Are you dreaming of creating those impressing food gathering images you see all over Pinterest and Instagram? But for whatever reason, you can’t recruit enough people to make it happen?
Well today, I’ve got you covered.
You only need one set of hands to shoot a food gathering #likeaboss if you use Photoshop compositing in food photography.
Just look at this image by one of my favourite artists V.K Rees. Her hands appear busy quite regularly in her images. It’s such a bit of fun.
Get your hands busy, because we’re going to start compositing!
Photoshop Compositing Food Photography
You don’t have to be a Photoshop wiz to put together a composite. It’s actually super simple, so I’ve put together a little video and in less than ten mins, you’ll have the very own image of your busy hands.
Watch the video I put together on how to below.
Before You Start – Make Sure All Images Are Taken at the Same Angle and Settings
To make putting a composite together easy on yourself, make sure all of your images are taken at the same angle, distance, depth of field with similar settings/exposure.
This will allow you to just focus on brushing in the elements you want. Here are the four images I used.
Photoshop Short Cuts
A recap of the shortcuts I talk about in the video.
Inverting a Layer Mask: < command + I > on mac, < ctrl + I > on a pc
Brush Tool: < B >
Brush Tool Increase in size: < ] >
Brush Tool Decrease in size: < [ >
Group Layers: < command + G > on mac, < ctrl + G > on pc
Layer Mask: <White to reveal> <Black to conceal>
Confused about the different of Opacity v Flow? Check out this video.
If you have any questions about Photoshop compositing food photography, don’t forget to leave a comment below and please share a link with your foodie gathering images!
Lizzy
June 16, 2016 at 4:13 pmamazing Rachel! I love this!
Rachel
June 16, 2016 at 6:34 pmThanks Lizzy! Hope to see this on your blog soon.
Jo || The Luminous Kitchen
June 16, 2016 at 4:41 pmYou are amazing!!!!! I can’t wait to try this. Woohoo. I’m excited because Corey’s hand are kinda hairy and I do use him as a hand model, but I prefer not to ?
Rachel
June 16, 2016 at 6:35 pmOh Jo! This did make a laugh out loud. I’d love to see multiples of Corey’s hands in your shots just for fun. Totally understand where you are coming from. Can’t wait to see what you come up with!
CrazyLittlePolka.
June 16, 2016 at 6:00 pmHi! Thank you for the post. I love it! It is very useful. Can’t wait to shoot during the weekend. Your blog is amazing. Love from Poland 🙂 Jowita
Rachel
June 16, 2016 at 6:36 pmHey Jowita, oh you are so welcome. Please do share a link with some images once you have tested this out! Excited for you.
Marisa Franca @ All Our Way
June 16, 2016 at 9:00 pmThis is great!! I’ve never used my own hands, just my hubby’s as he’s cutting meat or grilling ( that is his forte). I’d better get a manicure before I attempt this especially since I’ve been doing quite a bit of gardening 🙂 You are fantastic!! Thank you.
Rachel
June 17, 2016 at 9:13 amYes, I do like to paint my nails before I do it! hehe. Can’t wait to see what you come up with!
Chaimae
June 16, 2016 at 9:11 pmOh my GOD !! This is awesome !! Thank you because I always wondered if all these photographers always have a bunch of people at hand to make beautiful photos !
Okay, I have a question… How do you take photos from above (bird eye view) ? Do you have some expensive / complicated stuff to do it ? How can an amateur photograph achieve something like that (I have backache and it’s terrible when I try to style and prep not on a table)… Thank you in advance !!
Rachel
June 17, 2016 at 9:18 amHey Chaimae! Thanks for stopping by. There are certainly shoots where there are a lot of people and hands available, but if you are flying solo then no worries you can still give this a try.
You just need to be on a tripod to do this so the angle/focal length is exactly the same. It will be super hard to put it together otherwise. I actually shot this on a small table. Like a coffee table height, tripod over head. Tripod setup was like this, but imagine I am styling on a table and not the floor. Hope that helps.
Chaimae
June 17, 2016 at 5:08 pmOh yeah that helps a lot !! Thank you very much, it’s always such a pleasure to read you ^__^
Laura { Lau Sunday cooks}
June 16, 2016 at 11:56 pmWoow Rachel! love this, it’s so clever! Thank you 😉
Rachel
June 17, 2016 at 9:13 amIt is such a bit of fun Laura. You’ll love it.
Bea
June 17, 2016 at 7:25 amYou never stop inspiring me!Plus I could listen to your voice forever!!!
Rachel
June 17, 2016 at 9:14 amI knew you’d say that Bea! Notice how Aussies turn their sentences into questions when they aren’t? Too funny. You’d be great at putting something like this together!
Aysegu;
June 17, 2016 at 11:13 amThis was SO SO helpful. Thank you Rachel.
Rachel
June 20, 2016 at 12:30 pmYou’re so welcome Aysegul!
Shannon Deutrom
June 16, 2016 at 6:34 pmFabulous idea Rachel! I love it. I will have a try this school holidays : )
Rachel
June 16, 2016 at 6:37 pmGreat Shannon! Have fun with it and please do share a link to some of the work you create!
