Keep the background clean

This one can be hard if you’re out and about with little to no control over what’s going on in the background; get your friends to help out so you don’t look crazy moving everything off the table. “If the main dish in your shot is full of colour or a wide range of textures, then you don’t need to highlight much else,” says Hinkson. “For example, the hotdog in the [photo above] is topped with lobster and mac & cheese. That’s already a lot to take in. I chose to shoot it against a plain white backdrop because an otherwise empty plate enhances the already vibrant subject.”