How to Photograph Food
I often get asked for food photography tips, and I’ve been meaning to put together a post on what I’ve learned that might be helpful. And so here I am, actually doing it. I have no recipe today, but –
To celebrate my birthday I’m giving away a Canon EOS Rebel SL1. Canon Canada supplied me with a Rebel SL1 and lenses to try out myself, as well as one to give away to one of you! And just in time – my old camera was dying a slow death.
Photos are obviously a big part of what I do – food is so visual, and blogs tend to be reflections of ourselves, our personalities showing through our photographs. I shoot for my blogs as well as my cookbooks, and take photos to accompany articles in newspapers and magazines – my cameras are well used (and abused). I’ve been working as a food stylist for print and TV for years (those posters at Jugo Juice? I get paid to grill and stuff wraps and create smoothie swirls!) – but bloggers tend to have different challenges than corporate photographers, shooting in their kitchens without portable studios and stylists on set. I’ve taught a few food styling and photography sessions at the Calgary Public Library this fall, and facilitated a session at the Food Bloggers of Canada conference this spring, and after many requests for a day of playing with cameras and food and light, I had a few friends over for a food photography session on the weekend. Because I couldn’t invite everyone over, I thought I’d share some of our ideas and tips here. (Disclaimer: I am not the best food photographer I know.)
1) Light.
Pay attention to the light. I’ve worked in studios with artificial light, and own a set of strobe lights that have not been out of the basement in 10 years. But luckily natural light is the best for food – and it’s free, and everywhere. You just need to know how to find it, and manipulate it if you need to. Sometimes you need to create your own, especially during the winter months when it gets dark before dinner. To simulate natural light, pick up a rice paper lamp at IKEA (under $10) and a daylight balanced bulb at Home Depot (around $10) and you have a portable light source that’s diffused and daylight balanced, meaning your photos will not wind up with a green or orange cast.
Avoid flash at all costs. Seriously, it just never does food any favours. If you can bounce it off something, that helps – but if you can pick up your plate and find a window, even better. The SL1 takes amazing, detailed photos in low light conditions, which are inevitable – especially in restaurants.
Find a set that works. It might be your coffee table or even your bathroom – wherever the light is best. I shoot almost everything on my kitchen table. As you might have seen, it has a wrap around window, but mostly my food winds up back lit. This may not sound ideal, but it works. Side light works well too, but full frontal can flatten your food.
Direct sunlight is almost always too harsh. Look at the shadows – hold your hand over the table – if they are dark with a defined edge, that’s what you’ll see in your photos. (It can work – just make sure the shadows are what you want.) An overcast day is perfect for taking pictures if you’re outside; inside you can diffuse sunlight coming in your window with a white curtain or even a piece of waxed paper or parchment. You could make your own lightbox, but I never got around to it.
Reflectors are effective ways of controlling the light. Buy a piece of white card stock from the dollar store and a couple heavy-duty clamps from Home Depot – you can use this to block direct sun (shooting in the shadow works) or to bounce the light around. Treat it as a wide, diffused light source and move it around your food, watching as it fills in the shadows.
Pay attention to what you wear. I have a red David Bowie shirt I wear all the time. One day as I was editing photos, wondering why so many of them had a pink cast, it occurred to me that the light was bouncing off me, onto my food. It does. Now I always wear a white t-shirt – if I’m standing in front of my subject, I act as a big bounce card, filling in any shadows at the front as the light comes from the back.
2) Composition.
Know the rule of thirds. And then forget it – it’s good to understand the compositional premise but not focus too much on it, or you’ll get too hung up trying to arrange your photos. The idea is to divide your image in three rows of three, like a tic-tac-toe board, with something going on (roughly) at each intersection, because your eye naturally wants something to happen there. Essentially, it keeps things from being too symmetrical or as we food stylists put it, too samey-same.
Pay attention to negative space. People tend to focus so much on their food that they don’t notice what’s going on around it. A few ingredients, a water glass or the cheese that goes with the crackers you’re focusing on adds visual appeal and context. Any lines in the background can draw your eyes in or make an appealing shape for them to follow.
Tell a story. You could take a picture of a piece of lasagna, and it could be a really great photo of a piece of lasagna, but what makes it distinctively yours? Adding context with surroundings, especially people (or even the suggestion of them, with a hand reaching for something or people blurred in the background) will draw the viewer in, make it more personal, tell a broader story.
Avoid stress. (Duh.) What I mean by this is pay attention to points that intersect – don’t let a spoon sit right up against the side of a bowl, for example, leave a small amount of breathing room between items, or let them overlap slightly – it’s easier on the eye.
Change your perspective. Get up on a chair or put your food on the floor – Sometimes W asks for the camera, and the angles he comes up with are ones I’d never think of. And sometimes, they work.
