Travel Food Photography Tip: Thailand Edition
First and foremost, I must say this: New York City spoils me. Being a food photographer, I get to eat a lot of amazing (and sometimes, but rarely, not so amazing) restaurants. And if I am not photographing a restaurant, I go to just to experience the atmosphere. I enjoy the ambiance of being at a restaurant. The decor, the lighting, the plating, the people – everything about it is why I love what I do. However, no matter where I go on the globe, I also come back to the realization that New York will probably have a restaurant that can compete.
New York spoils me in that way.
However, I travel to eat the culture. To experience all those ambiances in another place in the world. And while I am there, I might as well photograph the food I get to experience to share with everyone else. Instagram is handy that way. With the growing hobby of food photography and the incredible features of iPhone cameras and Instagram editing software, food porn is more popular than ever. I can’t stop people from trying to do what I do as a career with their iPhones. I can, however, help weed out the use of shooting tungsten lighting overhead of your food that creates unflattering shadows and in turn, help me scroll through a more inspirational Instagram at night.
So here is the first tip and most important tip for shooting travel food photography: USE NATURAL LIGHTING.
Avoid overhead lighting as much as possible. If need be, block it with a napkin and sit close to a window. Here are a couple of my favorite from outdoor and indoor locations.