Reggie
November 6, 2016 at 6:02 pmHallo Peter,die neuen Bedingungen gelten ab dem 1.Januar 2013. Wenn du schriftlich Widerspruch einlegst, gelten für dich die alten Bedingungen bis Juli 2013. Dann behält sich McFIT jedoch die KÃudnnÂigƒ¼g deines Vertrages vor.
Kelly - A Side of Sweet
June 17, 2016 at 12:27 pmThis is so stunning and so useful! Just out of curiosity, what surface are you shooting on? Is that actually a massive marble slab?
Rachel
June 20, 2016 at 12:31 pmPerfect, so glad to hear that Kelly! And I’m totally embarrassed you asked that. It is not marble, ‘sigh’. Too heavy and expensive. It is actually vinyl flooring glued onto a board. Not bad eh!
Kelly - A Side of Sweet
June 20, 2016 at 1:49 pmHa! I was hoping you would say that actually. I use a vinyl backdrop I got on Etsy but it’s a bit grayer than yours and I was curious to see if yours was the real deal. I’ve checked the hardware stores and even specialty flooring stores all over San Francisco and for whatever reason no one caries it. Hopefully someday we’ll have the space to invest in a real marble table.
Rachel
June 23, 2016 at 9:08 amI hear that Kelly! Let’s made that a goal.
Marisa Franca @ All Our Way
June 17, 2016 at 9:11 pmHi Rachel! I sent you this question in an email but I thought that some of the other readers might like to know too — do you use a graphic pad and pen when you are doing editing with brushes. I don’t have a set but I imagine it would be easier than using a mouse. Thank you so much it was a fantastic conversation — I could have kept you on Skype for hours 🙂
Rachel
June 20, 2016 at 12:34 pmHey Marisa, I do not use a pen tablet. My husband uses a wacom tablet, but I just use the mousepad on my mac book pro (as mentioned in the video), so I use my finger. I guess it’s not ideal, but works better for me than a mouse for instance. They do take a while to get used to, but see what you can create with what you have first or a second hand one.
Lynnette
June 21, 2016 at 10:08 pmI am devouring all the posts and tutorial from your wonderful blog in hopes to re-launch my blog soon. Such beautiful photos and great tips. Thanks Rachel!
Rachel
June 23, 2016 at 9:10 amHey Lynnette! Great to have you here. Thanks for stopping by. What will you be re-launching? Platform, design or content? Sounds exciting!
Jessica
June 23, 2016 at 6:20 amI LOVED this post! That video was so helpful. I now want to try this just to see if I can do it the same, even if I have extra hands haha! In general, loving all your posts!
Rachel
June 23, 2016 at 9:11 amDo it! You’ll totally love it. A couple of readers have already done some great work. Very inspiring. Let me know what you come up with!
Karene'
June 23, 2016 at 6:02 pmLove this Love this!!! Thank you! So logical! Can’t wait to try it!
You have been so busy. Loving all your posts. Useful and informative and always beautiful. Brilliant!
Rachel
June 27, 2016 at 3:27 pmYay Karene! Please do. I’d love to see what you come up with.
Amanda @ Cookie Named Desire
June 30, 2016 at 11:37 pmThis is just genius! I’ve always loved shots like this, but just don’t have that many people at my disposal. I have a feeling I’m going to have a lot of fun trying this out.
Rachel
July 8, 2016 at 5:38 pmYou will Amanda. I have had quite a few readers all send me images that they have mastered doing this! Can’t wait to see what you come up with!
shibani
July 8, 2016 at 7:08 pmHi Rachel. Thank you for the easy Demo. I tried and did it , feeling simply proud of it. Thank you
Rachel
July 19, 2016 at 2:52 pmThat is so amazing Shibani! Can’t ask for more than that right!
Rohit
January 21, 2017 at 11:51 pmAwesome Rachel!! Thanks a lot.
Rachel
January 25, 2017 at 7:10 pmYou’re so very welcome Rohit! Glad it was useful for you. I’d love to see what you come up with.
Linda
March 2, 2017 at 8:26 amThank you for sharing this information. Looking forward to trying this out. Last time I needed an extra hand, I knocked on my neighbor’s door 🙂 I actually interned with Vanessa (VK Rees) last year.
Rachel
March 2, 2017 at 5:43 pmHey Linda! Thanks for stopping by and so glad to hear this was super helpful for you. I would take a friendly neighbour any day though. Always nice to work as a team I think! And wow…that must have been a truly memorable experience. I’d love to hear about it some day. I love her work so much (as does everyone else!).
Mukul
March 11, 2018 at 1:19 amThis is awesome !!This is super helpful. I’ve been curious about this. Lovely tutorial too.
Rachel
March 14, 2018 at 8:59 amOh thanks 🙂 It’s always fun to do a composite.
Emily Maddison
September 11, 2018 at 3:49 amAmazing food photography. Wonderful information share this post. To much useful to me.
Rachel
September 18, 2018 at 8:20 pmSo glad to hear that Emily! Please come back soon 🙂
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vibhu
May 17, 2019 at 8:06 amThank you so much for this! I’m a Graphic Design student and at college, I have to use a Mac, and I have a PC at home. This was really useful, again thanks! 🙂