Advertising Photographer | Food Styling in Salt Lake City

Advertising Photographer

I work as an advertising photographer for brands based in Salt Lake City like Nurished. Increasingly, I find myself drawn to products that are adjacent to food. I love the unique creative challenges that come along with styling food! I feel excited every time I rise to the challenges of food styling and overcome them.

Why is food styling important for an advertising photographer?

Food styling is important to incorporate into food brand product images because fresh foods are so visually appealing in photos. The natural beauty and interest that comes from raw ingredients really can’t be replicated by anything else.

Is food styling hard?

Food styling can be hard because working with fresh, perishable ingredients is tricky! Arranging each piece of food meticulously into the desired composition for several images can take a long time, but you have to work quickly so that the food looks fresh and appealing. For example, I’ve found that I’ve got to shoot spinach really quickly and only pull out a few leaves out of the fridge at a time because it wilts so quickly! Another difficult part of food styling is the mess. You’ve got to wash all the dirt off of the produce before you start, and watch out for drips of juice from cut fruit, tiny crumbs or fibers that may be left behind when you move the food from one place to another on your background, etc.

How can I improve my food styling?

To make your food styling of fruits and vegetables more interesting, start by looking for the most interesting, farm-to-table type of produce you can find. I like to shop for produce at places like Whole Foods or other natural grocery stores because it’s easier to find foods in their most natural form–for example, carrots with the leafy tops still attached. Buy more produce than you think you’ll need, since you may need extra items to fill in empty spaces. You may need to switch out items that begin to not look appealing over time. Next, find ways that you can create different shapes and transform the appearance of the same fruit or vegetable–for example, use both whole and sliced oranges like I did in this campaign since oranges were the main ingredient of the product. Most importantly, just start experimenting and trying new things! The more you practice styling food, the better and faster you’ll become!

Salt Lake City Commercial PhotographAdvertising Photographer | Salt Lake City | Hannah Israelsen Photography