One of the hardest things about photographing food is making you want to eat what’s in the picture. A poorly photographed risotto can easily turn into a pretty unappetising image 😅.
Photographing our own bakery
Bites is a small bakery in Haarlem that my friend and I run, and when we started @bitesbakerynl, I faced a new challenge: food photography. If you’ve been following me for a while, you know my strength is portraits, meaning people. Things are not really my forte. But in every photo session I do for Bites, I try to capture that temptation.
After the first session, I set up the business’s back office in Notion and used one of the photos as the header. My partner’s reaction? “I love it, but it makes me want to eat an alfajor every time I see it.” Mission accomplished 😂.
What I learned about photographing food
- Natural light is everything. A window with soft light beats any fancy setup.
- Show the texture. Crumbs, a broken alfajor, dulce de leche dripping: the details make it tempting.
- Add hands. A hand reaching for a cookie or dusting sugar brings life and movement to the image.
- Tell the process, not only the result: the dough, the oven, the packaging. People love to see how things are made.
- Keep it real. Slightly imperfect food looks homemade and honest, and that’s what makes a small bakery special.
Food and product photography for small businesses
Running a small business myself, I know how important good images are, and how little time there is to create them. If you own a bakery, café, restaurant or shop in Haarlem or Amsterdam, I’d love to help you show your products, your space and the people behind them.
Take a look at my brand photography packages or send me a message to plan a session.
