Live AMA with Suzi Pratt

[alpha-stormy]

Question from the forum: Avmil asks: "how do you lay the food out to look good? That may sound silly but I feel like it's hard to make food on a plate look appetizing and not just like a pile of mush... though maybe that says more about my cooking than photo techniques"

[Suzi Pratt]

Question from the forum: Avmil asks: "how do you lay the food out to look good? That may sound silly but I feel like it's hard to make food on a plate look appetizing and not just like a pile of mush... though maybe that says more about my cooking than photo techniques"

I use Instagram and Pinterest a lot to get inspiration and bookmark shots that I like and want to emulate. This helps me get a visual frame of reference for how to lay out food. But as a rule of thumb, it's always best to pick out the "star" dish and center the others around it.

[avmil]

Question from the forum: Avmil asks: "how do you lay the food out to look good? That may sound silly but I feel like it's hard to make food on a plate look appetizing and not just like a pile of mush... though maybe that says more about my cooking than photo techniques"

Okay cool! Do you arrange the food on the plate in any particular way? Like if there are a pile of french fries do you make organize them?

[Suzi Pratt]

Question from the forum: Avmil asks: "how do you lay the food out to look good? That may sound silly but I feel like it's hard to make food on a plate look appetizing and not just like a pile of mush... though maybe that says more about my cooking than photo techniques"

Most of my food clients are restaurants and the food is plated by the chef. I generally rely on their expertise of how they want the food presented, but also offer my own tweaks and insights based on how the camera will see it. So it's a collaborative process.

[Suzi Pratt]

Question from the forum: Avmil asks: "how do you lay the food out to look good? That may sound silly but I feel like it's hard to make food on a plate look appetizing and not just like a pile of mush... though maybe that says more about my cooking than photo techniques"

But if it wasn't a restaurant client or there wasn't a chef, that's when I would lean heavily on Pinterest, Instagram, and Google Images to get inspiration on how to visually arrange the dish.

[miar]

Question from the forum: Avmil asks: "how do you lay the food out to look good? That may sound silly but I feel like it's hard to make food on a plate look appetizing and not just like a pile of mush... though maybe that says more about my cooking than photo techniques"

This is so helpful! I need to check out Pinterest for inspiration for the upcoming holidays.