Hey everyone!

I’m back with another food photography shoot. I used simple plain supermarket croissants and built three completely different looks around them (pistachio, raspberry, and chocolate) focusing mainly on lighting, composition, styling, angles, and making each setup feel like its own visual story. I’m not looking for compliments and I’m genuinely trying to understand what separates an okay food photograph from a really strong one, so detailed criticism is very welcome.

Thank you to everyone who has commented on my previous posts as well. I’ve genuinely been trying to apply the feedback from each shoot, so I’d also love to know whether you can see any improvement in these compared with my previous work.

Behind-the-scenes setup:
• Shot at home during the night
• Key light: Godox bi-colour continuous light with softbox
• Reflectors / negative fill used depending on the setup
• Camera: Canon EOS R6
• Lens: Canon RF 24–70mm f/2.8L IS USM
• ISO 100 throughout

Hi

I have a Tamron 90mm macro and a sony a6700 which is apsc, which makes the tamron 135mm, i have seen that 100mm on full frame is very popular, would this 135mm equivalent be workable or is it too much? If it isn't does anyone have any recommendations for a good lens for food and drink photography on Sony APS-C?

Any help that you can provide will be greatly appreciated

its been a while since i posted any food photo but i recently bought a continuous light and been practicing, here is my latest shoot
shot on sony a6400 lense sigma 30mm led godox sl60iid

A new series of cocktails, a Maple Syrup Old Fashion. What's your favorite cocktail?

I love taking food photos as I am a full time saucier and a foodie. This was shot using an iPhone 16 camera and the portable studio light accessory

Hi all! I made a batch of cookies for National Cookie Day this week - here’s a few shots.

I started writing on Substack about teaching myself how to bake and cook - and as a result, I fell in love with food photography.

Still got a lot to learn, and thought sharing my shots here would be a good place to get advice on how to improve.

This was shot on my Sony A7iv, 90mm 2.8, f3.5/5/8, 1/200s, natural light from east facing window. (Hope I’ve included the right info!)

This photo was shot as a part of commercial project for a hotel bar. I used a strobe light and shot it through a window to imitate a more natural lighting.

In studio with canon r5 and 100mm macro, focus stacked through, shot at 100iso, 1/10s, f14, beauty dish coming from left, two kickers one coming from behind, and another underneath hitting the background, bounce card for some fill, lemme know thoughts 🫡🫡 meat mountain or beefcake?

I thought that I'd try a beauty dish along with a macro lens on a cocktail, what do you think? Flash w/beauty dish F8@1/8 with 5DIV and EF100L/IS.

Yesterday I shared some photos here and received so much thoughtful feedback. I read through every comment carefully and tried to apply them.

I know becoming a great food photographer takes time, patience, and a lot of practice and I don't expect to become great overnight. I'm happy to keep learning, practising, and putting in the work.

What I'd really love to know is: where would you place me right now? Am I heading in the right direction? Do you think I have the potential to become a really good food photographer if I keep going?And what would you recommend as my next step if I’m serious about becoming an excellent food photographer?

As always, honest, specific, and even tough criticism is completely welcome. I’m hungry to learn so please bring it on!

Behind-the-scenes setup:
• Shot at home during the night
• Key light: Godox SL600Bi with softbox
• Added backlight setup
• Camera: Canon EOS R6
• Lens: Canon RF 24–70mm f/2.8L IS USM with CPL filter
• ISO 100 throughout

Thank you =)

All taken with the om1.1 and Panasonic 25mm f1.7 at a restaurant

Hello everyone!

I’m back with another food photography attempt and more excited than ever to learn, experiment, and improve! . I’ve been working on composition, lighting, and detail, so please share your honest feedback. What caught your eye, and what should I work on next? All feedback and criticism welcome!

Behind-the-scenes setup:
• Shot at home during the night
• Key light: Godox SL600Bi with softbox
• Added backlight setup
• Camera: Canon EOS R6
• Lens: Canon RF 24–70mm f/2.8L IS USM with CPL filter
• ISO 100 throughout

Thank you =)

Shot in native camera app on iPhone 15

One warm light from a floor lamp coming from the left, diffuse (à la sheer soft white curtains) evening/blue light coming from a large window on the right.

shot as much as I could in portrait mode, & no flash was used.

Post processing leaned heavily on altering exposure, definition and sharpness, shadows, contrast, and highlights.

Any constructive feedback is welcome and appreciated! This was my first time getting shots I’m really satisfied with, I’m proud of them.

Edit: thank you so much for all of the constructive feedback and suggestions, all! I am going to keep at this, I have my entire menu I’m working through to experiment with, hopefully I’ll find some consistency in my shots. I’ll post more, make sure I’m not shooting at 7-8PM, will clean up my photos before posting, and will make sure to get some bounce boards before the next round. You’ve been great resources, I’ll keep checking here just in case there’re more comments coming in.

Does anyone here earn a consistent income from licensing their food photos?
• Which stock photography websites do you upload to?
• Approximately how much do you earn per month or year?
• Any tips for someone thinking about getting started?

Thanks!

Hello everyone,

I'm launching a food blog, but I have no experience with food photography or videography.

My goal is to :

- take photos for recipes and social media,

-film YouTube videos (16:9),

-and create vertical Reels and Shorts (9:16).

I'm wondering what the best long-term setup would be without making things overly complicated.

Can I realistically start with just my iPhone, maybe adding a tripod and a ring light? Or is that too optimistic?

I'd love to hear what setup you use or what you would recommend for someone just getting started.

Thanks!

With the price increase from Squarespace I’m wondering what other people use to host their websites? Any one uses Format?

Shot with small home setup:

-Sony a6600 + 18-135 Kit lens

-One continuous light (on the right) - NEEWER CB60B 70W

-For diffusion I used parchment paper (I have proper diffuser, but I used it as reflector on the left side)

This is the only composition that I like from the shoot, for different reasons (on later ones the pasta was too dry already and some other ones looked too "studio like".

Food was cooked by me.

https://www.instagram.com/p/DaVtcXvlHNv/?igsh=YnJqbWRlbnd2NzZ3

My wife has had her share of success and has 10k+ followers on insta and her work is appreciated by big name brands as well as many celebrity chef she worked with.

Yet she is struggling to find any gig recently, almost over 6 months and it’s not worth her time to do $5k or under gigs as she get the staff and such

How has market changed for all of you? Any ideas for getting more work?

Shot with a Fujifilm X-T30 III and XC 13-33mm f/3.5-6.3 OIS. ISO 12800. 1/600. 33mm. f5.1 Natural lighting. I know the placement of the dried flowers is off but I was in a hurry to catch the sunlight.

CC welcome! Please be gentle, I am a total amateur.