Food Photography Tips… and Rum Ball Recipe!

Food Photography Tips
…and Lou’s Christmas Rum Ball Recipe!

Do you love to bake AND show off your goodies once they’re ready with some fun food photography?

The next best thing to a quiet afternoon in the kitchen is having your own keepsake recipe with beautiful images of the process! Share with friends and family, add them to your socials, or show off your skills in a fun blog post sharing a recipe you love!

This is one of my favourite recipes… yes, yes, I’m not exactly gourmet! But for me, nothing hollers ‘Christmas is coming’ more than my beloved Christmas rum balls!

Last year whilst visiting my parents in Tasmania I whipped up a batch in my mum’s kitchen and had lots of fun with a bit of food photography as I went. I’ve included the recipe below so you can enjoy yourself!

Next time you’re baking, before you let the hoardes devour the treats, why not grab your camera? Take your own beautiful food photography to share online with these easy tips…

Capture the Entire Process

Don’t just photograph the final product… record everything!

Start shooting from the moment you’ve gathered all your ingredients and utensils.

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Tell a Story

The best way to photograph something like this is to approach it as though you’re telling a story with images.

Take wide shots to set the scene and show us where you are. These shots also add context and tie together all your close up shots of the smaller details.

Pause between key steps and take photos of each one, trying various compositions and framing each time (more on that in a moment).

Related: Storytelling Photography

Vary Your Compositions

Don’t take everything from your standing height, same angles, same perspectives. The results will be photos that all look the same!

Try multiple angles until you see one that really speaks to you. Get in nice and close to capture the interesting details of a specific object.

Shoot from above looking down. Stand on a chair if you need to (just be careful!).

Get down low and shoot at eye level, this is a great way to help your viewer really connect with the subject or the process you’re photographing.

Light

Natural light is the easiest to work with, and I was lucky as my mum’s kitchen is awash with beautiful natural light coming in through that huge window.

But if you’re light challenged, there are a few things you can do to compensate:

Cook at a time of day when you get the most light in your kitchen. If it’s overcast, you might need to wait for better lit day.
Use your fastest lens and shoot at a wide aperture to let in as much light as possible.
Use reflectors to bounce light around. You don’t need purpose made photography reflectors – you can use anything white such as a bed sheet, large pieces of art paper… I’ve even used a white tshirt as a reflector once because it was literally within arms reach! Place them opposite the light source and notice how the area lights up.
Don’t be afraid to push your ISO and try ETTR (read our related post).

Related: Embrace High ISO

And now… my recipe!

Lou’s Delish Christmas Chocolate Rum Balls!

Ingredients

1 x packet of Marie/Nice/Wafer biscuits (any combo of biscuits should do)
1 x 395g can of sweetened condensed milk
1 1/2 cups desiccated coconut
1 tablespoon cocoa
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons of rum (ahem)

The Process (Easy!)

Smash/Roll or process the biscuits until finely crumbed (or not… are you getting a sense of my relaxed baking style?)
Add sweetened condensed milk, 1/2 cup of the coconut, cocoa, vanilla and rum
Mix until well combined
Roll into little balls and then roll in the remaining coconut
Place balls onto a baking paper lined dish and place in the fridge for 6-8hrs (or however long you’re able to last before eating!)

Note: I don’t aim for extra fine crumbs, as I like them a bit crunchy (and well I’m just kinda lazy).

Enjoy!

If you love food photography as a genre and want to go a little deeper, check out our tutorial by award winning photographer (and Click Love Grow grad!) Naomi Sherman.

If you had a go, either at my recipe or your own and took photos, come show us in our group, Loving Photography with Click Love Grow!

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