It may have been difficult if you had. It can be difficult to photograph chocolate.
These seven tips will help you create stunning images of the cocoa-based treat.
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Choose the right background and props for chocolate photography to flatter your subject
Your style will determine the props that you use to photograph chocolate.
You can use a simple background to photograph individual chocolate bars or bonbons.
You can also add props to your photos of cakes or chocolate cupcakes.
The type of chocolate that you are photographing will determine the background you choose. A white background will not look great with white chocolate.
Bright-colored backgrounds are great for creating contrast if you’re capturing milk or dark chocolate.
Commercial chocolate photography might require you to include your client’s logo and packaging. Be aware of the reflections shiny packaging can cause.
You can make your chocolate more appealing by preparing it
Even though chocolate can be delicious, it isn’t always the most beautiful in real life.
Sometimes, it can have what is known as “bloom”. It is a thin layer that appears white due to changes in sugar crystals or fat crystals. Bloom can often appear on chocolates if they are kept in the refrigerator and brought to room temperature.
Bloom can be eaten. Its appearance and texture are not appealing. This is not what you want when trying to sell your chocolate to the viewers.
This problem is solved by food stylists who work with chocolate. They apply a heat gun lightly to the chocolate. It takes enough time to remove the bloom but not enough to melt.
You can also blow on the chocolate. This may work depending on the consistency of your chocolate.
Retouching chocolate blooms is difficult. It is important to address it before you take out your camera.
For the best texture store chocolate in a dry, cool place, not in the refrigerator. Also, avoid direct sunlight.
This is where constant or “hot” lights can prove to be dangerous unless they are.
Take care to avoid fingerprints when handling chocolate
Now you have the perfect chocolate specimens. You now need to make sure they stay that way.
When handling chocolate, use gloves. Fingerprints can be glaring for the camera. Also, make sure your gloves don’t leave a mark on the chocolate.
They are soft and comfortable. They might lose a bit of their fuzz. You might consider latex gloves.
Food photography can lead to a lot more tinkering than you need before you have the composition you want. The warmth of your hands can help soften the chocolate.
You can always have extra chocolate to play with, and you can then decide your composition. Before pressing the shutter, swap it with the “hero”, the final product.
Lightening can enhance the chocolate
The most important element in chocolate photography is choosing the right direction of light.
Lighting should enhance the subject in the most positive and thoughtful way possible.
Natural light is the best option for taking photos of chocolate if it is available.
Lighten the chocolate from an angle that highlights its texture.
Side-lighting is an easy and safe way to get many different types of shots. To enhance photos of chocolate, you can use fill-and-bounce cards to carve the light.
Below is an image of the chocolate cake that I used backlighting. This allowed the chocolate icing to retain its natural texture and sheen.
Backlighting can cause the image to be blurred in the back. The front is still too dark and underexposed.
This can be fixed by adjusting the distance between your set and your light source. Make sure you have a bouncer at the front of your set. For more exposure, this will reflect some of the sunlight back into the scene.
When it comes to food photography, my recommendation is to not light your food from the top or front.
This will lead to flat images with insufficient shadows. Contrast is important when photographing food. Particularly if you are taking pictures of dark chocolate.
For beautiful highlights and shadows, use one light source
One light source is enough for chocolate photography. Unless you are doing advertising work that requires powerful artificial lights.
A single light source, such as large windows will provide you with one set of beautiful shadows and highlights.
A diffusion panel will diffuse light to create a dreamy, soft look. You can also use a scrim or a piece of fabric or a translucent curtain as a diffuser.
Dark chocolate and milk chocolate both look attractive with deep shadows. Any fill light should be taken lightly.
You can direct some light back to your scene with a couple of white bounce cards without brightening up your images.
Sometimes, silver and gold reflectors can give a metallic look that isn’t natural.
It is important to understand the mood you wish to portray when shooting chocolate. This will help you to build your set.
It doesn’t have to be difficult. Planning ahead will help you achieve the best lighting results.
For the best results, choose a suitable lens
The subject matter you are shooting with and the way you wish to portray it will determine which lens you use.
You will need to take a close-up of your subject when you are doing chocolate photography. Particularly if you are photographing small chocolate bonbons with mouthwatering fillings.
This will be an 85mm or 100mm macro lens for a full-frame camera. A 50mm macro lens or 60mm macro lens will produce great results on a cropped sensor camera.
The blurred background and shallow depth of field will help the subject stand out. The same effect will be achieved in dark, moody photography with a Vignette.
For a refined and smooth look, edit your chocolate images in Photoshop
Photoshop will be your best friend when it comes to editing chocolate photography.
Without basic Photoshop skills, it’s hard to create good chocolate photography. This one is not compatible with Lightroom.
This is because Lightroom is a global editor while Photoshop is a pixels editor. Lightroom is the best tool for editing an entire image.
Some of the tools in Photoshop can be used to fine-tune your photos, such as the adjustment brush. You can also use Photoshop’s tools to make precise adjustments to different parts of an image.
To fix small flaws or spots on chocolate, you can use Lightroom’s spot correction tool. If you have only a few flaws to correct, this is okay.
You will often need to do a lot more finessing in order to achieve smooth and polished chocolate photography. It isn’t appealing to eat stale chocolate.
To make multiple edits, you can use the spot-healing brush tool in Photoshop. It will slow down Lightroom’s performance if you use the spot tool. You won’t get clean results.
There are only a few tools that can make your chocolate photography look amazing.
Spot healing brush, clone stamped and healing brush are enough to elevate your images.
