The Novice Housewife's Five Food Styling Tips

The Novice Housewife aka Shumaila. We here at The Post love her Instagram and blog so it is our great pleasure to share food styling tips from the Novice Housewife

Shumaila comments, ‘While there are several tips I could share on styling; over the years, these 5 styling tips have helped me while creating food images.’

Props & Garnishes should Complement the Food

Always know your hero, and plan the props and garnishes accordingly. Everything in the photo should make sense. Don’t use a garnish that you wouldn’t actually put in the dish just because it looks pretty. Small plates and bowls work better when styling food because you can fit more items in the frame and they don’t compete with the food.

Use Complementary Colours

Use the colour wheel to create food that pops out. Red and green work well together, yellow and purple complement each other and so does blue and orange. When you decide your hero (the main focus of your image), use the colour wheel to determine the colour of props, background, garnishes.

Invest in Quality Backgrounds

A beautiful background makes all the difference in conveying the story you want to be told through your image.

Layer and Create Texture.

Racks, plates, knives, background, napkins, parchment paper,  crumbs all give texture  and add dimension to your image.

Style according to the angle you Plan to Shoot.

I usually take photos from top, front, at 75 degrees, 45 and 25 degrees to determine the hero angle. Also, style according to the camera view- the camera sees differently from the eye.

Lastly, while not a styling tip, but more of photography tip, reading light and how it falls on your food is the most important tip to create great images. Also, practice as much as you can. With every picture you will learn something different.