have access to light.

I also have lights that provide a natural-ish light look for when I need to photograph later or during the winter months when the sun goes down earlier here in the Midwest.

2. Watch out for shadows

Try your best to limit shadows. Taking a picture out on the patio to catch that natural light would be best under an overhang or something similar.

3. Use a neutral background

In pictures you want the background to be as relatable as possible. A good way to ensure this happens is by using a neutral background. A tabletop that isn’t reflective or a neutral countertop are both great options.

Towels in a neutral color or a backdrop canvases from Etsy are also great ideas.

Another option is to buy a neutral colored cloth from the fabric store.

4. Keep color in mind

No neon, bright orange fabrics or anything like that, ok? Especially in food props. On the other hand, if it makes sense and looks good, do it!

5. Angles

Take your photos from several different angles so that you have multiple shots to use in your blog post, on Pinterest and Facebook. This will help as you promote the photos on social media. No one wants to see the same photo over and over again.

6. Arrange subjects/Food

Arrange your photos (food) in the most appealing way. You’ll find that some foods are easier to photograph than others.

For example – soup is really hard to photograph. In searching Google and tips from friends have taught me to put a smaller bowl inside of a bigger bowl to get the “texture” sitting in the smaller bowl and the liquid around it hiding the rim of the smaller bowl.

Another trick is focusing on a ladle or spoonful of soup with the big bowl blurred in the background.

7. Use props (not cheesy ones though!)

Use your best judgment when it comes to this – but have some props on hand. Is your subject an indulgent cake? Put a glass of milk with a straw with it. Is your recipe a breakfast casserole? Use some fake fruit in the background. Is your recipe made in a Crock Pot? Be sure to focus on your food, but have the Crock Pot in the background.

These all help tell the visual story of what you’re shooting.

8. Create a story

Speaking a visual stories, your readers should know what you’re shooting by looking at the picture. Tell a story by adding in more elements.

9. Use hands (Nice looking hands)

A nice way to tell a story is by using human elements like hands. Are you making kid friendly food? Ask the kids to hold the food in your shots. Is it a more masculine food (ribs for example)? Have your husband hold them in the shots.

Give the reader as much info as you can from the beginning and they will be mush more likely to click through.

10. Simple is best

Don’t overload your pictures or backgrounds, but do provide depth. Don’t worry though – this will come with experience!

Tools That I Use for Taking Beautiful Pictures

In addition to the tips above, here are my absolute favorite tools for learning how to take food pictures, and creating high-quality images for your recipe blog.

• Canon T3i
• iPhone
• iPhone stand
• Mac Photos Program
• Recipe Photo props – towels, dishes, fake fruit, my own kitchen decorations – I will often move them into the background to create a scene.

Free Sites for Getting Stock Photos for Posts

Also – here are some great resources for downloading FREE stock photos for your recipe blog.

• Pexels
• Unsplash
• Gratisography
• Pixabay

With these tips, tools, and resources at your disposal, you’ll be well on your way to creating beautiful graphics and images for your recipe blog. But if you want a little more help creating your blog posts, check out my free course, How to Start a Blog in Under an Hour!

In this free course, I will walk you through the 2 crucial phases of setting up your own blog:

1. Decide exactly what you should blog about – Find a topic you’re passionate about and create your table of contents to jumpstart your writing process!
2. Go through the process of getting your domain, hosting your website, and setting up your WordPress account – I’ve included detailed tutorials and step-by-step walkthroughs (with screenshots) of EXACTLY how to set up your blog, from start to finish! Including getting a theme that makes your new blog beautiful and user-friendly!

I would’ve paid ten times over for just this info right here when I was starting MomsCravings.com. 

Get access to the free course right here: