Using Kitchen Towels In Your Food Photography

I have to say that the lowly kitchen towel can elevate even the plainest shot to something glorious. I have see food bloggers use them to frame a shot, add a pop of color or even to set the mood for a photo.

For me the neat thing about kitchen towels is that they are so accessible. Some food props that we talk about are hard to find or you have to go scrounging in thrift stores or estate sales to get them. But kitchen towels are available in every retail outlet known to man, and are super affordable!

Dark and Delicious

photo credit Baked The Blog

This one was hard to review (I hardly ever get hungry doing this, but dang, that looks delish!).

That said, this dark photography shot is amazing and very well styled. One of the things that really helps though is the softness of the kitchen towel beneath the cup. I also love how the little blue band in the towel compliments the gray of the cup of the dark blue background.

Without that little bit of fabric, the shot would be all metal and really hard materials. With the kitchen towel there is a little bit of softness that really makes the shot.

Coordinating Colors

photo credit Cooking Pleasure

I feel like I am stalking Cooking Pleasure! This gal does some seriously good food styling and is a go to when I am doing these types of posts!

This shot would not be the same without the coordinating color of the kitchen towel under the bowl of cranberries.

The coordination of these colors contrasting with the strong white washed out background really makes this shot pop!

Because the color red is so dominant in this shot. the cute enamel dishes become a really neat and subtle accent.

A Monochromatic Background

photo credit A Couple Cooks

This shot is a little different that your standard photography picture because of the motion that is happening in the lower right hand corner. This is giving the picture a little bit of movement that we don’t always see.

Obviously the green soup is the star of the show here, but the bowls would not pop off the page as much without the neutral background that the cooks used.

What I loved about this shot is how the kitchen towel acted as a frame on the left side AND pulled the gray color of the background over while providing a little bit of pattern and a different look.

If the towel were not there and the background was just the gray alone, this shot would be much flatter and without life.

A Pop of Color

photo credit Baking A Moment 

Oh my gosh, I LOVE this shot so much. The styling of all the pieces is perfection and the use of multiple photography props in this shot really tells the story of having a cup of tea with these scones!

There are actually two pieces of fabric in this picture, but the one that is obviously a kitchen towel is the teal colored one in the top left corner.

It is so neat that the blue is repeated in just a tiny bit of color at the bottom right, drawing your eye through the whole shot!

Balancing The Shot

photo credit Savory Simple

I have to admit, dark photography is my favorite! I love how luminous the pictures look and I am drawn to dark and brooding things anyways.

In this shot the obvious focal point is actually the white bowl with blue accents. That is the brightest spot and where your eye goes first.

That said, the bread in the background and the kitchen towel in the foreground make you look at the whole composition rather than just the middle of the picture.

Without the light towel on the left, you might get “stuck” at the bowl and not even notice the spoon or the little tray in the foreground.