Paul Cypert Photography & Design

Hey all,

I’ve always enjoyed food photography and lately I’ve had more opportunity to do a lot more of it for the new blog. Up to now I’ve been happy with the results I’m getting, but the more I do it, the more I want to work harder to take things to that next level.

Hit more for the books link on amazon.com and first impressions…

After a small amount of research I decided I should purchase - Food Styling for Photographers: A Guide to Creating Your Own Appetizing Art. The book isn’t a photo lighting recipe book or camera positioning book. It’s a full on styling book that goes into detail on styling different types of food. It covers everything from cold drinks to meats to desserts. There’s even a recipe for making fake-for-the-camera ice cream

I don’t plan on getting into food styling at all. I do appreciate knowing the process teams go through when shooting the big national ads though. Also I can see myself using some of the techniques in moderation to elevate my images slightly.

The book does a good job of giving you a feel for what a shoot would be like - from shopping for the ingredients, selecting items, styling the table, and getting the finished shot. The writers are obviously not full time novelists, but they clearly communicate the info they’ve gathered in years of experience running high end commercial food shoots. Having never done food photography at that level, I feel like I have an idea of what goes on from what they layout in the book. To me that makes the book pretty valuable apart from any bonus tips gained about glycerin or corn syrup used for various effects on glasses

Personally I feel that if you have to do too much to the food it’s not really that appealing to begin with. I know sometimes you just don’t have the luxury to shoot on a set on a perfect day, but in my perfect world you should be able to chow down on the steak you just shot (not just char the outside to make it appear done). That was always a perk of shooting food in Bangkok… after a quick run through of the menu I could cherry pick the most appetizing menu items for a post-shoot meal . We’ll see if my opinions change as I get more into food photography.

Paul