An overhead view of various spices
A woman selling citrus fruits at a flea market on the Texas-Mexico border
A sandwich from a street vendor in Mexico
Wait staff preparing the dining room at a restaurant in Los Gatos
A variety of salsas on a table
Cooks taking a break at the Original Pantry in Los Angeles
Workers at a tortilla factory in Texas
A family gathered around a communal meal in Dakar, Senegal
Chocoflans on a table
Railway bellmen taking a tea break in India
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Spices

Penny De Los Santos is an award-winning documentary photographer for whom food photography is a gateway to exploring and celebrating culture, history, and community. She is a senior contributing photographer to Saveur magazine and a contributing photographer to National Geographic magazine.

Ingredients

The options for photographing food are endless; it's an incredibly visual subject. One thing to remember when starting out is that food photography is just like any other photography—the same principles of light, color, and composition apply.

In the case of the image above, I was prepping for a photograph on a cookbook shoot when I noticed the colorful ingredients for the next shot on the counter where the food stylist was working. We both realized that this was a photograph. The prop stylist, food stylist, and I then brainstormed ideas to create this image. —Penny De Los Santos

Photo Tip: When thinking about food photography, don’t just consider the finished product on the plate or the people eating it. Look at the ingredients—perhaps there’s a beautiful photograph waiting to be made.

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Photograph by Penny De Los Santos

Photographing Food

Get expert tips and advice for photographing food with this how-to photo gallery, from National Geographic.

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