A Selection of Food Photography Resources and Books
My interest in food photography goes far beyond my first DSLR purchase in fact I used to play around with various fruits and things around the house with my SLR lens.
I always wondered how on earth they make thinks so wonderfully appetizing through the lens. I remember reading a book on the tips/tricks that are used to make milk look like “milk” on camera and the other cosmetic things they would do to make food look so much better.
Then I took a step back and convinced myself since I’m not the best cook I could never make it in food photography. But I will still continue to take pictures of the fancy cupcakes I would buy, or those wonderful chocolate strawberries my husband would send me on Valentine’s Day.
But even with my cooking handicap I am still fascinated by food photography, so every now and then I’ll scroll through Pinterest and find a recipe to make. I figured if I’m going out of my cooking comfort zone then I should at least capture these special moments.
This weekend I decided I would make some meals for the work week since we spend so much time scrambling to put a dinner together every night.
Here is what I cooked…
Penne Pasta in Marinara Sauce
Spicy Wine Shrimp with Whole Wheat Pasta
Crock Pot Chicken for Tacos (having this one tonight)
Carrot and Zucchini Bars with Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting
Okay I know may not be a huge feet for some, but for me this was a big deal. And best of all I really loved doing it. So here begins my adventures in food photography.
What I learned…
I’ll ignore the fact that my kitchen isn’t the best place for any type of photography, the basic counters, the old cabinets – it needs a serious modern upgrade.
That being said the lighting isn’t all that great. So I did have to supplement with a speed light and light diffuser. I also took most of the pictures with my camera attached to a monopod to help steady my hands.
I bought a few wood panels from home depot and stand them and dark brown and used those as my counter top (especially helpful when you have icky counters). I can’t remember the exact price but I’m sure it was less than $20. I like them because they are individual panels so you can store and transport them easily.
I also realized if I’m going to be shooting at night I’ll need to have a good light box set up – something I didn’t really have for this shot of the zucchini and carrot bars.
After this first run I realize it would have been easier to prepare all the ingredients and then take pictures of them. I was doing step one, then snapping a picture, step two, you get the idea. I also think it would have been nice to have some more kitchen props.
I shot with two lenses with this experiment. I’m not sure what most food photographers shoot with but I was using my 90mm Macro and my 24-70mm this weekend. I just received the 90mm so my difficulties with the lens were probably more from inexperience. I think next time I will try the 90mm and the 50mm or my 28mm if it comes back from canon.
My Equipment
Canon 50D, Tamron 24-70mm, Tamron 90mm, Manfrotto Monopod 682B, Wescott Erin Manning PocketBox Flash Softbox Kit
Books and Resources on Food Photography
- Learn Food Photography – www.learnfoodphotography.com
- Plate to Pixel: Digital Food Photography & Styling – Available on Amazon
- Tasty Food Photography eBook – Pinch of Yum
There are also some great Food bloggers out there that have some amazing photography you can check out as well.
PS – The pasta dishes were enjoyed by all that could enjoy them, tacos were a hit and well the Carrot and Zucchini bars were tasty and everyone that tried them had seconds. The boy didn’t like them – but he rarely eats anything with icing or anything sweet for that matter.
What resources and tips can you share about food photography?