Food Photography

Canon Mark III 5DCanon Mark III 5D – I recently upgraded to this camera in January 2016 after using my Nikon D3000 for over 4 years and I absolutely love it!  Not only am I glad that I made the switch over to Canon (I’ll explain more about this later), but the quality of my photos are incredible!  This camera also shoots HD video which I’m really excited to start diving into.  This is an expensive camera so I would highly suggest purchasing a Canon EOS Rebel SL1 or something similar to my Nikon.  I wish I had started of with Canon to begin with so I could continue to use my old lenses so I suggest testing out a few cameras first and then stick to either Nikon or Canon from here on out!

50 mm LensCanon 50mm 1.4 – I absolutely LOVED using my 50mm lens on my Nikon so I made sure to also get one for my Canon!  My favorite thing about this lens is that it gives you that beautiful bokeh (blurred background) with an incredibly sharp image of your subject.  The important thing to note with this lens is that it is fixed which means you can’t zoom in or out.  For food photography this really isn’t much of an issue because the majority of the time you’re capturing close up shots, but for an everyday lens for photos in your home or of a large group of people it’s pretty very difficult to get those wide angle shots unless you are super far away!

100 mm Macro LensCanon 100mm 2.8L Macro – I AM OBSESSED!  Literally this might be my favorite lens for food photography.  I recently upgraded to this when I purchased my Canon Mark III 5D after reading so many great reviews and I’m really glad I did.  The quality and detail of those close-up shots are simply gorgeous and the auto-focus is super fast.  This is a larger, heavier lens so it’s not one that I’d like to haul around a lot, but since the majority of my photography is done at home, this has never been a problem for me.  I also want to note that this has a fixed lens as well, similar to the 50mm, so you can’t really zoom in or out.  If I need to shoot something overhead or pulled back, I just stand on a step stool or place my set up on the floor.  The next lens I’m planning on getting is a Canon EF 24-70mm so stay tuned!

Manfrotto MT190XPRO3 – I can’t tell you enough how necessary a good tripod is.  Not only is it great for actions shots (you know pouring that syrup all over those delicious pancakes), but if you happen to have shaky hands like me this ensures a beautiful sharp image!  I do like to free hand it a lot, but I definitely use a tripod for at least a few shots in every shoot.  There are a lot of inexpensive tripods out there, but I can’t stress enough the importance of investing in a quality tripod that has the ability to hold up your camera and with sturdy legs.  The thing I love about this one is that it has the ability to do overhead shots which has been really fun to work with!

reflectorsNeewer 43-inch Reflectors – Honestly I can’t believe I used to shoot photography without these for so many years, I love them!  These are used for bouncing light onto your food which is great if you are like me and shoot inside by a window.  I used to have so many shadows on my food photos, which can look great if that’s the look and style you are trying to achieve, but I’m a huge fan of bright and airy images so reflectors have been a great help for me.  I personally love these group of reflectors because they give you a wide range of options for reflecting light, but a white foam board (which I still use) works great too!


Adobe Photoshop
 – There are many different programs you can use to edit photos, but I’ve been using Adobe Photoshop from the beginning and absolutely love it.  Photoshop is not cheap by any means, but they now offer Adobe Creative Cloud which includes Photoshop AND Lightroom all for a monthly price of $10!  I WISH they had offered this years ago when I first started photography because I would have jumped on it rather than investing so much money on different programs at the beginning.  I suggest testing these programs out and if you find one you love then go for it!  Editing photos is a great way to enhance your work and make your yummy dishes stand out even more!

Tasty Food Photography Ebook – I can’t speak enough amazing things about this E-book!  Seriously I had read so many photography books when I first started out and was completely overwhelmed by all the information that was out there, but this was the first tutorial that I really understood and helped me learn so many helpful tips and tricks!  Not only does Lindsay give you step-by-step instructions on how to use the manual mode on your camera (which was something I really struggled with in the beginning!), but she also shows you different ways to style your food as well as how to edit your photos!  This Ebook is truly invaluable and I still find myself going back to this from time to time.  Lindsay’s blog Pinch of Yum is super successful so I have a feeling she knows what she’s talking about!

How I Made $40k My First Year Blogging – This was another super helpful Ebook that I really enjoyed reading!  Not only does Chelsea offer tips and tricks for photography, but best of all she breaks down all the ways in which you can make your blog successful!  This is great for beginner bloggers OR for those that have been blogging for awhile, but find themselves wanting to do more with their site.  I truly wish I had read this when I had first started, but even after blogging for 3 or 4+ years, I learned SO many new things with this Ebook!