Kai Stiepel Photography

Food Advertising

What’s there to eat today, Kai?
It’s between noodles and Indian curry. But it will definitely be a big order as we usually have when we have a food advertising shoot. I like teamwork with many specialists. Everyone is doing their best and there is always something new happening, so they deserve a lot of good food.
What is your special point of view in food shots?
I think branding plays a special role in food advertising, because our connection with what we eat to who we are is very important. That’s why you want to trust the food.
And what is maybe different on the set than usual?
Some foods just don’t look delicious. And others don’t look appetizing after hours under the lights. Here again is why food styling is so important. Interestingly, the scaling is something hardly anyone thinks about, but for details to be really impressive, you have to be a bit tricky with the proportions.
Can you talk about a few examples from your experiences?
I remember a shoot for a cookbook. We wanted to shoot a “spurt” of a fine sauce with herbs but the contours weren’t clean. So we had to take the shots of the sauce without the herbs—for the outline and other places—and then assemble them in post production.