Food Photography: From Snapshots to Great Shots [Paperback]

Nicole S. Young (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 13, 2011 | ISBN-10: 0321784111 | ISBN-13: 978-0321784117 | Edition: 1

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/foodphotographyfromsnapshotstogreatshots.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

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Amazon.com Exclusive: Bonus Content from Nicole Young, Author of Food Photography: From Snapshots to Great Shots

Click the photo to see the page spread with callout tips from the book

Click the photo to see the page spread with callout tips from the book

Click photo for excerpt

Click photo to see detailed lighting setup

Click photo to see detailed lighting setup

Review

• "I would recommend anyone who wants a more thorough insight into food photography to read Young's book from cover to cover." -candidsbyJo.com
• "If you are into food, photography, or the combination of both, you cannot go wrong with this masterfully crafted publication." -Blake Rudis, everydayHDR.com 
• "If you are at all interested in food photography this one is a must own." -Kirk Tuck, visualsciencelab.blogspot.com

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Peachpit Press; 1 edition (August 13, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0321784111
• ISBN-13: 978-0321784117
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 0.5 x 9.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (60 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #34,278 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Nicole is a full-time photographer and author currently living in Sunnyvale, California. She specializes in food and stock photography and licenses her images through iStockphoto and Getty Images. Nicole is an accredited Adobe Certified Expert (ACE) in Photoshop and is the author of several books published by Peachpit Press and Craft&Vision.

Nicole's Blog: http://nicolesy.com
Nicoley Store: http://store.nicolesy.com

Google+: http://google.com/+nicolesy
Facebook: http://facebook.com/nicolesy
Twitter: http://twitter.com/nicolesy

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 27 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A splendid book on Food Photography presented for photographers by an excellent photographer August 28, 2011

By Brian Matiash

Format:Paperback

Food photography is all about presenting an image that allows the viewer to instantly eat with their eyes. It attacks their senses and triggers hunger, lip smacking, and everything else that comes along with a perfectly presented culinary dish.

But it isn't as simple as slapping together some food onto a plate and hitting the shutter button. Nicole Young understands this and shares her knowledge as a photographer and a lover of beautiful (& tasty!) food to give you all of the tools needed to create your own visual masterpieces.

As a photographer myself, I can always go to a cookbook to look up recipes for making a dish. I'm not looking for recipes in my Food Photography books. Rather, what I'm looking for is a resource filled with best practices on how to optimally plate, light and process my dished images. Nicole succeeds in these arenas beautifully. Her images include wonderfully clear lighting diagrams that help visualize how to position your off-camera lights and what the intended outcome should look like. She goes into the benefits of using natural light, along with coupling it using flashes.

She also spends a great deal of time on the post-processing side of the image. It's not just about getting the best result straight out of camera, but rather it's a combination of that and applying effective and clean processing that leads to a winning image. Nicole shares her tips in this arena, as well.

So to sum it up, Nicole succeeds with this book where other so-called Food Photography books fail. Nicole is a photographer herself and it clearly shows with this book. Don't hesitate about purchasing this book - rest assured that you'll come away with some truly valuable tips on how to create your own amazing food photography.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Really good book April 4, 2012

By Papsi

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

I have read some of the reviews of this book and some say this is a great book and others say it's for beginners and too basic.
Well, I am a professional photographer also and I got a lot out of this book. What I got most out of this book was the ideas of styling and propping. I also got something out of looking at the lighting setups and ideas. I just skipped the basic stuff.
The areas that are basic, gets pretty technical very fast, so I would say this is for advanced photographers also that want to get into food photography.
If you know nothing about photography other than how to hit the shutter button, this book will be over your head. It covers so much of the technical aspect of photography in such a rapid pace that a beginner will find it too difficult. That being said, a beginner can still get a lot out of the styling and propping and still get some great images using a point and shoot camera.
I really recommend this book to anyone that seriously want to make some great food photos.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Nicole not only knows how to shoot food she can also explain her process. October 24, 2012

By Kirk Tuck

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

The first third of the book is for beginners but don't let that sway you. The second two thirds is gold for anyone who wants to learn the mechanics and aesthetics of shooting food in the modern idiom. I liked the writing and the clear and helpful illustrations. I have two cookbooks to my credit as a photographer and just shot a two day food assignment for a Hilton Hotel property. I wish I'd read NIcole's book before hand because I learned at least five new things that would have been helpful. This book is very, very well done. I have both the electronic and the paper copy but I will say I like the paper back better.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Oh So Good! July 20, 2012

By Rudi

Format:Paperback

Nicole's photos in this book are incredible and really get the stomach growling. I was thoroughly impressed by her descriptive delivery of not only food photography but photography in general. The first few chapters give anyone who may or may not have experience with the basics of digital photography a very descriptive crash course. Nicole seamlessly weaves f/Stops, shutter speeds, ISO's and White Balance into food photography from cover to cover.

I was especially impressed by the organization, workflow, and diagrams in Nicole's publication. Nicole starts with the basics of photography, then takes you into the tips and tricks of setting up a scene for food photography. Following the tips are some great ideas for props and then the workflow. I found Nicole's lighting setup diagrams incredibly helpful. Her ability to describe the photo shoot is uncanny and can have you snapping amazing food photos in no time. Nicole also offers up her workflow in Photoshop which I found just as helpful as the diagrams.

The Bottom Line:

Nicole saved me when I was in a pinch! If you are into food, photography, or the combination of both, you cannot go wrong with this masterfully crafted publication. It is very rare that I read something and just click with it, however, Nicole's delivery of food photography is impeccable. Check out Food Photography, you will not be disappointed. My only regret is not reading it sooner. Thank you Nicole, I read your book and now my food photos rock!

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars excellent - helped me so much! January 28, 2012

By DuhBe

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

I'm reviewing the Kindle version of this book. Sometimes kindle versions fall short in the photographs but this one had all the high quality photos required of a photography book, so don't hesitate to get the e-book.

I absolutely loved this book, and I don't shoot food! After being disappointed about another book for photographing arts and crafts, I was looking for something to help me photograph handmade soaps and beauty products. I thought the psychology of food photography was pretty darn close to my own product so I got this book. BY FAR the best photography book I could have gotten! She explains light, reflection, angles, and even has helped me decide on a camera upgrade because I need more aperture control. Most books would never go that deep. The way she chooses props and colors was incredibly helpful. Most books just expect you to decode that from their sample photos but this book points out why each element in the shot was chosen. That was exactly the help I needed. Even though this book is aimed at beginners and it's easy to understand, I think she goes way beyond with the equipment options and the bokeh setup which I absolutely loved! This book will teach beginners how to have advanced looking photos.

And then she even goes into post-processing and how to make things look more appetizing via photoshop. That was a great bonus.

I've read a few general photography books and spent many hours reading articles on the web. But I can honestly say this book on food photography helped me more than anything else I've ever come across and my photos are improving significantly. After reading other reviews here and being reminded of the blog, I will make sure to check that out as well.