Food styling: Hunger for your eyes only!

Express News Service

HYDERABAD: They say you eat with your eyes first. Food styling is key in the F&B industry as the plating, photography and the overall presentation are what draw diners. Even when not hungry, a glimpse of a good picture of food is enough to make our mouths water. 

Well, that’s no coincidence. Restaurants hire professional food stylists who work around the food to click pictures that register in your head forever. We speak to city-based professional food photographers, who have been making menus appealing.

Martin Louis Fernandes, a freelance photographer, ensures that his pictures of food tell a yummy story. “For me, the story/process of the food builds a narrative for my picture. It gives me a good sense of what the chef wants to achieve and curate for the guests. Food presentation is an art — of modifying, processing, arranging and decorating to enhance the food’s aesthetic appeal. The time taken to shoot food varies is sometimes 15 minutes and even an hour! Factors like proportioning, styling, choosing the right tableware, timing and garnishing, come to play when styling food,” he says.

Martin loves to shoot his food in natural lighting. “However, you will have to work quickly to shoot different foods on the menu, as the amount and strength of natural light vary throughout the day. I mix up the angles of the photo; not all foods look better from a certain angle, some are shot from certain angles over others. Play with your plating, choose how you will photograph certain foods, it’s a great opportunity to rethink plating certain dishes. The best part about food photography is that many rules can be modified to suit a specific need,” he says. 

It’s not always just food on the table that’s shot. Martin says, “I choose a location where there’s good natural light, which helps show off the restaurant. I also try to incorporate various elements to recreate the ambience so customers have a better sense of the décor and the overall vibe. The colour, texture and shapes are a crucial part of culinary experience.” 

On the other hand, Ronodip, a.k.a Poodforn, a café explorer and freelance food photographer, speaks about the basic things to keep in mind when styling food. He says, “Food has to always look fresh, it should be shot the minute it is out of the kitchen. The ingredients should be highlighted. For instance, if I’m clicking a picture of a salad, it should be fresh and have a lot of lettuce, pomegranate, and ravioli.  If it is a burger, I use the top angle where I can show the patty and the filling. When it comes to a steak, it has to look juicy and fresh.” 

Desserts are Ronodip’s favourite. “When shooting a cake, I add a human element to it. Somebody grabbing it with a spoon makes the picture more real. Cupcakes and brownies are the most photo-friendly. They don’t demand much effort from your end!”