Photographing Food.. How to do it better...

Some of you know that I like snapping pictures of food, but I've only done it as a very quick & casual thing. I thought I'd share Brooke McLay's SmugMug site with some great examples of what a pro is capable of. She's a food photographer and recipe developer and I'm definitely going to be spending some time studying her photos.

 

One of my favorite shots from her page.  Talk about natural lighting!  How cool is this?

Outdoor shot, taken from below with the cucumbers floating on top.  Love it!!

And I thought I was being kind of professional, artsy-fartsy by keeping the kitchen clutter out of the shots and sometimes shooting at a bit of an angle. (Hey it smells good & I want to get on with eating it!) But I can definitely see that I've got room for improvement, particularly with the lighting. 

Here is a nice SmugMug tip sheet where Brooke fills us in on just how she gets these great shots of hers. While she is definitely a pro and goes to great lengths to setup her shoot, I'm lucky to whip together a dish that even looks worthy of a shot.  So I most likely won't be traipsing off to the lumberyard for just the right backdrop. Though perhaps I'll start putting forth a bit more effort, rather than simply clearing some counter space with a quick shove of my arm.  Thanks for the tips Brooke!