Thanksgiving Photo Feast Tips + Tricks!

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Thanksgiving is a feast for the senses! You’ve got your beautifully roasted turkey, creamy mashed potatoes, decadent pumpkin pie, and any number of family favorites like tamales, casseroles, Grandma’s stuffing, and sweet potatoes baked with a marshmallow topping (it’s a thing!).

What does that mean? Admit it… you’re going to be taking some serious food pics this holiday. ????

But not all photos are created equal – here are some tips on how you can make your Thanksgiving pics be the best they can be this year!

1. It’s All About the Lighting

Lighting is everything in photography. You’re probably not going to be using special equipment like a diffuser at Thanksgiving dinner, but you can still make the most of lighting with a few simple tips.

First, prioritize natural light. If you’ve got sunlight streaming in a window, that works great!

Image credit: Element5Digital

Alternatively, make sure you’re in a well-lit area with multiple light sources. This will help prevent harsh shadows, creating subtle depth and dimension for a flattering effect. Great lighting will make the colors and textures pop, and your food photos will look good enough to eat!

2. Camera Placement

Depending on what kind of food you’re dealing with, you’ll want to think about shooting from different angles. For instance, a piping hot pie fresh from the oven often looks best photographed from above, to showcase its gorgeous top view.

Image credit: Skyla Design

A single slice, on the other hand, may be highlighted best with a side shot showing a mouthwatering cross-section from close up.

Image credit: Sharonang

When you’re deciding how to place your camera, consider the details of the food – its size, shape, height, and any unique attributes. Then compose your shot in a way that best showcases the qualities that stand out to you.

Tip: Try experimenting with camera placement and choose your favorite photo afterward!

3. Play with Colors and Shapes

One of the things that separates a good photo from a great one is thoughtful use of color. Here are some ideas you can try:

• Use neutral, earthy tones for a feeling of comfort and serenity.
• Use contrasting colors to boost vibrance and visual interest.
• Include pops of bright color to draw the eye and create a dynamic effect.
• Don’t forget about negative space and incorporating the absence of color – like white!

Image credit: Jennifer Pallian

Another effective technique is to play around with shapes. Think about lines and curves, and how they interact to create different effects. For instance, a strategically placed knife can bisect the image with a sharp line, contrasting with the round curves of a bowl of fruit and a luscious cranberry pie.

4. Get Creative

Unless you’re doing extreme close-up shots, you’ll definitely have some non-food items in frame as well. This is a great opportunity to get creative! Make the most of utensils, napkins, drinks, centerpieces, and other “props” to draw the eye toward the focal point of your photo.

Image via Pxhere.

At the same time, be careful to minimize clutter! Every item in the shot should look like it belongs. Think like a pro and create an eye-catching composition with various layers – foreground, background, and everything in between.

With some practice, you can tell a complex visual story… or simply get that perfect shot of the turkey towering over the rest of the food before it’s carved!

5. Don’t Forget WHY!

At Thanksgiving, we all gather around the food as a focal point – but it’s not the most important thing, of course! The holiday is all about gratitude and togetherness with family and friends. So include your loved ones in the photos!

Image credit: Maggiepoo

Years from now, when you’re looking back at the photos you took, you’ll appreciate having a good mix of food pics and shots of people celebrating together. The memories will come flooding back as each picture says a thousand words…and the stories of love, comfort and joy will live on forever!

But how do you keep your photos safe for the long term? Preserving them for years to come is a pretty big task! Luckily, you have several options – from creating an archival-quality photobook to using various forms of long-term data storage. (Check out our previous post exploring how to preserve your photos for the next generation.)

Protect Your Digital Artifacts in Amber

At LatticeWork, we’ve developed a way for you to enjoy an easy way to protect your memories. Amber gives you the best of both worlds with a secure Photo + Video Vault that backs up, stores, and automatically organizes all your digital files locally and allows you to access and share them remotely – anytime and anywhere.

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Whatever digital files you want to preserve, Amber will take care of it all! So you can sit back and Replay Life with the easiest and most intelligent one-stop data storage solution on the market today. Most importantly! We never know what tomorrow holds, so have fun and just take the picture! :-)