Looks matter – not only when the food is on the plate directly in front of you but also when it is presented in digital form or on paper: food photography should whet the appetite and raise anticipation of culinary delights.

Michael Magulski, a professional photographer from the island Sylt, finds a number of star cuisines almost directly on his doorstep, so for him food jobs are practically just around the corner. Here, he will share some insights into one of his current jobs for the restaurant “Severin’s“ in Keitum and let you in on his ideas behind the pictures:
“The goal of the shooting was to get away from the classic-minimalistic “posh“ food with three peas and a carrot on a plate and get to a more opulent presentation.”

But before starting the lighting and photography process, the right setting for the presented food has to be created – this is just as important for the final picture as the main motif itself:
“When doing food shootings, I always have my own wood background in different gray and brown hues with me so that everything harmonizes perfectly with the plate and the color of the food.”

For the optimal presentation, the kitchen team at Severin’s took care of the food styling:

As a pro photographer, Michael relies at all times on high-quality, absolutely dependable technology regarding cameras, lenses and also light:
“As a Fuji X Photographer, of course I was using my Fuji X-Pro 2 with a 60mm 2.4 macro lens that I basically use for all my food photography. For the right light, we used the Hensel Porty L 1200 with EH Mini P LED Speed Head and a 45 x 65 cm softbox and also a few reflectors in white, plus a Lastolite Trigrip with silver coating.”

“My basic lighting set-up is always the same: the main light comes from the back upper left. Additionally, I place a white reflector on the right side that basically serves as my base light. Due to the position of the main light top left, there often are several shadows on the bottom right which I then – depending on the depth of the shadow – fill or brighten up. I use a small silver reflector for this (this can also be a piece of aluminum foil since improvisational skill is sometimes called for on location) or an accessory flash with honeycomb attachment.”

Here, you can see an example of such a lighting setup. The soft backlight emphasizes structure, results in high color saturation, and looks completely natural:

A photographer with heart and soul, Michael invests his time rather in the photographic process than in the editing of pictures:
“With all my food shootings, I make sure that the picture is already 80% perfect at basic production. The rest, like brightening small shadow areas, enhancing a few colors, sharpening, etc., is done by computer after production.
And finished is the food picture that makes your mouth water!”

…and this is how the results look “ready to serve“. Bon Appetit!

About the photographer

Michael Magulski is at home on the highly photogenic island Sylt, but for him beaches and dunes are not the only motifs in front of his lens. Characteristic for this trained photographer and his work is his great versatility.
His last big project was the photobook “The X-Project“ for which Magulski accompanied 22 chefs, among them star chefs like Johannes King and Holger Bodendorf, and managed to photograph them not just in action but also very privately.
He shares his enormous wealth of experience with other photographers as a Hensel Light Coach and also offers workshops on photography and flash technique.

Learn more about Michael’s work at:

Website: www.picture-time.de
Facebook: Picture Time
Instagram: @michael_magulski_photography
Photobook „The X Project“: www.picture-time.de/the-x-project 

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