Composition: The Secret to More Creative, Standout Food Photos

Welcome back to Food Photography with Rupa, my series for ckbk readers where I show you how to level up your food photos using just your phone, no fancy kit needed.

So far, we’ve covered:

Article 1: Camera Settings - how to clean your lens, lock focus and exposure, and use portrait mode to make your dish the star.
Article 2: Lighting - how to use natural light to bring out texture, colour and that fresh, vibrant look that makes people want to take a bite.

And now, we’re moving on to Step 3: Composition - the way you frame and arrange your food to guide your viewer’s eye and create real visual impact.

Before we dive in, I always tell people to think about this process like baking a cake. There are steps. You wouldn’t start whisking eggs before turning on the oven, and you wouldn’t pop it in to bake before measuring out your ingredients. It’s the same with food photography, composition only works when you’ve already nailed your settings and lighting. Each step builds on the next.

What is composition (in simple terms)?

Composition is how everything is arranged within the frame of your photo. And by everything, I mean the food, ingredients, props, backgrounds, utensils – anything that ends up in your photo.

Think of the frame as the view your camera sees. When you look at your phone screen, that rectangle is your frame and composition is all about how you place and arrange things inside it.

It’s not just about where you place your main dish. It’s the relationship between the elements, how you balance colours, shapes, textures, and negative space. It's one of those behind-the-scenes details that makes a photo feel effortless… even though it’s anything but.

So composition is really about the relationship between your frame and the objects you place inside it, how they’re spaced, how they interact, and how they guide the viewer’s eye.

What is the frame?

I’ve included a screenshot from my phone with a dotted red line to show the edge of the frame. That’ll help you visualise what I mean when I say “within the frame.” Everything inside this boundary is what you’re composing - from your hero dish to props, background textures, utensils, and extra ingredients.

Why is composition so important in food photography?

Honestly? It’s one of the quickest ways to take your photos from “ok” to “WOW.”

Most people will automatically place everything in the centre of the frame. There’s nothing wrong with that, sometimes it works brilliantly! But if you want your content to stand out, feel more professional, and tell a bit more of a story, then playing with different composition techniques is a great way to do that.

In fact, this is something I see a lot, especially when people are starting out. They nail the lighting, they’ve got a beautiful setup, but the photo still feels a bit flat. That’s usually down to composition.

A bit of context for this shoot…

For this article, I wanted to show you just how much impact composition has without changing the setup. So I photographed the same pasta-making scene using three different composition techniques. That way, you can see the difference side-by-side.

Why pasta?
Well, the ckbk newsletter this week is featuring pasta, so I decided to roll up my sleeves and make my own. I started with a classic setup: a well of flour with eggs in the centre and then styled it with ingredients you'd naturally use when making fresh pasta, things like olive oil, salt, eggs and a few trusty utensils.

Because each setup was designed to demonstrate a different composition technique, I varied the ingredients and props slightly for each one. Sometimes I reused elements in different ways, and other times I added or removed things to achieve the look and balance I wanted.

It’s a nice little storytelling moment, and one we’ll explore more in a future article. But for now, let’s look at the compositions I used.

Three Composition Techniques I Use Again and Again

Here are three simple but powerful techniques I rely on constantly, whether I’m shooting for a client or creating content for my own brand.

Each one gives the image a slightly different mood and that’s the magic of composition.

Composition Technique 1 – Rule Of Thirds

This is one of the fundamental principles of visual design and it works beautifully for food photography.

How to use it:
Imagine dividing your frame into a grid of 3x3, that gives you 9 boxes. The idea is to place your main point of interest (like the well of flour or your hero ingredient / dish) along one of the grid lines or where the lines cross.

Placing your subject on the grid lines
Creates better balance and tension than placing everything in the centre. It draws the viewer’s eye naturally along the frame and works especially well for minimalist or clean compositions where you want more breathing space.

💥 Placing your subject on the intersections
This is where the real impact happens. The intersections, often called “Power Points” are where two lines cross, and placing your subject here makes the composition feel more dynamic and visually powerful. It draws attention directly to the focal point and keeps the viewer engaged longer.

Why it works:
It naturally draws the viewer’s eye and gives your photo more movement and depth. It’s an easy way to make your shot feel balanced and professional, without it feeling too stiff or formal. I also like this technique as it can give you some negative space that you can use to add some text / graphics.

Pro Tip:
Switch on your grid on your phone, make sure it is set to 3x3 and then you can use the gridlines to help you compose for the rule of thirds!

Composition Technique 2 – Triangle Composition

This one’s perfect for grouping three key items / group of items in your photo.

How to use it:
Place three elements, like the flour well with the eggs, olive oil, and eggs in a triangle formation. It doesn’t have to be perfect, even an implied triangle works. The idea is to guide the viewer’s eye around the frame in a smooth, natural motion.

Why it works:
It creates visual harmony and keeps the viewer’s attention moving across the photo from one object to the other, which makes it feel alive and more engaging.

Composition Technique 3 – S Curve Composition

This technique is brilliant for adding flow and movement to your photos, especially when you’re telling a story with multiple elements.

How to use it:
Arrange your ingredients or props in a soft “S” shape that gently guides the eye through the frame. I used scattered flour, salt in a pinch bowl, cracked eggshells, a measuring cup, eggs in the flour well, and some olive oil to complete the curve. It doesn’t have to be perfect, just enough to suggest direction.

Why it works:
The S curve adds rhythm and leads the viewer’s eye on a journey through your setup. It brings a sense of motion and elegance to your composition, especially effective in flat lays or storytelling scenes. It’s especially good for showing progress or process, like the steps of making pasta.

So—which one will you be trying?

Let’s not forget the previous steps…

Before you jump into trying out these compositions, make sure you’ve gone through:

✅ Step 1: Settings - check your phone camera is set up for success
✅ Step 2: Lighting - natural side light is your best friend

Each step in this series builds on the last. Just like baking a cake, you wouldn’t start mixing before switching on the oven or measuring out your ingredients. The same goes for photography, the best results come when you build your setup intentionally, one step at a time.

Next Up: Camera Angles

Coming up in Article 4, we’ll be looking at camera angles and how the angle you shoot from can change the feel of your photo. We’ll be focusing on the ever-popular flat lay (shooting directly from above), perfect for food photography.

Want more food content tips & behind-the-scenes ideas?

Follow me on Instagram @iphonefoodphotography

I share simple, easy-to-follow tips and tricks for making food look amazing, using nothing more than your phone. Got a question? Drop me a comment or DM me, I’m always happy to help.

Rupa

Food photography with Rupa: Part 3 – Compose with Confidence