How to take better food pictures with #TheFoodieBag

This post contains a gifted item

If you can start eating a plate of food without documenting it first, I applaud you. I have long given up the hope of ever eating a hot meal. So why do we do it? Food is first and foremost functional. We need it for nutritional purposes and to, well, survive. However sometimes a pretty plate of food is worth documenting. That one photo can serve as a reminder of a special event, a perfect date or a memorable holiday. We share snaps of our baking successes and on some occasions, our food is so aesthetically pleasing, it's bordering on art and worth being immortalised in a photograph.

Taking a truly special food picture is an art. I see professional food bloggers with all the right kit, regularly invited to the swankiest joints, sharing dark, out of focus food pictures where the colour levels are all wrong. Then comparatively I see influencers with smaller follower counts - or your average Joe - who use a mobile phone and get it spot on. My point being that taking a great photo is well within your reach and easily achievable with just a few small pointers.

Frame your shot

It's all about the background. Whilst we are not all blessed to have marble worktops, the key is having a work surface with colour variation or a bit of texture to add interest. A concrete look surface always works well with food photography and can add an industrial feel. Or for a more luxe look, opt for a marble effect surface paired with gold utensils. To get a high end look surface for a fraction of the price, try backdrops like these which are perfect for food photography. My simple vegan aubergine and chickpea stew looked a whole lot more exciting when I tried it against the different backgrounds.

Vegan aubergine and chickpea stew

For a fully authentic magazine style food shot, frame your dish with crumbs, a smattering of herbs or a lovingly torn French baguette. But don't overdo it. You want the shot to look homely, not messy (and not excessively staged!)

Get the lighting right

Natural light always works best, but at this time of year, good light can be hard to come by which is where you may need assistance in the form of a lighting kit. Circle lights can help in the winter months but beware, as artifical light is no match for natural light and can cause glare and over-saturated images. To help control the lighting your photo receives - whether natural or artifical - consider using a reflector and diffuser like this 5 in 1 one here to eliminate shadows and glare.

Edit with caution

Sometimes the perfect photograph requires some editing work, especially if you are not blessed with natural light. Increasing the contrast levels can add richness to your image, and low light can be remedied. Edit with caution though, as many professional food bloggers make the mistake of over-saturating their images, leading to the colour of natural food products appearing, well, unnatural. 

Experiment with angles

Flat lays are always effective in food photography, but playing with angles can add interest. See what a difference it makes below. The bird's eye view looks a little flat, whereas shooting from an angle makes the dish look multi-dimensional (what of course it is!). Re-shooting the flat lay with a slight angle rather than from above makes the toasted pinenuts in the recipe look more 3D.

Example of a flat lay

Experiment with angles

The ingredients in this flat lay look a little more 3D as it's not shot directly over head 

Give your food a face lift

Examine your plate and how colourful it is. Is it a fairly beige meal? Or is it all mostly one colour? In food magazines the most captivating recipes we want to try ourselves are colourful and attractive. Greenery always works wonders and can help bring food alive - so top your meal with fresh chopped parsley, chives or your herb of choice. Other options include cheese and chopped chilli - anything that adds colour and interest. Puncture the yolk of your poached egg in a brunch shot for an image that leaves your audience salivating. Wipe up any other spills and add cutlery to give it that ready to eat feel.

Listen to the experts

I am by no means an expert and if you check out my Instagram, I'm sure I have commited a multitude of sins when it comes to food photography. That being said, life is full of lessons and food photography is something that takes time and practice. If you want expert advice on how to improve your work, check out these polaroid style notelets, each depicting a picture of a delicious plate of food and on the reverse side, tips and tricks. Admittedly some of the advice is common sense, but I have learned a lot and I'm really pleased with how some of my recent food shots have turned out.

If you are a budding food blogger or just enjoy taking food photos and want to up your game, check out #TheFoodieBag (also known as the Instagram Bag) here which has everything you need to get started. The kit is just £39.95 including P&P & VAT and contains the following:

• a HUGE tote bag (perfect for lugging your kit around!) with zip fastening and internal mesh dividers and pockets
• A 15-inch 5 in 1 pop up lighting reflector and diffuser
• 4 backdrops (marble, grey concrete, green-grey hybrid and rust-look)
• 8 beautiful postcards with extra tips and tricks for getting the perfect shot

I've had a lot of fun experimenting with the different backdrops - although admittedly this has made me cringe over some of my past food photography!

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* This post features #TheFoodieBag from The Cotton Bag Company which was sent to me in exchange for a review. As ever all views (and love of food photography!) are my own. 

