Introduction: The Perfect Burger Photo
For a past school project I combined my love of cooking and photography to make a food blog. I learnt a number of important points about successful food photography. This is one of my favourites.
Step 1: Equipment
You will need:
- A photography tent or a plain white background
(A photography tent will help to soften the light with little to no shadows, if you do not have a tent, baking paper or white cloth can have the same effect)
- DSLR Camera
- Matt black fabric to line the tent
- Additional lights (optional) - I just have cheap strip lights
Step 2: Ingredients
For the burger you will need:
- Lettuce
- Tomato slices
- Two Cheese slices
- Burger patty (any type of patty)
- Burger Bun
For the best results choose well shaped, vibrant coloured ingredients
Step 3: Cheese
To prepare the burger, grill the patty
Place one slice of cheese on the bottom of the roll.
Layer with the patty and second slice of cheese
To achieve a "melted cheese" look, microwave on high for 20 seconds.
Step 4: Building the Burger
Add two slices of tomato on top, placing them 2-3mm back from the front of the patty
Repeat this step with the lettuce, placing 2-3mm back from the front of the tomato
Finally, add the bun top, again 2-3mm back from the front of the lettuce leaf
The burger should look as shown in the photograph, when viewed from the side
Step 5: Adding the Sauce
Using a squeeze bottle with a thin tip, strategically add sauce to decorate.
Step 6: Taking the Photo
Set up the photography tent, lining with the black fabric.
Place the burger on a white plate in the tent, as shown.
If needed use strip lights to provide additional lighting.
Take the photo from directly in front and at the level of the plate. You should be looking directly at the burger rather than from beneath or above.
Use a tripod if you have one
Step 7: Aperture
The aperture is an important part when taking a photo. The aperture changes the amount of the photo that is in focus. As the aperture gets smaller the background will become more blurred.
When taking this I set the aperture to f/3.8. This makes the burger the main focus of the photo. (giving the background a blurred look)
Step 8: Editing the Photo
Because my photo came out quite dark, I used a simple online photo editor, pixlr.com.
Through this website you can either choose to use auto fix or change the settings manually.
I have shown both in the pictures above.
I prefer to set mine manually, because you can control the small changes that you want to make.
Crop to preferred size
Step 9: Final Photo
Now you have a hamburger photo that looks good enough to eat!