Super simple tips for making your Instagram food pics look their best!
How many times have you taken a picture of a yummy looking meal only to realize it sort of looks better in real life than it does in your snapshot? It happens to me all the time.
That’s why I was excited to attend a TECHmunch Food Photography and Culinary Storytelling Workshop with Celebrity Chef Curtis Stone onboard Princess Cruises.
We would spend the day eating our way through six courses of food and snapping food pics along the way.
Follow KTLA 5 Tech Reporter Rich DeMuro on Social Media for useful tech news, apps & gadgets:
Facebook: http://facebook.com/RichOnTech
Twitter: http://twitter.com/richdemuro
Instagram: http://instagram.com/richontech
Stone has a restaurant on three Princess Cruises ships called Share – we went to the one on the Ruby Princess, which was docked in the port of San Pedro.
“The idea behind Share is it’s a multi-course menu – you come in, you share me with the people that you care about, you love, you share some stories and we share a 6-course menu with you,” explained Curtis Stone.
The room was full of food bloggers, so you can bet there were a lot of cameras out at every course. I asked Stone what he thought of his restaurant guests posting their food pics to Instagram.
“It’s a really an interesting phenomenon because it’s brand new. No one ever used to take a photo of their food and now people are all the time,” explained Stone, who added that he didn’t mind it a bit.
While courses like lemon poached prawns were served, we all learned how to make our pictures pop from food photographer Ashley Rodriguez, who blogs at NotWithoutSalt.com.
“Instagram is so perfect for food photography because food and Instagram are both incredibly visual mediums,” said Rodriguez.
Some of the tips she shared?
Use A Menu
Restaurant dining areas often have a mix of lighting conditions. There’s harsh light coming in from the windows and warm light from the overheads. You can use a menu to block out or bounce light and soften the shadows or illuminate your food better.
Try Lunch Instead of Dinner
The lighting in a restaurant will be considerably brighter during the day, so if you want the best opportunity for pics, this will be it.
Tell a Story
“Hands, a napkin, or a glass in the shot can make a big difference and don’t be afraid to take a picture after you’ve taken a bite,” explained Rodriguez. She says your followers will respond to your images in a much more compelling way – AKA more likes for you.
Include Yourself in Photos
People want to see the person who is taking the photos. Don’t assume it’s ALL about the food.
“The truth behind Instagram and all of the different social media outlets [is that] if your food looks good and it tastes good, people will talk positive positively about it and it just amplifies that good old-fashioned word of mouth,” concluded Stone.
See the Instagram photos I took at the TechMunch event!
NOW WATCH: Ashley Rodriguez of NotWithoutSalt.com explains how to take the best Instagram food pics
[protected-iframe id=”1b4fd475f1529fff51ab09e56b8da498-41641936-42315212″ info=”https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FRichOnTech%2Fvideos%2F2135980493086325%2F&show_text=0&width=560″ width=”560″ height=”315″ frameborder=”0″ style=”border:none;overflow:hidden” scrolling=”no”]
