Make it hot: Top ways to depict temperature in your food and beverage photography

When temperature is a factor in food photography, the key to success is –as in most cases- in the preparation.

While a decadent piece of chocolate cake can wait, you can’t afford the luxury of time when you are aiming to shoot the perfect drip of ice cream or the dancing swirl of steam coming from a bowl of soup.

From frozen treats to a hot cup of coffee, there’s always a bit of prep work required to capture the moment with your camera and trust me, in the end, it's worth it!

Practice makes perfect:

When you have a limited amount of time to get the perfect shot, consider using stand-ins for practice purposes. That could be a less attractive version of your subject or a similar colored/sized prop that will allow you to find the best angle, camera settings, and composition before you bring out the hero subject. This way you will be ready to capture the perfect shot and save yourself a lot of frustration and melting ice cubes.

Cold: How to handle cold and melting food

Hands Off: I don’t mean to be rude, but hands off the food. Always use a spatula or tongs, as the heat from your body can be enough to melt it. The right equipment and a little planning ahead will save the day.

Icethetics

• Real Ice If you choose to use real ice in your photo consider the shapes of the cubes. The devil’s in the details and aesthetics are important so make sure your freezer tray is up to the task. Alternatively, use a zip lock, freezer-proof bag filled with water. Freeze it and crush the block of ice to get an aesthetically refreshing crushed ice effect.
• Fake Ice Real ice comes with real problems. To avoid a mental meltdown while the ice is melting use fake ice. There are two options to choose from: clear acrylic cubes and clear silicone. The acrylic ones look realistic but they sink, so use them stacked in a tall glass where you won’t be able to tell the difference, or scattered around in your composition. Spray them with a little water to make them look as if they just came out of the freezer.

Condensation

• Real Condensation

Start with a dry glass at room temperature and an ice-cold liquid.

Using a straw blow hot air around the glass. This will add more natural condensation for the perfectly frosted container.

• Fake Condensation

Fake it till you make it! You can create fake, long-lasting condensation on a glass, regardless of the temperature of your drink, in two simple steps.

Cover the top of the glass with a piece of cardboard and spray the outside surface with Krylon Crystal Clear spray to add texture. When it dries, mix one part of corn syrup with one part of water in a spray bottle, shake well and spray on the glass. The textured surface will hold the droplets and create a photorealistic effect!

• Real Frost

So cool, so simple: Frost is a form of condensation which you can achieve easily for your photo-shooting needs! Simply spray your glass containers with water and freeze for 15-20 minutes.

A few minutes at room temperature and there you have it! A perfectly frosty glass.

(FINGER) TIPS

When working with frosty surfaces, you should always be mindful of fingerprints and how you handle the glassware.

• Place the glassware upside down in the freezer.
• Pick them up from the bottom
• Transfer the glasses by holding them with your palms on the bottom and top instead of around the sides.
• Alternatively, frost your glass upside down on a plastic pad or plate. When it’s time to use it take it out of the freezer touching the plate instead of the glass.

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[#cta]

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Hot: Some like it hot and I can't blame them

Nothing beats a comforting image of a cup of coffee with curls of rising steam. Well, maybe the actual coffee, but today we are here to talk about photography (while we are indeed sipping coffee).

Capturing the steam may sound challenging but fear not. There are easy ways to capture the real thing or fake it post-production, depending on your needs and available equipment.

Real Steam

• Use a stick of incense to create thick, bold smoke.
• Backlight the subject to diffuse the light through the steam for a magical effect.
• Keep your shutter at a minimum of 1/200 to capture the movement of the steam without being too blurred.
• Use a tripod to be able to keep the camera steady.
• Keep a kettle of boiling water on-site and fill a smaller container hidden behind your main subject.
• Opt for a dark background to increase the contrast and make the steam look bold.
• Soak cotton balls with water and microwave them for a few seconds. Hid them in your frame and let them release beautiful clouds of steam.

Fake Steam

Missed the steam? Be cool! You can add steam post-production with overlays and a little bit of editing.

Overlay

Simply download a few overlays. I found a few interesting ones at Rawpixel which came in handy quite a few times.

Think about your subject. What would the real steam look like? Find something relevant.

Open your image in Photoshop and drag and drop the overlay on top. Adjust the size and play around with the opacity. You don’t want the steam to steal the spotlight, but to blend in naturally with the rest of the food. Use the spot healing brush tool to correct the parts that look unnatural, or to sharp. Then use the blur tool to smooth the edges.

Brush Tool

The easier approach would be to install a set of smoke brushes on Photoshop.

There are gorgeous free options to download online.

Open your image in Photoshop and use the brush to add the smoke or steam. I recommend using two or three different styles of smoke on the same image, lower the opacity, and create unique shapes that fit the specific image that you are working with.

Again, use the spot healing tool to smooth certain areas and blur the edges if needed.

TIPS

• Keep in mind that the more subtle the effect, the more realistic it will look.
• Use more than one brush or overlay to create unique and realistic effects.
• If you are working with a single light source, make the steam ‘move’ towards the opposite side of the light source. This trick triggers the mind to think that there’s a breeze coming from a window.
• Control+T (or Command for Mac) to manipulate the layer and make it look dimensional.

As always experiment with different techniques to transform your pictures into work of art and figure out what works best for you! Have fun with it!

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