Food Photography: From Snapshots to Great Shots

In Food Photography: From Snapshots to Great Shots, photographer Nicole Young dishes up the basics of getting the right camera equipment–lights, lenses, reflectors, etc.–and takes you through the key photographic principles of aperture, ISO, and shutter speed.

She then discusses lighting and composition and shows how to style food using props, fabrics, and tabletops. Finally, she explains how to improve your photos through sharpening, color enhancement, and other editing techniques.

Beautifully illustrated with large, vibrant photos, this book offers the practical advice and expert shooting tips you need to get the food images you want every time you pick up your camera.

Title:  Food Photography
Subtitle: From Snapshots to Great Shots
Author: Nicole S. Young
Publisher:  Peachpit Press; 1 edition (August 13, 2011)
ISBN:  ISBN-13: 978-0-321-78411-7
Format/Length:  288 pages (paperback)
My Review: 5

 

Food Photography: From Snapshots to Great Shots

About the Author:

Nicole S. Young is a full-time photographer specializing in commercial photography and licenses many of her images through iStockphoto and Getty Images. Nicole is an accredited Adobe Certified Expert (ACE) in Photoshop and a Help Desk Specialist with the National Association of Photoshop Professionals.

The author of Canon 7D: From Snapshots to Great Shots, Canon 60D: From Snapshots to Great Shots, and Food Photography: From Snapshots to Great Shots, she blogs at nicolesyblog.com.


Posts feature partner companies & may be sponsored. Post contains affiliate links & I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

My Review:

When I started including recipes on my blog I quickly discovered that getting the perfect photo of my food was not always easy. I have probably snapped a thousand photographs in my kitchen looking for the perfect lighting and angle to capture the look I really wanted. Considering I am working with a point and shoot, I am at a definite disadvantage!

Mostly DSLR focused

In Food Photography, the author provides all the information you will ever need to achieve the perfect food photograph. While she does state that you can get decent pictures from some point-and-shoot models, this book is really geared for people with a DSLR camera. Since I plan on buying one eventually, this is a great resource.

I learned a lot about what to look for in a camera and what type of other equipment I will need to improve my photos. If you are new to food photography like I am, the discussions on focal lengths, aperture settings, shutter speeds, and lighting setups are well written, very informative, and easy to understand.

Arranging the Food

After the sections on the camera, the author moves into discussions about the food itself. This is something anyone can benefit from, even if you are working with a point and shoot. There are tons of interesting tips and techniques provided to help make the most of your photograph.

Things like using garnishes and which colors to choose and plating techniques. These were the chapters I found most helpful since I don’t have a DSLR camera yet.

The last section of the book deals with photo processing and goes into quite a bit of detail on Adobe Photoshop.

This isn’t a program that I currently have so it was interesting to read but I couldn’t really use it to my advantage. I will add the Adobe software to the Christmas list!

Summary

Overall, this is truly a fantastic book. It includes just about everything you will need to know to create stunning food photographs.

It will help if you have a DSLR camera already but there is a lot of information in here that will benefit anyone wanting to snap pictures of their food, even if they only have a point and shoot. Buy the Book On Amazon Here

 

 

6 thoughts on “Food Photography: From Snapshots to Great Shots”

Leave a Comment