Food Photography Surfaces
December 21, 2015 7:18 AM Subscribe
I've started to get into food photography and am interested in finding some cool surfaces to act as backgrounds for variety.
Where would be a good place to look for neat tabletop surfaces for backgrounds? I like wooden, rustic, distressed looks but am unsure where I could find such things without breaking the bank.
I tried gluing some pine boards together and staining them but it looked rather fake.
Appreciate any suggestions!
Where would be a good place to look for neat tabletop surfaces for backgrounds? I like wooden, rustic, distressed looks but am unsure where I could find such things without breaking the bank.
I tried gluing some pine boards together and staining them but it looked rather fake.
Appreciate any suggestions!
If you don't have them already, getting a selection of tiles from your local home supply store will give you a nice contrast to the woods - polished black granite and marble are obvious choices, but look around and see what inspires you.
If you want interesting backgrounds to the side and are shooting open enough to blow out the details, you can use pictures or designs on a monitor behind what you're shooting which is a cheap and easy way to make it look like you're shooting in different spaces.
posted by Candleman at 10:13 AM on December 21, 2015
If you want interesting backgrounds to the side and are shooting open enough to blow out the details, you can use pictures or designs on a monitor behind what you're shooting which is a cheap and easy way to make it look like you're shooting in different spaces.
posted by Candleman at 10:13 AM on December 21, 2015
In the spring/summer/fall I love to shoot pictures of food in my backyard. I have some gravel, concrete walkways, funny patches of clover, etc.
I don't have an example photo handy, but baking stones that have been used for a year or two have kind of food use look as do old cookie sheets.
Not sure where you're located, but the Habitat for Humanity ReStores might be a good place to look for weathered wood.
(Good backgrounds will help, but excellent lighting and careful color correction goes a long way!)
posted by gregr at 11:44 AM on December 21, 2015
I don't have an example photo handy, but baking stones that have been used for a year or two have kind of food use look as do old cookie sheets.
Not sure where you're located, but the Habitat for Humanity ReStores might be a good place to look for weathered wood.
(Good backgrounds will help, but excellent lighting and careful color correction goes a long way!)
posted by gregr at 11:44 AM on December 21, 2015
Best answer: I work on professional food shoots. There are prop stylists who specialize in finding/fabricating surfaces. If you live in a major city, you could rent from them very cheaply instead of acquiring (and storing) your own supply of surfaces. Storing the surfaces is obviously a big concern if you are planning on having more than a few.
Otherwise, salvage yards, thrift stores, restores, craigslist, lumbar yards, etc are your new best friends. If you want granite or stone, hit up a supplier and ask to see their broken or damaged pieces. You can obviously paint/distress your own wood or other things you find. I'm not sure if there is a 'good' source for these, it just takes a lot of diligence and always being on the look out. I can't go past any salvage yard without stopping to check if there is anything worth dragging back to the studio.
If you google "prop stylist surfaces" you should be able to find plenty of portfolios to get ideas of the kinds of things to look out for.
FYI a common thing to do is use old boards (ie. from a house demolition, easy to find at the ReStore or whatever) and then retouch out the spaces in between them so it looks like one big piece of wood. Boards are obviously easier to store than tons and tons of 4'x4' or 4'x6' pieces.
posted by bradbane at 12:13 PM on December 21, 2015
Otherwise, salvage yards, thrift stores, restores, craigslist, lumbar yards, etc are your new best friends. If you want granite or stone, hit up a supplier and ask to see their broken or damaged pieces. You can obviously paint/distress your own wood or other things you find. I'm not sure if there is a 'good' source for these, it just takes a lot of diligence and always being on the look out. I can't go past any salvage yard without stopping to check if there is anything worth dragging back to the studio.
If you google "prop stylist surfaces" you should be able to find plenty of portfolios to get ideas of the kinds of things to look out for.
FYI a common thing to do is use old boards (ie. from a house demolition, easy to find at the ReStore or whatever) and then retouch out the spaces in between them so it looks like one big piece of wood. Boards are obviously easier to store than tons and tons of 4'x4' or 4'x6' pieces.
posted by bradbane at 12:13 PM on December 21, 2015
Best answer: I've seen lots of food photography shot on different types of paper.
Definitely get brown craft paper. You can shoot it smooth or wrinkled.
Black paper or fabric is really nice. You can draw on it with white pencil or chalk for accents.
Look into contact paper too. You can smooth some onto some pieces of plexiglass or something so you can swap them out. I personally like Marble. Here's some copper that looks cool.
There are lots of types of cutting boards you can get, too. Layer that on top of a neutral background for texture and visual interest. Bamboo is nice.
You could also get a box of wood flooring probably and pop the slats together. Laminate is cheaper. Just enough for a couple square feet. Same for tile. You can glue it down to some plywood. Also keep an eye out on classifieds. Lots of people sell extra supplies on there from home projects.
In general, a neutral black or craft paper background can look really cool with items layered for visual interest and texture.
Also, do you have an actual lumberyard somewhere? They sometimes have reclaimed wood and actual logs with the real texture (instead of the stuff for building houses.) They might cater to cabin makers. You may have to make some calls. But yeah, "reclaimed wood" or "reclaimed lumber" is what you would want to keep an eye out for in terms of salvage or craigslist to put together to make your own rustic surfaces.
Check out Pinterest for inspiration. There's a TON of food photos from blogs on there with lots of different styles.
posted by Crystalinne at 12:32 PM on December 21, 2015
Definitely get brown craft paper. You can shoot it smooth or wrinkled.
Black paper or fabric is really nice. You can draw on it with white pencil or chalk for accents.
Look into contact paper too. You can smooth some onto some pieces of plexiglass or something so you can swap them out. I personally like Marble. Here's some copper that looks cool.
There are lots of types of cutting boards you can get, too. Layer that on top of a neutral background for texture and visual interest. Bamboo is nice.
You could also get a box of wood flooring probably and pop the slats together. Laminate is cheaper. Just enough for a couple square feet. Same for tile. You can glue it down to some plywood. Also keep an eye out on classifieds. Lots of people sell extra supplies on there from home projects.
In general, a neutral black or craft paper background can look really cool with items layered for visual interest and texture.
Also, do you have an actual lumberyard somewhere? They sometimes have reclaimed wood and actual logs with the real texture (instead of the stuff for building houses.) They might cater to cabin makers. You may have to make some calls. But yeah, "reclaimed wood" or "reclaimed lumber" is what you would want to keep an eye out for in terms of salvage or craigslist to put together to make your own rustic surfaces.
Check out Pinterest for inspiration. There's a TON of food photos from blogs on there with lots of different styles.
posted by Crystalinne at 12:32 PM on December 21, 2015
Do't overlook janky, brown, tarnished cookie sheets/metal. Some of my favorite food blogger shots are done on those sort of surfaces.
posted by sarajane at 4:21 AM on December 22, 2015
posted by sarajane at 4:21 AM on December 22, 2015
This thread is closed to new comments.
If that's what you're looking for the key is time, sun and water.
posted by RustyBrooks at 7:28 AM on December 21, 2015 [2 favorites]