Food Photography

“Life expectancy would grow by leaps and bounds if green vegetables smelled as good as bacon.”-Doug Larson

Here’s another clever story from the Consumerist.com, Store Brand Mixed Vegetables: Not Quite As Mixed As You Would Think

A consumer, annoyed at inaccurate depictions of food on labels, decided to sort, count, and weigh the vegetables in his can of store brand mixed vegetables. The results were:

• 109 carrots, 146 grams
• 99 potatoes, 149 grams
• 13 corn, 3 grams
• 6 peas, 3 grams
• 6 green beans, 2.5 grams
• 2 lima beans, 1.5 grams
• 1 celery, .25 grams

Not exactly the mix shown on the can’s label above.

Bottom Line

A lot could be said about the “art” of taking food pictures. By law the photo must show actual food, no vasoline, paint or other external modifiers. But the photographer can search through hundreds of items looking for the perfect version. Or mix and match – say the bun from one hamburger and the meat from another.

Or the food artist may tweak the product a bit. For example, changing the air to dairy ratio before making a tub of butter to be photographed. Yes real food but nothing like you can buy. Or carefully removing then reattaching sesame seeds on a bun for a perfect look.
Don’t be fooled by pictures. And don’t refrain from complaining if reality does not match your expectations.