I’m excited to have another AWESOME post from Katrina Kennedy, be sure to read all the way for an extra treat! 
Here’s a little about Katrina:
“I eat, breathe, write and teach Photography! My camera is my most often worn accessory. I am a mom with a camera who feels compelled to capture my son’s life. I was frustrated by my search to learn how to use my camera and knew I had to pass on the knowledge I gathered to help other moms capture their favorite subjects. I started out with a film SLR years ago,on auto. Moved to a dSLR in 2002 on auto and in 2005 finally decided I needed to know what TV actually stood for!”
Katrina teaches photography classes at Get It Scrapped. Writes photography tutorials for DesignerDigitals and blogs about her life through the lens at About A Boy.
I love food photography.
Food photographers spend hours arranging the perfect light, angle, and composition for a single dish. A stylist preps the food, sprays it with all sorts of inedible substances, and creates a beautiful setting.
Thanksgiving dinner doesn’t provide most of us the luxury of a stylist or time to capture the perfect photo. Balancing dinner preparation, entertaining family, and photographing Thanksgiving dinner is definitely tricky.
There is something about cooking all day and eating your creations in fifteen minutes or less that requires photos to be taken.
I started to stage the perfect dinner table for photos, but then decided that wasn’t realistic. Instead I’ve collected a few pointers for getting better food photos on the big day or any day for that matter. And my photos? They are the real deal. No staging or stylist or fancy lighting. Just me, my family, and a 50mm lens! I’ve included some secrets from my studio for you as well.
5 Steps for Capturing Your Thanksgiving Dinner:
1. Find the light.
2. Shoot at eye level or just above.
3. Give your photos context.
4. Adjust your white balance.
5. Focus on the front of the plate or one third in.
Find Or Create Good Light
Light comes into our camera to create a photo in a few ways:
§ External sources – window, overhead, flash
§ Aperture – the hole in the lens, the larger the hole the more light in
§ Shutter speed – the longer the curtain is open, the more light you get
§ ISO – sensitivity to light, the higher the number, the more light is collected
Look for the light when photographing Thanksgiving. Open your blinds and let the light poor in. If it is a dark overcast day or just dark by the time dinner is on the table, get the light through your camera settings.
Bump your ISO up. Yes, you’ve probably heard that the higher you go the grainer or more pixilated your image is. Sometimes I will take the tradeoff to capture the moment. Shoot with a wide aperture to get the most light in your camera, knowing you can back up from your subject if you want to get a bit more in focus. You can find more about aperture and focal distance in July’s Photography class.
If your food isn’t moving and your family can put it up with it, you can grab your tripod and use a long shutter speed to gather light for your table photos. My Thanksgiving is always a little too hectic for this approach!
Are you wondering why I’ve not mentioned using your flash here? You can. Definitely. I tend to avoid the flash at family events if possible. I have a few photo resistant family members and flashing bright lights near them intensify their resistance. I use a policy of fewer flashes to sneak opportunities to photograph them.
If I do use my flash, I bounce it off of the ceiling or the wall behind me, adjusting the flash compensation until I get light that I like. If you only have an onboard flash, adjust your flash compensation to the negative side to reduce its intensity.
Shoot At Eye Level Or Just Above
The angle we shoot from changes our food. When you adjust your viewpoint lower than where we would see food when seated, it looks a bit larger, taking on a bit more personality. Think about shooting it from a child’s level. Your family may look at you funny at first, but they’ll get used it!
If time and space allow, I like to shoot straight down on food. Cropping a portion of the plate out, giving it a bit of space.
Give Your Food Context
Food photographers sometimes isolate a single item on a plate or dish for great impact, but they also find props to compliment their subjects. Consider placing your plate in front of a centerpiece, glasses or including your place setting in the shot. I wish I had photographs of my childhood dinner plate with the nametags as context. The food is important, but it is the occasion I’m hoping to remember.
Adjust Your White Balance
Indoor fluorescent lighting can give your photos a yellow cast. Switch your white balance to fluorescent and consider shooting in RAW to get the best color tones. You can find more about white balance in August’s Photograph Class.
Focus on the Front or One Third In
If you are shooting with a wide aperture to get the most light on your subject, you are also going to get a shallow depth of field – that blurred background look. Focus on the front of your food so that more is in focus. If you are focusing on your dinner table, focus about a third into the frame to blur a bit of the foreground and background. Pick something visually strong on the table to focus on to get the most impact in your composition.
Ready for my super secret studio shots?
Many of you know I use my laundry room for many of my food shots. It has a great north-facing window with lots of natural light. To photograph my favorite dishes I place a white sheet of paper, dishtowels or a tablecloth over the washer and shoot away. Dish towels can add nice texture and white tablecloths can be propped up on the left hand side of the frame to act as a reflector, opening up any shadows on the right of my food.
If you are able to, practice shooting in the light and location where you’ll be having Thanksgiving. It will help get you ready for the big event. Pies and dishes prepared before Thanksgiving Day are great items to practice with.
What’s the most important part of capturing your Thanksgiving feast? Enjoy the day and don’t let the photos cause any added stress. If you need to shoot on P or use your point and shoot, the memories are still captured.
Oh, and by the way, if you are shooting with a point and shoot, check to see if you have a food setting! Seriously. It can help!
I almost forgot. Make sure you capture the aftermath of your Thanksgiving feast. It’s completely understandable if it’s a little out of focus!
