When eating out, it’s hard to take a photo without your hungry friend rolling their eyes at you. As someone who thinks of their food photos as a collection of artwork, I often question the legitimacy of the art form due to the stigma against food photos as distracting or embarrassing in an age of self proclaimed “food snobs” on Instagram. Here, I have listed some principles that I try to follow to when snapping photos of my food.

1. The food doesn’t have to look “beautiful” to make for an interesting photo. Sometimes grime or awkward arrangements are more interesting .

2. These photos don’t necessarily need to look appetizing.

3. A top-down angle is usually best.

4. Never use a filter. Keep editing to a minimum.

5. Be mindful of your surroundings when taking a food pic. Don’t make too much of a scene.

6. Staging a food photo is acceptable although

7. Food pics are usually most successful when they are spontaneous.

8. Making a dish for the sake of taking a photo of it is acceptable.

9. Eating out for the sake of taking a photo is not.

10. If you take a photo of a dish at a nice restaurant, it is hard to claim this photo as your own work of art.

11. If the picture takes more than 1 minute to take in a public space, forget about it.

12. If a picture takes more than 3 minutes to take in a private place, forget about it.