Daylight is half the battle
The most important rule of food photography: daylight, no artificial light, no flash. Warm ceiling light makes food look yellow, the flash flattens it and throws hard shadows. Put the plate by a window with the light coming in from the side (not from behind, not from the front) — that models texture and makes food look fresh. A slightly overcast day is the perfect food light: soft and even.
The angle follows the dish
| Dish | Best angle |
|---|---|
| Pizza, bowls, soups, flat plates | from above (90°) |
| Burgers, cake, pasta with height | diagonal (~45°) |
| Sandwiches, layered desserts, drinks | side-on (nearly level) |
Rule of thumb: flat from above, tall from the side. A burger from above shows just a bun; shot diagonally you see the layers — and the layers make the appetite.
Freshness and plating
Food looks best in the first few minutes — after that foam collapses, salad wilts, ice cream melts, sauces dry up. So set up first (light, angle, background), then plate, then shoot immediately. Small tricks: fresh herbs on top, a drizzle of oil for shine, wipe the plate rim clean, cutlery and a detail (napkin, ingredient) for context.
The calm background
The background should support the dish, not distract: a wooden table, a plain board, a neutral cloth. No wild patterns, no cluttered counter, no chaos behind. The food is the star.
Consistency for the whole menu
A single great photo among a bunch of differently lit images looks random. The professional impression comes from consistency: shoot all dishes in the same spot, in the same light, from a similar distance, against the same background — ideally in one session. Then bring them all to the same format (often square for portals). How to bring many images to uniform dimensions without distortion is in Make multiple images the same size.
The technical finish
- Crop square (many delivery portals want 1:1) with the crop tool, the dish filling the frame and centered.
- Scale to the required size and save as high-quality JPG.
- Shrink if needed: so the menu loads fast, bring the images to a sensible file size with the compression tool — browser-local.
In short
- Side daylight, no flash — the golden rule.
- Flat from above, tall from the side.
- Shoot fresh, on a calm background.
- Consistent look across the whole menu, then shrink.