Food Photography Resources

Food Photography & Blogging Resources

What would we do without the Internet and the vast amount of information it provides? I honestly ask myself that all the time. Growing up I learned almost everything from my parents, teachers, and books. Now, whenever I want the answer to something I do a quick search in Google and voila! I learn more in one day doing research on the Internet than I did in a month back in middle school (probably just dated myself). We are so connected and have the potential to learn a world of knowledge right at our finger tips. If that’s not a small miracle, I don’t know what is. Of course there is the huge list of negatives that comes from the Internet, but I’ll leave that for someone else to discuss.

What I’m trying to get at here is that I learned all about photography and blogging online in just a few short months. There are millions of blogs out there and I know I’m just a baby compared to some of them, but everyday I look at how far I’ve come and it puts a smile on my face. What keeps me going is knowing that there are so many resources out there that will help me improve myself and my blog. In my eyes, if I don’t strive everyday to improve, it would be a big shame and a disgrace to all those people in the past that wished they had these types of resources. We are spoiled in so many ways today and it’s so easy to take everything we have for granted. The fact that we share so much helpful information online is beautiful! What I want to do is add another pieces to this ocean of information and I hope you can take something useful away and apply it to your blog. If you are considering starting a food blog visit my post on How to Start a Food Blog.

Photography

There are a ton of cameras out there and I would love to have the cream of the crop for my food photography but I challenge myself to be the best that I can be with the resources that I have. As many do, I also recommend a DSLR. 

• The camera that I use is a Nikon D60. You can get a used one for just over $200, which if you ask me is worth it if it means taking beautiful pictures. If you feel more comfortable with a new one, they run around $1000.
• For memory I use a 16 GB ScanDisk memory card. It’s big enough and it’s under $12, which you can’t beat!
• The two lenses I use most often are the standard 55-200mm lens that came with the camera and a AF-S Nikor 35 mm lens.
• The tripod I use is a Manfrotto. I highly recommend a tripod for crisp pictures, especially for lowlight situations where you need to slow your shutter speed. Slow shutter speed means your camera captures a lot for movement and your pictures won’t come out as crisp. This tripod completely changed the way my pictures turn out! The $60 investment is well worth it!

 

Editing

• Adobe Photoshop I can’t tell you how important having photo editing software is. You can transform a picture in seconds! I don’t know many people that can use a photo straight out of the camera. Shooting in manual can be tricky and sometimes you need the extra help. And it’s not just that. Sometimes you just can’t get perfect lighting and colors, so Photoshop does wonders! And lets face it, we eat with our eyes so if the food in a photograph is not appetizing, we’re just going to look away and move on.

Here are a couple of before and afters. As you can see, there’s a big big difference! More reason to invest in Adobe Photoshop!

 

Books

• Food Photography: From Snapshots to Great Shots This is a great book that teaches you essential information about your camera, aperture, shutter speed, ISO, white balance, editing, props, angles, and so much more! 
• Pinch of Yum’s Tasty Food Photography e-book. This book is great for food bloggers that are starting out or want to step it up! She really touches all the major point and what I loved most of all is that she shares her struggles and victories. It’s so nice to hear that someone else cried when they first used Photoshop!

Blog Hosting

• Bluehost is what I use to host my blog. When I first started my blog I used a free WordPress platform and I wasn’t able to get the customization I wanted. Bluehost was so easy to set up and the prices are fantastic! The best part, you can still use the WordPress platform for your blog! I highly recommend having a look at Bluehost!
   
  
  
  
  If you’ve found even one part of this helpful then my job is done here and I’m a happy girl! Once again, what would we do without all this helpful information online? It truly is the best feeling when you help someone, no matter how big or small. I sure am grateful to those that have helped me! If you have any other questions please don’t hesitate to ask.