The impact of Instagram on food culture and dining can’t be underestimated. There are currently more than 190 million posts tagged #food on Instagram. That’s a whole lot of acai bowls, pizza (apparently the world’s most Instagrammed food) and instances of a dining companion bossily insisting that everybody ‘acts natural’ while they stand on a chair to get the perfect bird’s eye view tableau. The thing is, the #foodstagram is here to stay, and it should be. Because not only is it an excessively fun way to record all the brag-worthy things you ate, or to seek out the ones that you want to, it’s impacted the way we think about food (all the time) and how a chef or restaurant can build its reputation. That is, unless your photos really suck. As chef Ned Bell from the Four Seasons Hotel in Vancouver told Wired, “It affects me when I see a bad review. But it affects me more when someone takes a bad photo of my food. I worry about what my food looks like on the social media world.” And there are a lot of bad #foodstagrams out there: the blurry, the greasy, the flash-wiped, the unidentifiable. The following slides are our guide to doing better, for the establishments you eat at, and for yourself.

Good, clean, lighting – preferably natural lighting – is so important. Resist the blurry night time photo to ‘capture the ambience’. Composition – as in finding the right view point, set-up and angle – matters too. An overhead or straight-on angle tends to work best for food photos on Instagram, but play around to find what you like best. Brisbane-based Charli Burrowes, a visual artist, creative director and photographer says that she likes to play around with both natural and artificial light. “I think the two [light and composition] go hand in hand- although, I’m all about composition. You always want to start by creating something beautiful that you enjoy looking at, before you try to capture it to share with others. Lighting comes second- it’s gotta be great too though, so folks can see the image you’ve created!?” As for using a flash? Just … don’t. Image: @talisa_sutton

Step away from the Valencia, and instead play with editing apps such as VSCO or Snapseed to tweak your photos, play with saturation levels and crop. That said, relative new-comer to the photo-app game Priime lets you buy custom filters created by photographers, and are fun to play wth. Our pick? “Fare” by Daniel Krieger, a New York-based freelance food photographer, which creates clean tones, good contrast and makes your ordinary looking bowl of spag bol look way classy. As Krieger says, food should look “bold and mouthwatering.” Agree. Image: Daniel Krieger

Even if your following consists of your most loyal friends, a few bots and your mum’s best friend Shirl who hasn’t quite figured out Instagram yet, pause and think, is this photo worthy of being here? As Charli Burrowes says, “Don’t treat it like a snap for insty, treat it like art. Whether a person is shifting food around a table, or pushing paint around a canvas- they are creating, and that’s a beautiful thing. It shouldn’t be treated as anything less just because it’s ‘only for insty’ or ‘only for a blog.’ What you shoot is a reflection of your creativity- so I’d say give it your all. Make insty your personal galley + be proud to pop that foodie pic on yo’ gram, website or fridge.” Image: Luisa Brimble

Even if your following consists of your most loyal friends, a few bots and your mum’s best friend Shirl who hasn’t quite figured out Instagram yet, pause and think, is this photo worthy of being here? As Charli Burrowes says, “Don’t treat it like a snap for insty, treat it like art. Whether a person is shifting food around a table, or pushing paint around a canvas- they are creating, and that’s a beautiful thing. It shouldn’t be treated as anything less just because it’s ‘only for insty’ or ‘only for a blog.’ What you shoot is a reflection of your creativity- so I’d say give it your all. Make insty your personal galley + be proud to pop that foodie pic on yo’ gram, website or fridge.” Image: Luisa Brimble

We KNOW your green juice wasn’t oh so perfectly peeking out the top of your Mansur Gavriel bucket bag. And that’s OK. Image: Smitten Kitchen

In a sea of samey pics, picking a theme – be it only posting purple photos or experimenting with a food group – amps up the interesting factor. This approach landed Michael Zee, creator of incredibly soothing food posts on his account @symmetrybreakfast, a book deal.

You want your snaps to be found by like-minded people! As Burrowes says, “they can be a great way for folks to share + find imagery they love.” Just, you know, like anything, don’t be too obnoxious about it. Image: Edition Roasters

Yes, you’re going to take a food photo, but don’t let it take over the dining experience. As Katrina Meynink puts it, “Don’t be ‘that guy’. You have 30 seconds tops. Given eating is my favourite past time I wouldn’t put anyone through the angst. I do believe in putting the phone away. Enjoy the moment – the eating and the people you are eating with, instead of posting it all over social media. It’s not so much a ‘never take a photo’ and more about keeping the Instagramming in check.” Image: Katrina Meynink

Go all in. As Meynink says, “My most popular food posts seem to be one extreme to the other – either a fresh salad or something completely indulgent and riddled with chocolate.” Or find a quirky angle. For Burrowes, it was a cute Valentine’s day snap of on-theme toast that brought in the likes. Image: meohmygirl