Current Food Photography Styles and Trends: A Cake Case Study

When BlogHer asked Anita Chu and me to speak at this past weekend's annual BlogHer Food conference (in Seattle!) about current food photography trends and styles, it didn't take me very long to settle on this challenge: take one single subject--a cake, in this instance--and shoot it using the many different styles of food photography that are present on the blogosphere today. This experiment arose naturally from my (and Anita's) academic proclivity for controlled scientific studies: holding the subject matter, the photographer, and the camera equipment constant, how does varying the other elements in the photograph--the approach to light, the framing, the styling, the props, etc.--change the stories and emotions a photograph can communicate and evoke? That is, how can we use photographic style to tell unique stories about the food?

As part of our presentation, Anita and I scoured the food-blogosphere and collected a handful of work we thought was representative of the different styles found out there today. We also looked at the history of food photography, and the changes in styles and trends that the field has undergone since food photography's beginnings in the 1940s and 50s. Style, we determined, is made up of a conglomeration of many elements--propping, lighting, etc.--and each style develops (and had developed over time historically) for a specific purpose. To understand the purpose behind style choices allows us as photographers and artists to be able to use features of each style intelligently and to help develop our individual visual voices as well.

Because I don't want to infringe on copyright, I can't share the first two parts of our presentation here (you should have come to BlogHer Food!), but hopefully this ca{k, s}e study will make up for it. Discussion of the styles comes first; then, some lighting and technical details follow after the jump. For larger image views, clicking on the photos should take you to fullscreen. (Please be forewarned, this is a monstrously long post.)

In the course of our research, Anita and I identified six major groups of food photography styles prominent on the blogosphere (and partly in print) today, with some variations and sub-groups within each one: (1) product, (2) journalistic and straightforward, (3) bright and propped, (4) lifestyle-inspired, (5) bold and clean, and (6) chiaroscuro. Of course, these style classifications are painted with very broad strokes, and the styles have within them a lot more subtlety than we could ever hope to cover in an hour's talk. It's important to understand that these groups aren't as much categorical and distinct as they are part of a continuous range--everything is related, and we saw inspirations and influences carried from one style to the next and the next. But, as a helpful guide, here are the six (with two variations) of our food photography style groups.

[NB: the photographers mentioned herein are only a small sample of the talent that's out there on the blogosphere, and it was impossible to include everyone. Also, these photographers are all more than capable of a wide range of styles, but we tried to categorize them using the most representative recent work on their blogs.]

{1 | Product}

Product photography isn't quite as prominent a style on the food blogosphere, but it is important to mention since a vast majority of the photography of food is still for adverts and uses product photography. The purpose of product photos is typically to demonstrate the product and to sell the product, so clean, glossy images with minimal distractions are important for the focus on the food.

Characteristics

glossy images

all-white or black backgrounds, sometimes with mirrored surfaces

usually studio-lit, with minimal shadows

careful and clean styling

In the above image, a large slice is cut out of the cake to expose the layers inside. As the stylist (and photographer), I thought this would be important for a product photograph, because--as one audience member pointed out at our BlogHer Food discussion--in buying a cake, you don't want any mystery in what you're buying. The cut-away slice and the bright lighting grant the viewer full access to what the cake is all about, inside and out (by the way, in case you're wondering: it's a delicious coconut chocolate raspberry cake, for which I will post the recipe in a few days).

{2 | Journalistic and Straightforward}

The style of journalistic and straightforward photography grows out of reportage: its goal is to be educational, to reveal the back-story of how the food comes to be, to show how the food is when unadorned and as you would find it in the real world. Saveur is chock-full of this style of food photography. On the blogosphere, Jen Yu of use real butter is someone to study when it comes to this type of straightforward, documentary style.

Characteristics

documentary style

use of overheads to show process

action shots

little-to-no extra styling, minimal propping

strong, clear light

In my version of the journalistic/straightforward style of this cake study, I chose to make an in-process photograph of Anita stacking and frosting the cake layers. One reason to use this style of photography on food blogs is so you can demonstrate the process of cooking and inspire the reader to cook as well: the attitude of "I want you to try this recipe, so I'm showing you that it can be done!" rather than just showing a finished product.

