Enter our Instagram food photo contest

This month, we’re giving you another reason to shoot and share food pictures.

Rebecca Barnett | The Roanoke Times

Lindsey Nair | The Roanoke Times

Caitlin Saniga | The Roanoke Times

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Food photography tips

Don’t use a cellphone flash. Use natural light whenever possible. That means sitting next to a window at a restaurant or taking the plate outside at home.

If shooting pictures in the home, start with presentation. Use interesting plates, placemats, silverware, napkins and the like. Avoid white or metal dishes as these are highly reflective and can be a distraction.

Do not feel the need to get the entire plate in the photo. Leaving a segment of the plate out of view can add interest or draw focus to one particular part of the dish.

Crop within the frame as you are taking the picture. Do not wait until later to crop the photo.

Try shooting the picture from an angle instead of straight on.

Use interesting garnishes, such as herbs or flowers. This is especially important if the food itself lacks a variety of colors.

Try placing something in the background of the photo so it looks blurred out as you focus on the dish but still contributes to the overall composition of the shot.

Remove unattractive objects from the background. Just as you don’t want it to look like a tree is growing out of a person’s head, you don’t want a glass or something sticking up at a strange spot in the image.

Feel free to position utensils on the plate or to the side. Just remember they are highly reflective.

If taking a picture of something in a glass, light the object from behind, not from the front. This cuts down on glare.

Shadows can add interest, but don’t let those kinds of tricks distract from the food itself.

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Wednesday, August 7, 2013

If someone whipped out a camera at the dinner table 20 years ago, they’d probably attract some funny looks.

Today, thanks to the proliferation of cellphones and our obsession with food and cooking, taking a picture before eating is almost as normal as draping a napkin across our laps.

We plate and style our food at home as if we work for Bon Appetit. We snap a picture of every course in a restaurant, from the amuse-bouche to the triple-decker chocolate cake.

It doesn’t have to be a special occasion, either — we’ll shoot the hot dog we bought at a stand in front of K-Mart.

I think we’re shutter-happy with our food for the same reason people have been taking photos since the advent of the camera — because we like to capture a moment of happ iness. Then we share it via Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or some other means, perhaps to make our hedonistic pleasure last a little longer (or to make our friends jealous).

This month, we’re giving you another reason to shoot and share food pictures. On the heels of our popular FloydFest Instagram contest, we’re holding an Instagram food photo contest.

The prizes are a 3-piece set of carbon steel santoku knives (first place), a protective iPad stand for the kitchen (second place), and a cake cover/carrier (third place). Each prize also comes with a free cookbook.

Not very confident about your food photography skills? Don’t feel alone, because food is a difficult subject to shoot. I asked Stephanie Klein-Davis, a Roanoke Times photographer who also teaches a class at Virginia Western Community College, to share some tips with us (see infobox).

Here’s how the contest works:

Follow @roanoketimes on Instagram.

Food must be the primary subject of the photo, but it’s up to you whether it’s a restaurant shot, a home shot or some other kind of food photo, such as a basket of bounty from the garden. Share the photo on your Instagram account (Your account must be on a public setting for you to be eligible to enter).

Tag the photo #swvafood so we can find it.

Tagged photos posted between today and Aug. 31 will be considered by our judges. The winning photographs, as well as some other share-worthy pics, will be featured in the Extra section of The Roanoke Times on Sunday, Sept. 15.

To see the official rules for this contest, head to the Fridge Magnet blog at blogs.roanoke.com/fridgemagnet.

Good luck, and have fun!

Monday, August 12, 2013