Best Food photography books
Food photography is more than just capturing a meal; it’s about transforming ingredients and dishes into visual delights that tantalize the taste buds before the first bite. From vibrant salads to decadent desserts, food photography aims to showcase the artistry and craftsmanship behind each culinary creation. Lighting plays a crucial role, accentuating textures, colors, and contours to make every dish look irresistible. Composition is key, as photographers carefully arrange elements to create a harmonious balance and draw the viewer’s eye to the focal point. Props and backgrounds are meticulously chosen to complement the food and tell a story, whether it’s a cozy homemade meal or an elegant dining experience. Ultimately, food photography celebrates the beauty of gastronomy, inviting viewers to savor the flavors with their eyes before indulging in the feast.
The Complete Guide to Food Photography: How to Light, Compose, Style, and Edit Mouth-Watering Food Photographs by Lauren Caris Short
The must-have guidebook for creating great food photographs! The Complete Guide to Food Photography is a visually stunning, eminently useful, and comprehensive resource for creating fantastic food photographs. In this book, professional food photographer Lauren Short teaches you her entire image-making process, as she covers lighting, composition, styling, storytelling, editing, and processing great food photographs. In the first part of the book, Lauren covers the core concepts, where you ll learn: How to work with both natural and artificial light (as well as modifiers) The tools, guides, and rules of composition for food photography Techniques, tips, and tricks for styling your food so it looks its best How to build a story with the use of backgrounds, props, and other supporting elements Processing, retouching, and compositing techniques to finish your image. Additionally, Lauren explains the why behind her creative decisions. By understanding her decision-making process and walking through her problem solving techniques, you ll become better equipped to make informed creative decisions so you can excel at food photography, no matter what scenarios you encounter. In the second part of the book, Lauren walks you through multiple case studies of complete, start-to-finish shoots so that you can see every aspect of her image making process and understand how it all comes together. Each case study also includes a link to a full video for each shoot so that you can easily follow along. Filled with beautiful imagery as well as behind-the-scenes photos and helpful diagrams, The Complete Guide to Food Photography is a must-have for any food photographer looking to create images that stand out from the crowd.
The Savvy Food Photography Diary: January 2024 – June 2025 by Emma Dunham
Calling all photographers, food bloggers, stylists, and chefs!
Elevate your food photography game with the ultimate 18-month diary and planner designed to supercharge your business.
Crafting mouth-watering food images isn’t just an art; it’s about mastering the skill of how to promote yourself and your business too.
Work in bite-sized chunks on your goals and aspirations to create a consistent habit that will take you to victory on all things food photography-wise.
Imagine amplifying your earnings without added hours—a seamless blend of passion and profit. This isn’t about slaving away endlessly; it’s about relishing what you create while reaping financial rewards, a true win:win.
If you’re hungry to grow your business without burnout, this simple, effective diary will help you plan, schedule, organise and track your 2024-25 goals and targets.
Dive into 18 months of national and global food days, ensuring you’ll never be at a loss for social media content again, every day will be an inspiration. In fact, you will wish there are more days in the year!
Learn the subtle art of enticing clients without the hard sell; let your images and words speak volumes. Collaborate strategically, seizing the opportunity of special days to create compelling narratives that halt viewers in their tracks.
The Savvy Food Photography Diary: January 2024 – June 2025 by Emma Dunham on Amazon UK
Creative food photography: How to capture exceptional images of food by Kimberly Espinel
Creative Food Photography is for photographers who already know how to shoot in manual mode, who have watched the Youtube videos, googled all things food photography and want MORE – more creativity, more information, more of what’s not on the internet! In this beautiful, inspiring and thoughtful book, food photographer, stylist and photography teacher Kimberly Espinel explores the ways in which food photography can be brought to life, through planning, styling, and the study of natural light. With warmth, passion and gentle encouragement, Kimberly helps you to play with new ideas and grow in confidence as you discover your own unique style. If you’re looking for a highly technical book and want to study artificial light, then this book is may not be the right fit for you. In turn, if you want to delve into your creativity, learn how to put together a professional mood board, understand how to compose your images far beyond the rule of thirds, develop your photographic eye, create images that evoke emotion and learn to style in your own unique way, then this book is for you!
Picture Perfect Food: Master the Art of Food Photography with 52 Bite-Sized Tutorials by Joanie Simon
Shoot Stunning, Professional Food Photography that Looks Good Enough to Eat!
Snapping unbelievably gorgeous food photos has never been simpler than with Picture Perfect Food, your all-in-one guide to delicious-looking images from prolific photographer and educator, Joanie Simon. Whether you’re an up-and-coming food blogger, looking to break into commercial photography or capturing food just for fun (and your Instagram account), this approachable collection of tutorials will have you taking tantalizing and tasty shots with every snap of the shutter. No matter if you’re using your phone, your fanciest DSLR or any camera in between, you’ll gain complete confidence as you expand your technical knowledge and grow your artistic eye, creating awe-inspiring images that dazzle the senses.
With her cheerful teaching style, Joanie walks you through each element of a masterful food photo in chapters devoted to Camera Settings, Light and Shadow, Story, Props Styling, Composition, Food Styling and Finding Inspiration. Learn how to find the best light in your house for standout shots and to delve into the shadows to create a moody and mesmerizing atmosphere; discover how to compose the elements in your scenes through color theory and visual weight for unforgettable images that capture and hold the eye; and uncover the secrets of styling sensational salads and stunning soups and keeping your cool when shooting frozen foods, among other essential tricks of the trade.
With camera in hand and Joanie’s expert guidance at your fingertips, tackle every photography challenge with confidence and take your food photos from meh to mouthwatering in no time.
That Photo Makes Me Hungry: Photographing Food for Fun & Profit by Andrew Scrivani
Discover insider secrets for mouth-watering photographs.
Andrew Scrivani, food photographer for The New York Times, is one of the most respected names in the business. He is also a teacher of the craft, advising food porn obsessives, bloggers, photographers ready for the next step and anyone who loves to shoot and eat how to: see the light (craft and shape it the way you want); embrace the maths (calculate ISO, aperture, shutter speed and white balance); consider visual storytelling (single vs. multiple image narratives); master tricks for shooting in restaurants (window, bounce cards); be a control freak (shop, prep, cook, style and shoot) and turn passion into profit (work and get paid).
Part straight-forward practical advice, part stories from the field with many of Scrivani’s signature pictures, this book really will make you hungry.
That Photo Makes Me Hungry: Photographing Food for Fun & Profit by Andrew Scrivani on Amazon UK
How to Photograph Food by Beata Lubas
Food photography is a rapidly-growing genre, and whether you’re a food blogger looking to take your presentation to the next level, or a professional photographer keen to expand into this lucrative market, this book has everything you need to make it all a piece of cake.
Using the techniques she has developed through years of professional success, Beata Lubas will teach you how to anticipate your clients’ needs, articulate your own style, and skillfully manufacture sumptuous shots that leap from the page.
Learn how to tell food stories using light, colour and shape to evoke atmosphere.
Discover methods for shaping natural light to produce magical images in any environment.
Combine styling tricks and camera skills to create sensational compositions.
With clear, concise and comprehensive instruction to suite every skill level, this book takes you through all the stages involved in creating incredible food photography. So much more than just a guide to photographing food, this is a must-read manual for every photographer working with natural light.
How to Photograph Food by Beata Lubas on Amazon UK
