How to Photograph Ice Cream

A good photo of ice cream can make anyone hungry.

A colorful arrangement of ice cream can be cute, beautiful or even sensual. Photographers may want to photograph ice cream to create decorations as part of a project or to market a business. Photographing food can be challenging though, especially for novices. A good photograph of ice cream will capture the tiny details of the food while still maintaining the image of the dish as a whole. As with most photography, good lighting and staging is vital for a good photograph of ice cream.

Things You'll Need

• Flat surface

Instructions

1. Stage the ice cream properly. A bowl of ice cream might look wonderful in three dimensions, but the camera will only capture a flat image of one side of the ice cream. Pick the most attractive side and eliminate any unnecessary distractions like silverware and paper. Make sure the ice cream is on a flat surface or the angles will look strange in your photos.

2. Choose the right lighting. Natural light with the camera flash turned off is almost always best. Try taking pictures by the window in the afternoon. Photographing ice cream outside is also an option if it's not too hot. Choose a shaded area with even light and no shadows. If outside, try turning the flash on for a few photos; the combination of natural light and the camera flash can create a striking, well-lit image.

3. Fill the frame. This is the cardinal rule of photography. Get close to your subject and avoid capturing any distractions near the ice cream. The ice cream should take up the entire picture.

4. Put your camera on the macro setting. Most camera, even simple ones, have this setting. It's usually denoted by a flower button or by a flower image on the camera's settings menu. Macro mode captures details up close. Cameras may take longer to focus in this mode, so allow your camera a few extra seconds to focus on the image before snapping a photo.

5. Angle your camera just above the ice cream. This creates the illusion of a three-dimensional image and will capture the top and one side of the ice cream. Try a 30- to 45-degree camera angle and experiment with taking photos of different sides of the ice cream. Never photograph from underneath the ice cream. Your camera should be level with your subject and, when photographing from angles, tilt the camera slightly rather than moving above the ice cream.

Tips & Warnings

• Take lots of photos. The more photos you take, the more images you'll have to choose from. Consider editing the photos on your computer as well. Simply adjusting the brightness and sharpness of your images can make a huge difference.

References

• "Better Photo Basics"; Jim Miotke; 2010
• "Digital Food Photography"; Lou Manna; 2005