Food Photography: From Snapshots to Great Shots

by Nicole S. Young

Are you a “foodie” looking to take eye-catching photos of your culinary concoctions? Do you have a food blog that you’d like to enhance with better visuals? Do you want to create photos that conjure up the flavors of your favorite foods but lack the photographic technique to make it happen? Then this book is for you!

In Food Photography: From Snapshots to Great Shots, photographer Nicole Young dishes up the basics on 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.

Follow along with your friendly and knowledgeable guide, photographer and author Nicole S. Young, and you will:

•      Use your camera’s settings to gain full control over the look and feel of your images

•      Master the photographic basics of composition, focus, depth of field, and much more

•      Learn to enhance your food photographs using professional food styling techniques

•      Get tips on different types of lighting, including strobes, flashes, and natural light

•      Improve the look of your photos using Adobe Photoshop

•      Go “behind the scenes” and walk through the process of creating great food photographs with an entire chapter of start-to-finish examples

And once you’ve got the shot, show it off! Join the book’s Flickr group to share your photos, recipes, and tips at flickr.com/group/foodphotographyfroms....

Genres: Photography, Food, Nonfiction, Reference, Art, Business, Art and Photography

288 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 1, 2011

About the author

I’m a full-time photographer and author, with books published through Peachpit Press, Craft&Vision, and also self-published titles. I love all things photography, and enjoy photographing landscapes, food, and also travel as much as possible.

I also have an online store, where I sell post-processing tools, such as preset, actions and textures, along with some of my own self-published eBooks, all at very affordable prices. To take a look, please head on over to the Nicolesy Store — http://store.nicolesy.com.

Reviews

[Yasmeen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is it.
This is the most detailed step-by-step food photography book I've ever seen that shows you EVERYTHING you need to know in order to become a food photographer. From styling your food till post-processing. A LOT I already knew, but I guess it helps people who know a lot as well. It shows you every single result for every single step so you will never be confused. I wish all books were like this one. Must-have if you're interested.

P.S.
Even though the equipment used is very expensive for an amateur (a $400 ringflash unit was just a part of the setup)- and the author didn't show how to work with less professional equipment, you can easily find cheaper alternatives. She discusses all possible alternatives briefly at the beginning of the book.

[Plateresca · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm really sorry to give this book just one star, because I've seen Nicole's online interviews and a workshop and she seems such a nice person, but I've really found this book pretty useless. Some of the photos are beautiful, her homemade ceramic plates are an object of envy, her custom-made table is very interesting, but on the whole, this is very beginner's guide (the book cover has the word 'intermediate'), superficial information. I was hoping to read at least something on stock photography, but there's nothing on the subject. A huge section on Lightroom, though.

[Mindaugas Mozūras · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nicole's book is perfect for a beginner like me. It starts off with photography basics - which will be useful to me both in taking shots of anything, not just food. Then it goes into specific techniques for creating great shots of food. Only the chapter on Photoshop was a bit useful for me. And the last practical chapter had some repeating information.

I rate it "really liked it", but I might upgrade it to "it was amazing" based on how I'll end up using what I've learned!

[Jacob Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read the second edition of this book. Format is very good. You can start at any section, if you are a trained photographer, and you have some idea on taking food photos. I started from the beginning and went to the end. A lot of good information, provides good tips, as well as challenges for you to expand on what you have just read in each chapter. Will definitely be a good reference for those who want to expand and get better at food photography.

[Antanas Kairys · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well written but basic introduction

[Matt Lennert · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a well illustrated guide to shooting food for the beginner. Young takes you through the kinds of equipment you'll need, photographic lenses and choices, and then how to set up, light, and style food. It's, admittedly, in her style, with her tool set, so not a bad place to start. She freely admits she shoots for micro stock, and that tends to genericize her work somewhat, and the examples rarely show any cooked food beyond soup or mac n' cheese, but for a beginner this is a great resource.

One part of the book design I really enjoyed is the "Poring over the picture" at the beginning of each chapter where the image is overlaid with text bubbles that explain her decision making or why the way something appears. In the same light, I liked the last chapter where she does an end-to-end walk through of the making four different photographs, from setting the lights and food styling, to the post processing decision making in Adobe Lightroom.

Her writing is clear and for a How-To book, that is a big plus.

[Lana Svitankova · Rating 4 out of 5]

Хороша книжка для початківців на теренах фудфото, особливо цінна тим, що дає конкретні поради по обробці фото. Про композицію зовсім трохи, так само, як і про секрети з фейк-іжею, але для тих, хто знімає те, що готує сам - практично найкраща з можливих книжок.

