Lighting: One big rule of thumb when taking food photos is to always use natural light. It gives your food the best, most natural looking colors. Just make sure you’re not in direct light, which causes harsh shadows…Unless that’s your style. It’s certainly become a cool and popular aesthetic these days. However, it doesn’t always allow for each individual ingredient to shine through enough for my tastes. Composition: I also focus on the composition of my board before even thinking about getting my camera out. For me styling the board is the most important. You can learn more about my styling techniques in the Cheese Board 101 section of this post. Styling: Sometimes I like to take photos of the board alone, but more often I’ll place items in the corner of my shot (wine glasses, napkins, extra ramekin with crackers) just to give the board a bit more of a story—some ambiance.