Tutorial Tuesday - Food Photography

I am not much of a food photographer. I occasionally post favorite recipes on this blog, but even that has fallen by the wayside lately. Truth be told, I don't really like to cook. I do enjoy baking once in a while, but mainly because I am a cookie fiend and I can't go a day without a cookie, lol. While I admire food photography and sometimes drool over the gorgeous images on other foodie photog blogs, I know it's not my forte.  I also have crappy light in my kitchen and dining room, and dark red walls. That said, I would like to be able to take decent food photos when I want to post a recipe. When I stumbled upon Ashley's Tutorial Tuesday for this week, which is chock full of tips for food photography, I thought I might as well give it a whirl. I always learn a ton from trying different tutorials, even if my attempts aren't entirely successful. 

So, I started with some Valentine's Day candy. I took my light box outside for some natural light and set up a few shots. These were the best of the bunch:

Eh, they're ok, but kind of boring, I think. I started realizing taking some time to really plan out a shot and set things up is key. I am definitely lacking some decent props... nice linens, simple white dishes, or interesting antiques...most things here are more kid-friendly than photo-friendly ;)

Since I was tired of beating the kids away from the m&m's I thought I'd move on to some fruit. Ha, ha, I knew they wouldn't be trying to snatch that out of my shots.

I had seen Jaymi's tutorial on Fruit in Bubbles and was impressed by Gina's shots, so I thought I'd try that next. 

I found these shots to be a lot more interesting and fun. I don't have a macro lens, just my kits lens with some macro filters so many were out of focus and just plain bad. But I was glad I pushed myself and tried something new. I learned that lighting makes a huge difference in how appealing food looks, and keeping things clean and simple makes for a better shot. 

I'm so glad I took the time to try some new things and learned a bit along the way. Thanks to Ashley and Branson for hosting the fun!!!

I'm also linking up at Deb's place today. Stop by to say hello!