Jack Hollingsworth
Jack Hollingsworth is a world-renowned travel and lifestyle photographer. He has spent the last 40 years commercially shooting for some of the biggest names in the leisure, hospitality and tourism industries.
Join Jack Hollingsworth in the new series of Picture Perfect as he shares some of his personal experience and wisdom on how to take amazing Food photographs with your iPhone.
Technical Notes from Jack
1. The most inspiring shots are the simplest compositions
• Since most of these shots are being viewed via social-media, make them simple and readable
• It’s pointless here to get too complicated with your shot as those fine details will generally go unnoticed.
2. While the Front view is most popular for food shots, I like the Top view
• The Front view is when the camera is 45 degrees to the subject. It’s the same view we see when we sit down at a table to eat.
• I like the overhead or top-down view for its graphic appeal. Many refer to this as a “bird’s eye angle” i.e. the view from a bird in the sky
3. Natural window light is far more flattering than artificial light.
• Ask to be seated near a window – I will even wait for a window table to open up
• Use your white napkin to “bounce” back light into the shadow side
4. Simple styling can make or break a photo
• Styling is any intentional arrangement or placements of elements in the scene to make it more lyrical
• You can style your food plates. And also style the table context in which the food is photographed
5. Most food shots look better at room temperature
• You have a very small window to shoot food. Shoot as soon as it is plated.
6. I rarely use filters on my mobile food photography
• Remember, you are trying to make your food look as natural as possible
• Wonky filters make food look anything but natural
7. I like to use a tripod when shooting food indoors
• This is my favorite go-to tripod http://www.mefoto.com/products/roadtrip.aspx
• This is the tripod adapter that I am most fond of http://www.mefoto.com/products/sidekick360plus.aspx
8. I aim to set my color-balance to be as neutral as possible
• The iPhone camera bundles exposure, focus and white-balance together – this is a limitation of the phone
• I use Camera+ app for manual control over my white-balance https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/camera+/id329670577?mt=8
9. I like to “overexpose” my food shots slightly
• You do this on an iPhone but first locking your exposure on subject. Then using the exposure compensation slider to brighten to your taste.
• The iPhone currently has only an 8-stop dynamic range
10. “Tap-to-focus”-anyplace on the screen you want the viewer to see
• When I shoot food, I never use auto-focus
• I always “Tap-to-Focus” and the part that I want to direct the viewers’ attention to.
• You can lock your exposure by long-pressing on the recipe
Photos by Jack Hollingsworth