P.S.I am happy to be able to offer a pass to “Capture Your Holidays: Through The Lens” – a 14 day mini class at Get It Scrapped. Please leave a comment in this post prior to Thursday 11pm ET for your chance to win!
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great tips–thanks for sharing and the chance to win!
Great Tips! Thanks Katrina! Looks like a fun class!
Hi Katrina, thanks for this post, all great tips. I would love to learn more photography techniques…thanks for the chance!
Would LOVE a pass to your class. Great article too!
Katrina I just love that you always offer us ways to get those shots in our not so prefectly lite world as well as the perfectly lite..It real life photography for those of us that just want to capture those memories with a shot that’s as perfect as we can get under those imperfect conditions.. Thank you for more awesome tips..
I am horrible at photographing food! Thank you for the tips.
Thank you for the info and a chance to win a class!
Great tips, thanks. Just recently acquired a wide aperture lens and look forward to some practicing in Thanksgiving!!
What fun. I’d like to win. I need to take more holiday pics.
I was just looking at this class on the website and thought it looked like a great class. Oh to be so lucky! I’d love to win. Good luck to all.
I never thought about capturing the food or aftermath of Turkey day. I love the idea and welcome the advice and tips you gave! I am still in the “auto” phase of photography… but would love to learn more about my camera options and photography. Thank you for sharing your expertise!
wowee 2 minutes to spare! count me in! GREAT tips!
Super tips… I never thought about where to shoot with food photos, but the front or a 1/3 in totally makes sense. I’ve used the sheet/ tablecloth trick more than a few times!
Thanks also for the opportunity to win a spot in your class!
Fantastic tips, thank you!
White balance can be so tricky sometimes!!! I try to shoot without a flash as much as possible and our fluorescent lighting makes it super challenging.
I’m a mom with a camera who would LOVE to take Katrina’s class! And I especially like the reminder to photograph the food that took hours to prepare, and minutes to eat.
)
oh! I would love the class with katrina! She’s the greatest!!
Love love love foodie photos and I’d love the class!
These are such great, simple tips. Now I’m excited about shooting the big dinner!
Love reading your posts on TDD and would love to be able to take part in the class.
Fingers & Toes are Crossed.
Great tips. I love taking pics of food on holidays, this was a great post!
Thanks for the great tips. Would love to win the class, I need help.
This was such a great post- and I would love to win the class!!
Thanks for the great tips!
I would love to win that class! Thank you for great tips
Thanks for all the tips! I need all the help I can get…
Thanks for the tips! My hubby just bought me my first DSLR, so this helps a lot. Thanks so much for the chance to win the class!!
Great tips indeed! Thanks for the chance to win some photography help. Fingers crossed.
Thanks for the great tips! I’d love to win that class too!!
Great tips – I am going to try and improve my food photos this holiday season. Your class would be wonderful too!
Thanks for the great tips. Would love to take the class.
Thanks for the opportunity.
Great post and your class sounds terrific too!
Thank you for a nice summary – enough detail to follow through and not to feel overwelmed!
I’d love to win a spot in Katrina’s class!
I love taking pictures of my Thanksgiving meal- the problem I have is getting the turkey to look like the perfect golden brown in photos like it does in real life. Thanks for the opportunity to win the class!
These are great tips. I love taking pictures of food at every family gathering. Sometimes people look at me weirdly, but I think they appreciate it later.
Great article – especially the tip about putting the food in context!
Great tips! I haven’t tried my hand at shooting food yet, I’m just pretty happy if I can get it on the table, LOL! Would love love love to take your mini-class, thanks for the chance to win!
Thanks for the great tips. Your posts are always so helpful and easy to understand. Thanks for the chance for the mini class!
Thanks for the tips! I would love a class!
great tips!
Great tips. Thanks!
Thank you for you excellent tips. Oh how I would love to win this class. I really need to learn how to take better photos.
Your posts here are so easy to understand – I would love to take an entire class with you. Thanks for the chance to win.
Great tip on the 1/3 of the way in. It makes it look a lot less like a snapshot. (And this can be accomplished with a p&s)
Great tips, thanks so much!
Definitely need a photography class … great tips, too! Love this site – it’s the first thing I check every evening when I get home from work
Thanks for the great tips. I would love a chance to win the photo class!
Love the tips, thanks fopr the great ideas. . . . and the chance to win! The course sounds awesome!
Oh this is wonderful! I’m always looking for new ideas and help with taking these photos. The new class looks fabulous and I’d love a chance to take it!
Oh, the photo class sounds wonderful! I’d love a chance to try that!
Great tips! Can’t wait to try these out!
I love taking photos of food too! My family thinks I’m a little crazy but it doesn’t move and I don’t have to coax it to smile at me…unlike my daughters!
lol no food setting on my point and shoot and alas, no north windows (well, two tiny ones in the bedrooms)! But I sure do like the tips and thanks for a chance to win a class!
Great tips, I especially like the last one, yum!
Thanks for these great tips!
These tips are valuable! We love eating and we love shooting, so these tips will definitely come in handy. And a free pass for a mini class won’t hurt either
Wow! Thank you so much for those great tips! And thank you so much for the chance to win a place in your class! That would be awesome!!
I just went and looked at the mini class at Get It Scrapped. It looks fabulous!
Gosh, I would love to learn how to take good pictures! One of these days maybe I’ll have time to devote just to that!