{3 | Bright and Propped}

What we're calling "bright and propped" is perhaps the best known and most familiar style in the current food blogosphere, with its roots in the early white and airy Donna Hay photographs of the late 1990s and early 2000s, though it has developed quite a bit since. It's a style that evokes a bucolic and idyllic atmosphere by using brighter but softer light and fewer shadows and by incorporating elements beyond the food in a variety of props, more background details, and staging. As opposed to some of the other styles (e.g., product, bold & clean), there is more of the scene available to these photographs: they show off a way of life in addition to the food. Photographers in the food blogosphere who exemplify this style of work are Helene Dujardin (Tartelette), Aran Goyoaga (Cannelle et Vanille), Mowie Kay (Mowielicious), Bea Peltre (La Tartine Gourmande), and Lakshmi Wennäkoski-Bielicki (Pure Vegetarian).

Characteristics

soft, diffuse light

use of colors and patterns

airy, happy images

precise, delicate staging

full framing, with foreground and background elements

vintage, rustic props

The "bright and propped" image of the cake above features more feminine details in the styling and a more light-hearted feel to the whole image, with the polka dots and the repetition of the heart pattern. My intent as the photographer was to create an airier, dreamier feel with the bright backlight. A BlogHer Food participant commented also that the three-quarters angle at which the cake is shot makes it seem more dainty and far less imposing. It looks more approachable and friendly than, say, the more imposing product photography image of the cake in {1}.

{4 | Lifestyle-inspired}

As food magazines and publications like Gourmet and Time Life gained popularity in the 1960-80s, there was a rise in lifestyle-inspired food photography, where a narrative behind the food becomes important: what's the scene? the context in which the food is being eaten? the story behind the dish? Gourmet (may it rest in peace) was, after all, not only a food magazine but "the magazine of good living," and part of defining that "good living" was defining the lifestyle of which the food was a key element. In the current "instant" age of sharing, there's another jump in the incorporation of lifestyle in food photography. We have an urge to document and share the moments in which we're enjoying and eating the food, so details from beyond the plate are sneaking into the frame, and there is a much more casual feel to the staging and styling of the food. We are also seeing film-like sensibilities to many of the photographs in this style, perhaps stemming from the same nostalgia kick that is driving our current instagram obsession. Photographers on the food blogosphere that shoot in this style are Tara O'Brady (seven spoons) and Nikole Herriott / Michael Graydon (Forty-Sixth at Grace), and lifestyle/portrait photographer Alice Gao (lingered upon) also shoots beautiful lifestyle-inspired food photography these days.

Characteristics

more context to the food

larger apertures with wider angles to bring more into the frame

more negative space

film-like contrast

casual staging/styling

In line with the narrative aspect of the lifestyle-inspired style, I wanted to create a vignette of a birthday celebration in this cake photograph, so I tried to capture the cake (and smoke from the candles) at the moment Anita blew them out. (P.S. It actually was Anita's birthday a month ago, so while a wee bit belated, Happy Birthday, Anita!) While the focus is still on the food--this is food photography after all--, there is more to the image than just the cake. This sort of lifestyle approach, I find, humanizes and really personalizes an image, adding a genuine quality to the food--like, you know someone is going to eat that cake as part of a happy celebration. Such a story behind the food can help inspire readers of the recipe to try the cake as part of their own celebrations.

(Special thanks also to Jacqueline Jaszka of A Happy Day for the post-processing of the above photograph.)

{5a | Bold and Clean, #1}

Unlike the lifestyle-inspired or bright/propped styles, Bold and Clean focuses intently on the food, with few distractions from the main subject in the frame--basically, a minimalist/utilitarian approach to emphasizing the beauty of the food. The idea is, as photographer Nicole Franzen (La Buena Vida) wrote to me to describe this (her) style: "[the] Food should stand out for itself." By keeping the rest of the image very clean, the eye is immediately drawn to the food, and it makes the viewer focus on the interesting details within the food itself rather than relying on a scene to create more interest.

Within the Bold and Clean family, I tend to make a distinction between two different approaches: one that features slightly more dramatic lighting and cleaner, minimal backgrounds (5a | Bold and Clean #1 above) and one that uses brighter and bolder color schemes as a backdrop to the food (5b | Bold and Clean #2 below). These two different approaches evoke different emotions in the viewer, and each (sub-)style works well for and reflects the voices of the photographers who tend to use them. Bold and Clean #1 tends to be more serious, with an austere respect for the food. Photographers in the food blogosphere who shoot in this style include the aforementioned Nicole Franzen (La Buena Vida) and Sarah Bolla (Lemon Fire Brigade).

