1. Use the freshest ingredients: don’t used food that is wrinkled, scarred, or damaged. If you can’t get the freshest ingredients, place the food in such a way that the flaws are covered.

2. Lighting is very important: Backlight is best for making food look appetizing, gives it texture and also allows any steam to become visible.

3. Simplicity: Take out things that are distracting and take attention away form the food. think about only showing just one plate of food. if you’re showing multiple dishes, show less of the one that is less appetizing.

4. Keep the Plates clean: the dishes that are showing the food are to be completely and one-hundred percent clean. having dirty plating is distracting from the food and makes the food less appetizing. Heres an example of a dirty plate and you can see that it doesnt look very appetizing.

5. Add a little bit of Oil: for vegetables you can add oil which makes them look more fresh and for salad you can add a mist of water. These ingredients give the food shine which makes the food look fresh and tastes good.

6. Show a before and after of the food or meal: showing steps in the cooking process such as chopping or having all the ingredients fresh and portrayed helps the viewer get a better understanding of the final image. this process is great for the foods that don’t look appetizing when they’re cooked.

http://digital-photography-school.com/11-quick-food-photography-tips-to-make-mouth-watering-images