Food Photography

Props; how to use them and where to buy them.

A Prop is any item, or object, that is used to help create a scene, support a visual concept or message, or add to the overall mood of a photograph, and it is possible one of my favourite aspects of photography, especially food photography. Props are all the little items that help create a scene, and underline a story.

Over the years working as a photographer, with a great focus on food photography, I’ve amassed a great props archive, learned about what makes a scene, or underlines a story by the use of these little details that’s everything from a single towel draped over a farm house sink in a kitchen, to a fuller scene of plates, cutlery and glassware. It can also be a tall old broom resting up against a wall. It’s the many small details in a photograph that ultimately makes the scene, and there’s a real art form to be able to use them in a way that enhances a scene, and does not distract from the story you’re trying to tell.

In this post I’ll share it all with you, how shape, hight, texture, angle, colour, patina and the number of props are the many building blocks of a great food photo. I’ll also give you the details to my favourite places to shop for them, my little black book of prop shopping if you will. (Which incidentally is also a great list for gift shopping as well) This is the fun bit, the brilliant playground of food photography, but also, where all the great tricks of the trade really is what makes of breaks a good photo in the end.