How To Pose Your Food Truck For Photos

Outside of the food itself, much of the attraction to the mobile food industry is the fun, colorful designs that food truck owners have wrapped their trucks in. Many food truck owners have numerous pictures taken of their truck by professionals and non-professionals alike. Some will even take the photos themselves to use for their marketing materials. This article will explore a number of tips to pose your food truck.

To capture exciting and interesting photography of a food truck, you must understand how to pose your food truck just as you would pose a person as the first step in composing a portrait photograph. Many of the specific techniques are similar, in that you want to shoot from the best angle to show the truck (person) at its best and be very attentive of all the little details of how the truck is “dressed” and “groomed.”

How To Pose Your Food Truck For Photos

A Clean Machine

It should go without saying, but just to provide you with a complete checklist: The vehicle you photograph should be thoroughly cleaned, polished, and even detailed before you line up your shot. This includes the interior and engine compartment if you plan to photograph them. In addition, check that all the external parts are attached securely.

Strike a Pose

The location you select to photograph the truck has a major impact on how you pose your food truck, which is all the more reason you need to understand the posing techniques below.

Angle. It’s best to start with photos from a front (right or left) 45-degree angle. These could include a low-angle at 45 degrees, a high angle closer to the vehicle with the camera moved towards a head-on shot and two angles in the opposite direction from 45 degrees towards a side-on shot.

Additional Factors

To find the best position of the truck for your photos, you must take into account a number of factors. They are the direction of the light, the reflections it produces, the background and the space around the vehicle.

Lighting. As with most outdoor photography, you want the sun behind you or behind you and to either side. This can be an interesting lighting angle. The camera is on a diagonal angle from the left or right headlight and the sun is at an angle that spills the light down the side towards the camera.
Reflections. Look carefully for unwanted reflections on the body and the glass of the windows. Then, re-position the truck just enough to reduce their effect.
Space around truck. First, you want enough space to move closer and further for wider and tighter views, and even to shoot some images with a telephoto lens. You also want to be sure there is plenty of space in front of and behind the truck, which helps to emphasize and enlarge the appearance of the space on either side of the vehicle.

The other front angle and two rear angles are photographed much the same, except you turn the vehicle 180 degrees or into any position, so the sunlight is hitting that side and the background still looks good. You also move the truck to shoot direct front, rear and side views. Another variation is to shoot every angle with the wheels straight and with one full turn to display the wheel design.

The Bottom Line

Photography plays an important role in marketing your food truck business. Images can make your website pop and help you tell engaging stories on social media. Don’t be intimidated by photography, but if your are, you’re not alone. Many food truck owners think the same way you do. Remember that the more pictures you take, edit, or post online, the easier it will be.

We hope these tips allow you to pose your food truck and get the best photos of your food truck to maximize the wrap you have spent so much time developing. If you have any additional tips share them below or on social media. Facebook | Twitter