Characteristics

strong focus on food

tighter framing

minimal props and clean styling, with a mix of more modern props

solid backgrounds

balance between light and shadow

In making this photo, I wanted it to be clean and focused on the food but to be distinct from product photography where everything has to look perfect and glossy. Instead, the shadowing on the left of the cake, the knife ready for cutting, and the candles that have just been pulled out of the cake make for a less "manufactured" look (as someone in the BlogHer Food audience put it) and sets a bit of a scene even for a minimalist photograph. The porcelain cake stand, the marble, the white wall background, and the straight-on angle of the photo make the presentation of the cake feel more formal, as if the cake were prepared for a special occasion, as compared to the Bold and Clean #2 photo below....

{5b | Bold and Clean, #2}

Bold and Clean #2 shares many of the same style characteristics in the "Bold and Clean" family as #1, but it tends to be more light-hearted and fun (and commercial, if you will), incorporating more bold colors around the food. For this style, photographers in the food blogosphere include Matt Armendiaz (Matt Bites) and Terilyn Fisher (spoon fork bacon).

With the styling and the bolder colors in the photograph above for this styling, I intended to take a more "everyday recipe" approach to the cake. While the photograph in Bold and Clean #1 makes the cake look as if it's intended for a formal occasion, this photograph in Bold and Clean #2 is more casual: the photograph communicates that this is a cake that you might want to try for a kid's birthday or for an everyday dessert whereas the other Bold and Clean photograph shows a cake that is perhaps reserved for a special anniversary or celebration. Even though there is a stronger focus on the food in this style, it's still possible to use it for different purposes, depending on the story you're looking to tell.

{6a | Chiaroscuro, #1}

"Chiaroscuro" (one of Anita's favorite words!) means, in Italian, "light-dark." It is a painting term from the art world that's used to talk about a clear contrast between shadow and light in an image: think Carvaggio and some of the Dutch Masters' still lifes. I commonly hear this style referred to around the food blogosphere as "dark photography," but I have to say that "dark" is a term I truly dislike for this type of style (and from now on, I refuse to answer any questions posed to me about "dark photography"!). The main reason for my dispreference for this term is that it's a misnomer: unlike "bright" styles, where there are actually very few shadows, these chiaroscuro styles actually have bright spots. In fact, more often than not, the light areas of these images are just as bright as the light areas of "bright" images. The difference instead lies in the contrast between light *and* dark and the greater use of shadows throughout the entire image. So let's all use "chiaroscuro" from now on, please?

The Chiaroscuro style uses the contrast of light and dark to throw selective focus on the food, and allows the photographer to really control what the viewer sees and notices. Perhaps even more so than some of the other styles, this one in particular creates much more moodier images. What I personally love about it is that the photographs don't give up all of their secrets to the viewer immediately: the shadows create mystery that forces you to really study the photograph, first looking at what's highlighted by the light and then what's hidden and lurking in the shadows. Anita notes that this is a style that calls back to the early days of food photography in the 1950s and 1960s when images of food were treated almost like painted still-life images.

Like the Bold and Clean styles, I find myself making a distinction between two types of Chiaroscuro food photography, one that is more low-key and marked by somewhat lower contrast images (6a | Chiaroscuro #1 above) and another that is marked by higher contrast images where the brights are really bright and the shadows melt into almost pitch black (6b | Chiaroscuro #2 below). For this first sub-style, Andrea Gentl / Gentl & Hyers (Hungry Ghost food + travel) make some of the most beautifully subtle and moody images I know of. There's also Sarah Ryhanen (Saipua), whose blog is about flowers not food but is too perfect for this style not to mention.

Characteristics

use of light and deep shadows for dramatic focus on subject

moody images

strong tonal contrast creates a sense of tension and mystery

corresponding propping: dark, textural, organic, lush

painting-inspired

For the question "What story does this photo and style tell?", we received the most number of answers from the BlogHer Food audience for this photo. One person said it made them think of late night snacking; for others, it was about a romantic moment. For some, the photo evoked a rainy afternoon; when Anita saw the photo for the first time, she told me it reminded her of a scene in a painters' studio. This wide variation of stories exemplifies the lure of Chiaroscuro images: the light scraping the surface of the cake and the teacup hints at a setting with tea and cake, but the rest of the story is left up to the imagination of the viewer--the message almost being "Try this cake for yourself to solve its mysteries."

{6b | Chiaroscuro, #2}

This second sub-style of Chiaroscuro is characterized by a greater contrast between lights and darks than Chiaroscuro #1: light areas are just as bright as those in properly bright images. Because of the contrast, this type of Chiaroscuro is even more so a nod to (Caravaggio-style) painting and art, where the lines between light and dark are well-defined. The result is a treatment of food as almost museum-like art. You'll find many examples of Chiaroscuro #2 in the pages of this blog (and in sated!), and Hannah Queen (honey & jam) has been making images this way recently.

