Low Budget, Low Maintenance Food Photography

I'll get down to food photography tips and tricks, but first let me rattle on about why I have to think so hard about this subject, if you will.  I'm not exactly poor and lazy (maybe a little of each) but I surely don't have a lot of money or time to burn.  Or space, for that matter.  I live in a small house so my "studio" is a little corner of the basement between the camping gear and the litter boxes.  Another little hindrance of mine is location.  For much of a Duluth winter, the sun shines only after I leave for work and sets before I get home.  Shooting in natural light isn't always an option for me.  On top of all of this, I have a pretty fierce streak of perfectionism that keeps me from letting things be.  A very good example being my participation in the Daring Bakers club.  I started a blog with the intent of it being specifically for posting my DB challenge results and I didn't even own a camera.  My husband took the photos as I pretended not to wring my hands over his shoulder fretting about my "vision."  It's been a year and a half and I now own a camera, I post weekly, I am constantly tweaking things on my blog, and I secretly do care if I make it onto a traffic-driving site like foodgawker.  People want to take better photos for many reasons, and I alone have many reasons.  Attracting blog traffic and getting recognition is the least important to me, but does make the work I put into it more rewarding.  Producing a visual art that I am proud of is very important to me, as I want the experience of looking at my blog to be a pleasant one.   And most importantly, I love the process.  Love it!

Maybe you share some of these feelings and want to take better photos.  Maybe not, and if that's the case, more power to you!  I am by no means an expert, or even really that good at food photography, relatively...Have you seen those elaborate studio shots on foodgawker?  I can't accomplish that if I try.  But I've learned a few super simple things that have helped me to make a better blog.

I wrote this article for the Daring Kitchen website...Click here to hop over and read on....