The fine art of food photography

Cameras, tripods, light diffusers, laptop, lenses, cables, equipment spilling out of several hard cases strewn around the floor - everything you need for a major fashion shoot.

In the centre of it all, a bowl of freshly prepared chicken salad waiting to be photographed 40 times from different heights, distances and angles by Rob Lawson, an expert in his field. 

The secret of successful food photography? 'Good lighting' said Rob as he adjusted the position of the bowl, took some shots, rearranged a piece of chicken, took a few more, inserted a fork, and started snapping again. Four hours later we had 282 photographs of 10 dishes to ponder.

If you want to try this - the key advice is: use natural light, work quickly, style the food, use a macro lens, shoot from a low angle, focus on texture and check the white balance. To find out more, watch a video of Jill Mead sharing her expertise on The Guardian's website

The results of the photo shoot almost make our food look even better than it really is - judge for yourself when we start using them on our website.

Happy snapping!

The team at Lussmanns

Photos: Rob Lawson (above) shooting a chicken salad (left)