Food Photography: Where To Get Started

If you’re looking to learn more about food photography, you’ll find a number of great resources on our site to help you get started at any level.

Whether you’re creating your own masterpieces at home or shooting for clients in the studio, we’ve provided some suggestions below that will help give you a good starting point and equip you with the knowledge and skills you need to produce the very best images.

Each of these classes are presented by Karl, together with professional food photography and stylist Anna Pustynnikova as together they cover everything from preparation and styling tips to lighting techniques and setups.


Getting Started With Food Photography

Below is a selection of classes that cover the fundamentals of food photography, including the importance of narrative, where to source props and even how to make your own backgrounds.

Food photography class

How To Get Started With Food Photography & Styling

This class provides an introduction to food photography, as Karl sits down with pro food photographer Anna Pustynnikova to discuss useful tips, advice and techniques.

Key concepts: Food photography tips • Sourcing props • The importance of narrative • Shape, colour & texture

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Anna Pustynnikova interview

Live Talk Show - Food Photographer Anna Pustynnikova

Gain unique insight into the world of professional food photography in this live interview with Anna, as she and Karl discuss her work, her career, and top tips.

Key concepts: Food photography tips • Equipment • Stock photography • Developing a portfolio • Market trends

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DIY photography background class

Creating DIY Photography Backdrops

While you can find a variety of photographic backgrounds online or at second-hand stores, you can also easliy make your own. This class teaches you how to make wooden backdrops that you can use for any genre of photography.

Key concepts: DIY photography backgrounds • Equipment & tools • Step-by-step instruction

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Food Photography At Home

Get started with food photography from the comfort and convenience of your own home. These classes start with using natural light and build up to shooting with studio flash.

Easy food photography ideas

Food Photography With Natural Light – Pasta

Get started with food photography using only natural light, as Karl and Anna show you the lighting, setup, techniques and recommended settings for simple food photography.

Key concepts: Natural light food photography • Food photography styling • How to photograph food at home

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Food photography class

Food Photography With Natural Light – Charcuterie Board

This class will teach you some useful tricks for food photography as Karl demonstrates how to control natural light and Anna explains the styling for the shot.

Key concepts: Food photography at home • Controlling natural light • Using reflectors & flags

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Breakfast food photography

Simple Food Photography Setup – Croissant

This class provides an introduction to photographing food using studio lighting, as Karl and Anna demonstrate how to photograph a homely breakfast scene using two lights.

Key concepts: Food photography lighting setup • Natural light vs studio light • How to use studio lights

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Studio Food Photography

Food Photography: One Light Setups

Once you're confident photographing food, take the next step with studio lighting. These classes demonstrate simple setups that can be achieved with minimal lighting equipment.

Berries food photography class

Fresh Fruit Food Photography

This class provides the perfect introduction to food photography using studio light, as Karl and Anna demonstrate a simple yet effective lighting setup as they photograph an assortment of fresh berries.

Key concepts: Food photography lighting • Shooting fresh food • Tips for styling food • Background choice & props

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Food photography class

Ginger & Lime Tea Shoot

This tutorial demonstrates how to make use of alternative lighting solutions like reflectors and specialist lights to enhance the shot. Anna also explains the styling of the image and how to get the best composition.

Key concepts: Background choice & prop selection • Food photography lighting • Using reflectors to control light

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Fresh fish food photography

Shooting Fresh Fish

This fresh fish food photography course covers using scrims to create gradient lighting - a common technique in product photography. Anna also shares some tips for photographing fresh fish and getting the best composition.

Key concepts: Food photography lighting • Gradient lighting • Food photography tips • Composition techniques

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Food Photography: Multiple Light Setups

If equipment is not an issue, you'll be able to pick and choose from any of our food photography classes, though the recommendations below offer a great place to start if you're still building up.

Flat lay food photography

Healthy Living Flat Lay Food Photography – Raw Vegetables

Develop your understanding of light as Karl and Anna photograph a flat-lay of fresh vegetables to show how different lighting setups can impact the mood of an image.

Key concepts: Flat lay photography • Composition & guiding the eye • Lighting modifiers & their effects 

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High-end food photography

Fine Dining Food Photography

Learn how to create a fine dining-style image as Karl and Anna demonstrate techniques such as gradient lighting, using mirrors as reflectors and how to style and choose the best backgrounds for food photography.

Key concepts: Camera settings • Using mirrors • Full frame vs medium format comparison • Graduated lighting

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Flying food photography

Flying Tea Food Shoot

One of our most popular food photography shoots, this class details the start-to-finish process of this flying tea image. You’ll see the pre-visualisation, preparation, styling, lighting and execution.

Key concepts: Fast flash duration • Problem solving • Pre-visualisation • Set creation

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Photographing Food and People

Editorial and lifestyle photographs of people and food are commonly used in blogs, menus, recipe books and even in restaurants, so knowing how to shoot these images can be a valuable skill. These classes introduce how to incorporate people in your food shoots, explaining the difficulties and providing solutions to common challenges.

Lifestyle food photography class

Lifestyle Food Photography - Chopping Vegetables

In this food photography class, Karl and Anna demonstrate how to shoot a fresh, healthy lifestyle food image and work with people in your images.

Key concepts: Posing hands • Food photography styling • Background choice • Polarising light

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Food photography class

Editorial Food Photography - Making Pasta

As Karl and Anna photograph the process of making pasta, in this class you’ll learn how to use some more specialist lighting modifiers and how to tell a story with your images.

Key concepts: Visual storytelling • Photographing hands • Lighting techniques • Freezing motion • Camera settings

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Food photography ideas

Editorial Food Photography - Honey Tea

This class covers techniques for both food and product photography. You’ll learn how to light and style food images while also gaining insight into some more specialist techniques often used for product photography.

Key concepts: Posing hands • Photographing liquids • Outfit choice • Lighting techniques

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This selection of classes will help you get started with food photography and teach you the necessary skills needed to produce professional images. If you’re looking for more food ideas, we have additional food photography classes that will provide further knowledge and even more inspiration.

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