Where can I get props (accessories) for culinary photography?

I remember when I started my culinary photography adventure and looked at great photos of experienced photographers and bloggers, I thought, " well, cool, only they probably have huge houses, because you can see how many tables they use in the photos!”. I quickly learned that you don't need to have 20 different tables to take beautiful and varied culinary photos. I recognized the word "propsi," which simply means accessories for culinary photography. It is about them that I will tell you today in this article.

What kind of props do you need as a culinary photographer?

When I talk about accessories, I don't mean equipment, but everything we photograph, except food. Thus, it will be: photographic backgrounds, dishes, vases, napkins, coffee grinders and pepper mills, display cases, boards, flowers, napkins, bottles, holiday decorations, etc. You don't need to spend millions of coins on it all right away to start your culinary photography adventure-we can safely use most of the things we already have and make the background ourselves. Before you go shopping, go through your apartment, see what you have in your closets and what you can use. What tools do I use in my studio and where can I get them?

 Photo backgrounds

I can't imagine working without them! Beautiful background makes 50% styling like no more! In my studio, I have over 30 vinyl backgrounds, 4 wooden ones, and a few homemade ones on HDF. As a background, I also sometimes use the table I take photos on – it's a regular IKEA table that I've polished, aged and decorated, giving it such a vintage look. Where can I get the rest of the backgrounds?

• Wooden backgrounds "everything I have is handmade. I have two backgrounds that are assembled from boards bought at a hardware store, sanded and painted in different colors. I also have some spare old boards that my dad left me from our old staircase in the family home. For photos, I just put them one next to the other. 
• Background on the HDF board - I made these backgrounds myself, and it's really simple and cheap! It is enough to buy an HDF plate, several samples of paints from the same color family in different shades, sandpaper and a sponge in a construction store. We sand and clean the plate, then pour a little bit of each paint and gently print it with a sponge, creating a beautiful pattern. It is also worth protecting such backgrounds with a matte varnish. I covered some of the tiles with a ready-made veneer that imitates marble or tile. 
• Vinyl backgrounds - currently my favorites because they can be collapsed and take up little space. You will no longer be able to easily make these backgrounds yourself, but you can buy them in different price ranges:
• High quality Vinyl backgrounds - look for the most beautiful ones, for example, on mbackdrops.pl, creativebackgrounds.pl or errer.com.
• Cheaper, but better quality vinyl backgrounds - more budget options - kjn-group on Allegro, fotofactory24.pl or bingoland.pl.

photo by Dorota Domino

Tableware, cutting boards, meat grinders…

You can't do without it, because the dish needs to be laid out on a beautiful plate, for this you will need a cup of coffee or a glass of wine in the background. It is best to put all this on a beautiful board, and the cake - on a stand. Where can I get them? First, look at what you have in your closet, and especially-what is hidden in the closets of your parents or grandparents - there you can often find treasures. Old porcelain plates, worn-out boards, crystal glasses, silver worn-out cutlery. Where to look next?

• Antique Fair "this is a real Pearl Mine! The only thing you need is a lot of time, and for a few gold coins you can become the owner of beautiful ceramics, crystals or copper jugs. At the antique fair, I got a lot of things, including Rosenthal ceramics or fine crystal glasses. I paid a pittance for them! Vintage fairs will be perfect, especially if you stick to a rustic or dark style in your photography.
• Networks - Action, Pepco, KiK, TK Maxx, Tiger, H&M Home, Duka, Zara Home, IKEA or Jysk, and sometimes even Lidl or Ladybug – here you will often find beautiful accessories for very little money. Plates, bowls, cups, glass, oil bottles, or wooden boards. You should also keep an eye out for promotions in these stores.
• Beautiful ceramics - this is already a big investment, because high-quality ceramics are not cheap. However, its quality and appearance in the photos are worth it! I can recommend to you here the shops that I use myself, and everything is great there: Qu Studio, Patpottery, POTPOT STUDIO, Marchos ceramics and green elephant. 
• Meal - don't throw away the beautiful jam jars or store-bought desserts! Often this way you can collect a beautiful collection of glass bottles or cans.

photo by Dorota Domino

Fabrics, tablecloths, aprons, clothing

We also need attractive fabrics - whether it's a tablecloth, beautiful fabrics or an apron (if we pose for photos ourselves). First, search your closets, see if you can use your old clothes. Bah! The clothes you wear can also be used for photos. Many times in photos of her posing by herself, I wear a matching dress or my favorite fall sweater.

Linen aprons that look great in photos and videos will also be useful. I have several colors of aprons imitating linen, and I bought them for about 80 PLN on AliExpress. Linen or cotton with an admixture of flax or a fabric that imitates it is ideal not only in aprons, but also in fabrics. Linen just looks best in photos. Where can I get such textiles?

• Lumpexes - yes! Here you can find both clothes for photos, as well as tablecloths and fabrics.
• Made with your own hands - just buy a cheesecloth and paint it in the color of your choice, such as turmeric or beetroot. 
• Networks - Great napkins can be purchased at IKEA, Jysku or Pepco. 
• Other locations - you will get beautiful linen napkins in Creative Backgrounds, illeto.com or so-linen.com you should also look for AliExpress, where you can also get gems for pennies. 

photo by Dorota Domino

Christmas decorations, flowers and plants

I have three separate cardboard boxes with accessories for Christmas, Easter and autumn images. In the first one, I put lights (required), mini toys, and various other Christmas decorations that you'll get at Action or Pepco stores during the holiday season. For Easter, you can use artificial moss, Easter eggs, rabbits, etc. I keep it in my fall box ... just dried leaves picked in the fall and dried mountain ash. 

Here it is nature that will come to the rescue-pick a few branches of spruce, boxwood or flowering apple trees from the park. In the fall, accessories literally lie under your feet.

Flowers and plants will always be useful, not only from the holiday. Fresh flowers are best-you can pick some of them from bushes and trees near your home or in the park, or buy some of them at a flower shop. They perfectly complement the image. You can also use herbs that match the dish we are photographing. I also have some artificial plants in my studio that, slightly blurred in the photo, look very natural – and thanks to this, I don't always have to go into the woods with pruning shears before shooting. 

photo by Dorota Domino

What else?

What only imagination will bring to your mind! A great suggestion would be a chair, a grill on which you will cool waffles, a book with a beautiful cover, a picture that you will take off the wall for a moment and put in the background, an old notebook, cookie jars, a beer bottle or dried cereals. You can successfully use baking paper, an old baking tray, or a worn-out stand. Don't forget about the colorful ropes that you can use to wrap cinnamon sticks, for example... expired products! I always have rock-dried macaroni, old meringues, and cookies in my closet that are used for photography, not for eating. There is always a jar of pepper and salt, cinnamon sticks and nuts nearby. Just look around and you will see that you have propsi everywhere.