P#26 Q5A: Making Photographs of Steam a Bit Steamier

The Tricks of the Trade

Ron Goldman: If you're talking about having steam rising off of the food, it's very difficult. Even if you've got a cup of hot, steaming coffee sitting there, it can be very difficult to get that to show up in your photograph.

The biggest problem I see in photographs of steam is because of the background. Steam doesn't stand out very well against a white or light background, so by being very careful with your camera angle and background selection, and using a darker background, you can see the steam a lot easier.

On the other hand, with a cup of coffee or something coming hot out of the oven, the little bit of steam there is would be so brief that it's a lot easier to place something behind and below the object that gives you a much larger source of steam. People can set a hot plate with a pot of water on it behind the subject and let the steam rise up from that.

I've seen people go so far as to use cigarette smoke and blow it through a straw from underneath the table to get photographs of steam. It's not anything that I would choose to do, but it has been done.

There are also pellets that you can place in water that would actually steam. I haven't seen them lately, but I'm sure they're still out there somewhere.

You might also want to look into steam-generating devices that allow you to lay small tubes underneath the food or behind it. You can generate a constant source of steam with those.

In Conclusion

Great food photographs don't always happen naturally. Sometimes professional techniques need to be put into play. Photographs of steam are a perfect example of how insider secrets can make your food photographs much more appealing.