Debenhams purse

You know how it is. You have a purse that has been with you for years. It's falling apart and quite frankly, embarrassing to pull out when settling the bill in a restaurant or doing the weekly shop. But because of that emotional attachment - knowing that it has been there for you all these years and has travelled with you from country to country - you just can't bear to part with it. I experienced this first-hand with a purse that had seen me through university, right up until the present day.

Purse shopping was incredibly difficult because no matter how hard I searched, nothing I found matched up to a Mulberry. £200-£300 may sound like a lot of money, but I saw it as an investment. Consider this: I haven't changed my purse since I was seventeen. So it's not like I chop and change at every opportunity I get. A new purse would potentially last me years.

But I had a think about it, and decided that I would rather save the money for travelling and nice meals out. Just when I was about to give up, I discovered this beauty in Debenhams:

Isn't it lovely? This John Rocha purse retails at roughly £30 - a huge saving on what I could have easily spent. I don't know about you, but I find it very Mulberry-esque with the buttery soft leather and the postman's lock fastening.

Although it looks yellowy here, it's actually a cream sort of colour. It's a much smaller purse that what I had before, but still has plenty of space with individual compartments for cards, coins and cash. The interior is really pretty with a grey lining and big white polka dots. It's definitely much more of a grown up purse to suit my 20 something year old self!

My pictures are from the weekend when we were blessed with blue skies one afternoon. The trees in Martin's garden are incredible. The leaves change from green to yellow, to orange, to burnt orange, to a deep red. But never uniformly - they all change colours at different times and the rainbow effect is just beautiful. All the leaves are red now and most of them have fallen to the ground... but they still give that wonderful autumn essence!

Kew Gardens // H&M dress

Sometimes things don't work out how you'd hoped. Whilst disappointment can be rife, we need to take a step back and remember that everything happens for a reason. Remember how gutted I was not to have made it to Kew Gardens that time? I was rewarded for my patience because when Kew Gardens: Take Two rolled around, it was an even sunnier day. And a right ol' scorcher. With no need for a jacket, and my legs free of tights prison, it could only mean one thing: it was officially summer.

The dress was a new addition to my wardrobe in May. Being a sleeveless shirt, the material is lightweight, making it the perfect summer dress. I like the fact that there are two breast pockets - shirts with just one pocket really mess with my OCD. Everything has to be symmetrical... right?! It's a great dress as it doesn't crease easily with everyday wear.

It was the perfect conditions for photography that day. Normally I edit my photos to add some warmth, but 95.9% of the above hasn't been touched. It just shows what good lighting can do. We had a lovely picnic by the lake and can't thank Tesco enough for our chorizo sandwiches. Best sandwich I've had in my life. A duck sat at our feet looking forlorn, but it was just too good a sandwich to share. It certainly made our bellies very happy and put a spring in our step for the rest of the day.

Have you ever been to Kew Gardens?

A few days in the South of France

With France just over a hour away by plane and lots of low cost airlines out there, a few days in France won't eat up your budget or your holiday allowance. I tend to visit Paris and the South of France the most. Paris... because it's so convenient by Eurostar. And the South because I have my own place there. It's a sharp contrast to the bustle of the city, but there is something about the country air that is therapeutic and puts everything into perspective. Earlier in 2014 I went ahead and booked those plane tickets. Fast forward a few months to earlier this week... Martin, Mols and I set off to London Stansted airport to begin our French adventure.

We couldn't have asked for better weather. Everyday sunshine and temperatures in the late 20s or early 30s. In-between visits to the supermarché to stock up on essentials, we lounged in the garden, played pétanque, went on long walks, ate a LOT of cakes, had BBQs on a daily basis, and adopted our neighbours' cats. Here's a little photo diary of our time there:

We discovered the most beautiful sparkling cider from Normandy:

And were mesmerised by dragonflies down by the river:

Me looking very hot and bothered after a 3 mile walk...

Flowers we collected for our table that night:

Much cake was eaten:

I was way too excited about finding massive macaroons in the supermarket (who knew those existed?!!)...

... and finding my favourite flavour of sorbet

I love French houses. The brickwork is always so rustique and dreamy

Even the paving beneath your feet is awesome:

Homely touches in our little maison. Including a picture I brought back from Paris, towels from Matalan, and a milk jug gifted to us by a craftman in Limoges who also kindly gifted us plenty of crockery too

Our gold fish consume anything and everything that hits the water. Including pesky hornets:

Purchases included a French magazine, Oreo hot chocolate for back home, and a new pair of heels

I will never tire of France. Next on my bucket list: Avignon and Dijon.