It’s Monday once again and it is always particularly difficult to get out of bed. Maybe a cup of coffee will help you wake up.
With motif photos, it is all the more important to think about the design. The smallest details are decisive. If the coffee cup were on a simple, white plastic table, for example, the effect of the photo would have been less. Photographers who earn their money with food photography often work with their tweezers for a long time until everything is meticulously arranged. Sauce remnants, small dirt particles or unsightly spots on fruit or vegetables can be removed during retouching, but changing the arrangement of the items afterward takes a lot of effort and is sometimes impossible due to the incidence of light. Therefore, a few thoughts in advance of the structure of the picture are worthwhile.
The depth of the field plays a special role in such photos. If it is too small, the motif cannot be recognized enough and the effect vanishes. Nevertheless, I am a friend of a beautiful bokeh (very blurred background) because it draws attention to the essentials and thus makes the photo more attractive. It’s the balance that matters.
Add steam to the photo
If you want to photograph hot drinks, you can use a little trick to make the motif look even tastier: a little steam works wonders. It can either be added later, as numerous YouTube videos show. I can recommend the webinar by Marius König, which you can find here. Alternatively, you can try to catch the smoke directly while taking pictures. The best way to do this is with a cigarette or an incense stick, which is placed behind the cup. Just don’t let anything burn. You can easily read how the smoke really comes across in the article on the incense stick.
There are no limits to trying it out. Of course, some objects are more suitable than others, but in general, almost all things can be put in the right light and look good in a photo – provided the composition is well thought out and the object is staged with suitable utensils.
For more coffee goodness, check out the Best Espresso Machine Under 100 in 2019 | Espresso Expert and for more great coffee photos, see images by Free-Photos from Pixabay.