From brightly-coloured acai bowls to Mason jars heaped with delicious fruits and yoghurt, Instagram is a mecca for beautifully photographed food.
But how can you make your freshly-prepared salad look like that of the pros?
FEMAIL caught up with top food photographer, Anett Velsberg – who turned 25 followers on her Instagram page into nearly 250,000.
The Cape Town-based stylist – who has family in Sydney – shared her top tips for the ultimate #foodporn snap.
Instagram is awash with beautiful food photography (pictured)
FEMAIL caught up with top food photographer, Anett Velsberg (pictured), to find out her top tips for food snaps
Ms Velsberg (pictured) has been shooting since she was a student – when she first uploaded something to her profile and received lots of likes
Ms Velsberg – who boasts more than a quarter of a million followers on Instagram – told FEMAIL that her top tip for food photography is to ‘include texture’
‘Make sure you have lots of different textures in your food – whether it is a plate, bowl or jar,’ she said – ‘Get some crumbs in there, something saucy, some freshness and some colour’
Ms Velsberg told FEMAIL that her top tip for food photography is to ‘include texture’.
‘Make sure you have lots of different textures in your food – whether it is a plate, bowl or jar,’ she said.
‘Get some crumbs in there, something saucy, some freshness and some colour.’
The food stylist’s favourite colours are ones ‘that stand out’.
She favours purples, pinks and oranges for her sumptuous platters – sticking down berries and figs on her watermelon pizzas with things like peanut butter.
‘There’s nothing worse than a plate that is different shades of orange and yellow,’ Ms Velsberg added.
She is also all about mixing colours and making sure they ‘stand out’ (pictured: two of her creations)
The stylist favours purples, pinks and oranges from fruits for her sumptuous platters (pictured)
With plates, Ms Velsberg said she also likes to ‘create height and fullness to the plate or bowl – it creates a sense of abundance that looks appetising’.
‘If I am filling a jar, I will create some excitement in the glass,’ she said.
‘Smashing berries on the bottom, sticking a piece of fruit in the inside or swirling some chocolate around helps the aesthetic hugely.’
The 24-year-old also said that ‘good lighting’ or a naturally-lit room is key to taking a good photo:
‘If you’re taking a photo in a low-lit place, it will often end up looking grainy – even if the food is really tasty,’ she said.
Over-editing is something that ‘occurs a lot too’, according to Ms Velsberg, who confessed she has ‘been there’ with regards to getting too attached to filters.
‘Remember less is more,’ she said.
‘Often it’s obvious when the colour is too saturated, there is too much contrast and sharpness. If you’re new to photo-editing, go slow.’
Ms Velsberg said she also likes to ‘create height and fullness to the plate or bowl – it creates a sense of abundance that looks appetising’ (pictured)
The 24-year-old also said that ‘good lighting’ or a naturally-lit room is key to taking a good photo – if it is badly lit or dark, it can be hard to get a good photo – even with amazing food
Lastly, Ms Velsberg is a big fan of adding those little extras – the ‘yummy elements’ – that will help to create a photo that will garner thousands of likes
Lastly, Ms Velsberg is a big fan of adding those little extras – the ‘yummy elements’ – that will help to create a photo that will garner thousands of likes.
‘Nobody can say no to oozing sauces, soft breads and crispy crumbs,’ she said.
The 24-year-old food photographer started out by taking a photo of her open-faced puff pastry and ricotta tart with cherry tomatoes, and uploading it to Instagram while she was still a student.
After she got 16 likes from her ’25 followers’, she said she knew ‘I was onto something’ – and so began taking photos of everything pretty she made and ate in her spare time.
These days, Ms Velsberg boasts nearly 250,000 Instagram followers – as well as an app of vegan recipes.
To follow her online, please click here.