[Kathleen Messmer · Rating 5 out of 5]

In an effort to continue my photographic education, I pulled out this book and read it. It’s loaded with great lessons on how to photograph food that doesn’t come out looking unappetizing and gives tips on styling the food and even post-processing (though this part is a bit outdated due to software updates). Nevertheless, if you want to expand your repertoire, read this book, then go play with your food.

[Mutiara Ulfah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Buku ini enak sekali di baca, bahasa nya renyah. Tahap tahapnya mudah diikuti dan difahami olej saya yang awam. Pembahasanya mulai dari dasar terkait fotografi, makanan itu sendiri, styling, setting, hingga editing. Tentu juga disertai visual yang detail dan foto foto makanan yang indah. Sambil belajar sambil lapar ingin makan apa yang ada di foto 😀.

[Rogue Reader · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent guide to food styling and food photography - both art and the technologies of advanced imaging. Chapters on specific techniques have progressive images of adding elements to the photograph.

[Rasha Yousif · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book for beginners in Food photography from composition to styling to editing.

[Deeanna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent. I read it twice. Definitely the best resource I've found so far and perfect for a total beginner like myself.

[Erich Zinser · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great guide

Probably the clearest guide I’ve read so far
Fabulous tips on setup shooting organizing and editing
Good images to clear ideas up
A must read

[Emma Jackson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of really useful tips in this book. I'm looking forward to improving my food pictures using the things I've learned from this book.

[Daniela Hinojosa · Rating 4 out of 5]

2da edición

[David Brinkman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Full of wonderful tips and lighting suggestions. If you use programs other than photoshop, then there’s a section that just goes through different setting and techniques

[Martin Iotchev · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great examples, lots of photos

[Amanda Powell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some good info

I originally bought this to get tips and ideas on food styling and composing photos to tell a story. I did get a lot of good tips, but this is better for someone w/o wants to learn about food photography as a whole. It provides a lot of beginner info (making it a great refresher course), but also delves into more technical points of photography as well. There is also a great resource for editing photos (something you can never learn too much about) I love how she analyzes each photo.and goes over her entire process. it's a well thought out book with information for all skill levels. I would have given it five stars, except that there wasn't as much information for styling and props as I hoped.

[Andrea James · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is so far the clearest book on photo photography for beginners that I've come across. The examples demonstrate different settings and the author goes through essentially what a food blogger needs to get started.

I have lots and lots to learn to get my photos to look better and I feel I've picked up a number of decent points from this book.

I would have liked a little more troubleshooting and perhaps a couple of complete work-through from start to finish of how the shot was styled and photographed.

I think it's a really terrific book and I'm looking forward to trying out more of its suggestions.

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Helpful. Definitely helpful. It covers the gamut of not only styling and setting up your shot, but how to post-process in Photoshop. Of course some of it was very "duh," and if I care enough to shell out the money for some of the lighting setups, I know my shots would be much, much better. I figure if it caused me to reflect upon my shot a little more when I'm taking it, it was definitely worth it.

[Bobby · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very clear and approachable, particularly for beginners. As a very experienced amateur, I did learn some things here I didn't know before. Minus one star because many of the lighting setups and post-processes are too similar. Could also use more food styling and prop tips, though what is here is valuable.

[Brian Evans · Rating 5 out of 5]

Solid take on the basics of food photography, covering lighting, composition, styling, and editing (which is probably the weakest portion of the book, but honestly what are you going to do there that hasn't been done). Easy to read.

[Gaurav Prabhu · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very good book for understanding the basics of Food Photography. Nicely explained by Nicole. The simplicity of this book is a great appeal. The icing on the cake are the few tips & tricks which Nicole shares throughout. Recommended for Food Photographers.

[Mahdi Meskin · Rating 4 out of 5]

the best thing about this book was order!
it learns you every thing in a neat and tidy order. so if you dont know anything about food photography (and even photography), you can start by this. of course you should be interested to learning and try the challenges.

[Cassie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a great resource with refresher info on the camera functions and great tips on setting the scene and proper lighting. I'm not big on Lightroom, but the processes reviewed would be very similar for working in raw or photoshop.

[Pam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Goes through quite a bit of the basics that I already knew. The best part to me was towards the end when she goes through her step-by-step photoshop edits.

[Kevin & Meagan · Rating 5 out of 5]

LOVE this book. Such a great way to look at photography. How she did the set up is GREAT. What I DIDN'T like, was the basics of shooting. I feel like EVERY book is fluffed with that stuff.

[Colette Martin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great resource. Since Nicole uses the same camera as I do, I found this book very helpful.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked up a couple neat food styling tips, and it reinforced that I already know the basic lighting setup for food.

[Connie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Meh.