Festive food photography tips with David Loftus

It’s the season of over-indulgence and with social feeds already becoming saturated with festive meals, snacks and treats, snapping the right image to ramp up those likes is getting harder and harder.

To help your photos become more haute-cuisine than microwave meal, we caught up with award-winning food photographer (and go-to snapper for chef Jamie Oliver) David Loftus to lift the lid on what goes into making food look as good as it tastes.

David’s top tips are below. To see the how-to video he shot for Jamie Oliver’s Food Tube, see below.

FRESH IS BEST
“Take the pictures whilst the food is fresh to ensure glossy tones and texture aren’t missed. This means speed is of the essence. With the Xperia XZ the Superior Auto mode recognises your subject matter and selects the dedicated Gourmet Mode to pick the best settings.”

LIGHT IT UP
“Lighting is key to ensure the vibrancy of your food is brought to life. Don’t be afraid to move your food and take it to a window. Even if a section of your food is in slight darkness, the added light from the window will make the dish stand out.”

BUT LIGHT IT RIGHT
“If you’re in a restaurant with dim lighting or candlelight try not to use the flash. It tinges the colours and doesn’t show the reality of the food and the setting. If you need a bit of extra light and it’s dark outside, try using the menu to bounce light off a candle back into the picture frame.”

MAKE THE FOOD THE FOCUS
“Move clutter out of the way and simply touch the screen on the food you want in focus. The advanced Predictive Hybrid Autofocus will make sure your shot is always free from blur. Alternatively, manual focus can help set the scene in a busy restaurant by making the foreground your focus and everything behind your backdrop.”

To put the Xperia XZ through its culinary paces, we got in touch with some of our favourite foodies and challenged them to capture their best shot. To see how the likes of @_foodstories, @plus_une_miette and @marineiscooking got on, check out their feeds.