Photographing the cake this way highlights its grandeur: the cake on a tall pedestal with flickering candles suggests someone very important's birthday, perhaps. One audience member noted that the draped fabric is reminiscent of art and not of how one might find the cake in everyday life. Personally, I think I gravitate towards this style just because of my overly-dramatic personality: I like to give everything far more importance than it might deserve.

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The most important take-away from this study of current food photography trends and styles is that developing style and voice in a photograph requires really thinking about what the purpose of your image is. With so many elements out there to work with--light, photographic technicalities, props, styling, and on and on--, understanding how to put all of these things together to serve a singular idea is key. Photography trends and styles are circular and come and go, driven by different purposes and social desires (as Anita and I found from our quick study of the history of food photography), so finding personal voice is all about experimenting, choosing the elements that resonate with you personally, and keeping in mind the "why" behind what you choose.

We'd love to hear your thoughts about these styles and of these photographs in the comments/discussion below!

After the jump are lighting setups, technical details, and some comments about how I set up each of these photographs. If you excuse me getting on my soap box for just a moment, I want to say how much I believe that technical details are only important insofar as learning and mastering them allow them to become second nature and stop getting in the way of you making images that really communicate your intentions. Mimicking someone's lighting or f-stops or exposure isn't going to produce a good photograph if you don't understand the intention and purpose behind that image and behind what you are trying to say when making that image. For this, nothing will make up for or replace hard work, lots and lots of practice and experimentation and failures, and some good, old-fashioned deep thinking.



(All photographs are by me. Ideas on and discussion of food photography and photographs herein are based on collaboration with Anita Chu.)

Read on for lighting setups....

[ISO 500, f/6.3, 1/80]

A friend of a friend borrowed my studio lights and never returned them (if you're reading this--I want them back!), so I had to fake the product photography photo with natural light the best I could. Normally, I would want to use studio lights and a lightbox for a photo like this one. By 'studio lights,' I don't even necessarily mean anything fancy: two high-powered work lights in the daylight spectrum from the hardware store will suffice, with each one set on either side of the cake. In lieu of lights, I used a bright sunny day, reflectors, and cranked up the light sensitivity on the camera. I also chose a smaller aperture because I wanted more of the cake to be in focus for demonstrating the product.

[ISO 250, f/5.6, 1/20]

For this photo, I used a slower shutter speed to capture the motion blur of Anita frosting the cake. Motion blur is a technique commonly used in journalistic photography (crack open any Nat Geo, for instance), and the addition of movement makes the image more spontaneous and less static.

[ISO 250, f/2.8, 1/125]

This is a fairly straightforward backlit photo; in general, backlit raspberries are fun to shoot because you get a little bit of translucence in the berry, which can really light up the image.

[ISO 200, f/3.2, 1/250]

Anita is lit from the side here (the sun was at a somewhat unusual angle, so the photo is a little less side-lit than I might have liked). The reflector helps to illuminate the side of the cake that would be a bit too dark without a reflector.

[ISO 320, f/3.2, 1/200]

I chose not to use a white reflector here because I wanted to have the darker shadows and gradient from bright light to somewhat darker from right to left in the photograph. The shadows help to add some depth and sophistication to the cake and raspberries.

[ISO 500, f/5.0, 1/100]

Another fairly straightforward backlit photograph. Note that the offset framing of the cake, where part of the cake bleeds out of the photo is fairly typical of this style of photography. When I made this photo, I had in mind Terilyn Fisher's style in particular and saved space in the upper right-hand corner for the addition of design elements that she typically adds for her blog recipes. Planning ahead for negative space is useful if you know that you'd like to incorporate design into the image; otherwise, it's too easy to end up crowding the photo.

[ISO 500, f/5.6, 1/40]

I made this photograph in my garage because elsewhere in my house isn't sufficiently dark. The light source for these types of Chiaroscuro photographs has to be sufficiently limited and touch just the right areas of the subject that need to be illuminated.

[ISO 200, f/2.8, 1/160]

High contrast Chiaroscuro photographs can be more easily made in my normal shooting space because the bright parts of the image demand light as much as any other "bright" image. I would not normally use a white reflector here, but the light wasn't very strong when I was shooting, and I wanted a bit more curvature of the cake to come out in the final photograph.