If you love dessert, taking drool-worthy dessert photography is surely one of your favourite things. You want the world (social media) to know about the beautiful sweet treat you are about to devour, and it also serves as a reminder of how delicious it was.

Of course, there is a huge difference between snapping a picture of your Eton Mess at a restaurant and painstakingly working every angle to get the perfect shot of a cake dripping with chocolate. So, here’s a selection of tips and photographers to take inspiration from.

Photography inspiration

When looking at a new photography project, it’s best to look at similar projects to gain some insight into how to approach the images and get inspired! Pinterest is a great first base to give you a flavour of what to do (or what not to do).

Instagram is also packed full of delicious dessert photography and videos to pique your interest. Good searches include:

• Dessert
• Desserts
• Dessert photography

Along with specific searches for favourites such as sticky toffee pudding, cheesecake and trifle.

Next, you can look at the portfolio of some of the best photographers who specialise in dessert photography. Jim Scherer is one of these photographers who manages to make his food look as delicious – if not more delicious – as it tastes.

Drool-worthy dessert photography tips

Lighting – This is the golden rule for dessert photography. Don’t use a built-in flash as this can cause harsh shadows. Instead, shoot near an open window and use reflectors to bounce as much as light as possible off your dessert.

White balance – Setting your camera for daylight, incandescent or fluorescent will help to create some fabulous food pics. The mixture of good natural light and correct white balance settings are key.

The right angle – Look for heights and angles that add depth to your photos. Taking images from above can look nice but oftentimes they result in a flat, two-dimensional look that isn’t always pleasing.

Don’t be prop shy – While the dessert may tell the story, the props set the scene. It might not be obvious what ingredients lie in your tempting dessert, so laying out the raw ingredients close by will have your viewer’s taste buds tingling. Even just having a spoon in the shot will hint at the eating about to occur.

Depth of field – Another trick in dessert photography is the clever use of depth of field. Here you focus on a single area of the dessert and let the rest of photo fade into a soft blur. Most cameras have a macro setting, and if you have an SLR set a wide aperture.

Mid-taste shots – This tact is great for giving that feeling that the dessert was so tasty that you just HAD to take a bite. It can also show hidden loveliness inside your dessert such as a molten chocolate centre or rainbow cake layers…

Talking of cake, we’ve got a great post on capturing the fun of a children’s birthday party, as well as a comparison of the cameras on iPhone 8 and Samsung Galaxy S8 if you’re thinking about getting a new smartphone.