Play with depth of field. This refers to the portion of your photo that’s in focus – a shallow depth of field can create a more dramatic look, when just a point of an image is in focus and the rest is blurred, or you can have a deep depth of field with the whole shot in focus. Shooting top-down shot flattens the image, making it easy for everything to be in focus, as if it was on a canvas. You can control your depth of field with your lens, aperture, and the distance you are from your subject. Changing your lens can change your perspective and create an entirely new effect.
Have a good camera. Yes – a good camera is important. Phones are great for instagramming, but a digital SLR takes the best food photos, and the Canon SL1 is lighter than a water bottle, so not at all awkward to tote around.
4) Foodstyling tricks.
Know a few. In the corporate foodstyling world there are plenty of tricks – on set, typically you’d find at least one food stylist and even a props stylist, and an arrangement of food might sit out on the light box for hours. You may have heard of stylists using Elmer’s glue instead of milk in cereal shots or mashed potatoes instead of ice cream. I learned this spring that if you soak a tampon in water and microwave it, it will steam for ages – and you can tuck it into or behind whatever you want to look steamy. (Seriously – straight from the pros.) But most of us are shooting real food, and want to eat it afterward, so the trick is to make it look as good as it can without messing with it too much.
Use white plates. Or solid ones in muted colours – and choose those that don’t have wide rims, which can create too much white/unused space in a photo. Decorative dishes can work, but can be tricky, and easily overwhelm the food.
Get a few props to play with. Buy single placemats and napkins and such – I grab vintage cutlery and little dishes from garage sales and Value Village. And if you have a recognizable tabletop, as I do, pick up some white card stock to throw underneath or some wood – rough pieces are in vogue right now, but Mike picked up a few planks at Home Depot and a small pot of sample paint and painted them, then distressed them with sandpaper to make a blue background. The other sides were stained dark – two looks under ten bucks.
Pour beverages right before you shoot, so that there are bubbles – without at least a few, milk and coffee look like flat cups of paint.
(This shot was for the Almond Board of California)
Shoot food warm. Food just looks better when it’s freshly cooked; especially meat and baked goods, and particularly chocolate chip cookies.
Add some action. Mike and W are used to being called into the kitchen to pour syrup or shake powdered sugar over something or other. Movement can make things more interesting.
Create steam if you want to. This shot isn’t great – it looks a bit naked without a linen and a spoon, and the rim of the bowl needs to be cleaned up, but because it came straight from the pot, the steam is great. If it’s not hot, pop it into the microwave as soon as you have everything else set up. The continuous shooting action of the SL1 allows you to capture 4 frames per second – and all those lovely curls of steam.
5) Editing.
I use Photoshop Elements – which is like Photoshop Lite – and I still use only a fraction of it. If you don’t have software, Picmonkey is online and free. Typically I crop, lighten a bit, and bump up the contrast and saturation, which makes most images look better. The editing part is not my forte. The SL1 has the option to edit in-camera, with filters and everything, so there’s that.
And the best advice, I think, is to get out there and take pictures – the more you shoot, the better you’ll get. Check back in the archives of your favourite food blogs and watch how they’ve improved over the years. You get better by doing.
While you’re at it, need a new camera? Perhaps the world’s smallest and lightest digital SLR?
Up for grabs: a brand-spanking-new Canon EOS Rebel SL1 with an 18-55mm IS STM Lens and a Canon EF 40mm f2.8 STM Lens – with a total retail value of $1009.98! This camera has passed the kitchen test with flying colours – 4 trillion colours, to be exact. I’m very much looking forward to getting to know mine better.
To enter, leave a comment here. Say Anything. Just once per person, please – I’ll do a random draw on November 11th. Good luck!
The small print: This giveaway is open to Canadian residents only (excluding Quebec, sorry!); the contest will close at 11:59pm EST on November 10th, 2013 and a winner selected the next day. Canon is not the sponsor of this contest.
I love your blog, great food & wonderful photos.
Great tips! Food photography will definitely be a common artifact from the Instagram generation! :S Future archeologists will know a lot about our diet.
Hi Julie. It was nice to meet you at the Woods Homes Iron Chef Day. Hope all is awesome
Rob
Helpful article!
IThx Julie!
My camera just died, too. Your food pics always look good enough to ear!
I’m finally admitting that I need to get into the digital age, much as I enjoy my film cameras – this would certainly make the transition easier 😉
I promise to avoid the flash at all costs, should I be the lucky winner. 🙂
*eat!! Aargh.
Your photos are amazing. These are great tips. If only I could manage to focus (literally).
Pick me please! As light as a water bottle sound lovely!
I found this completely fascinating especially since I have heard so often that fake food is often used in ad photos. Be so interesting to try some of your advice on dishes we prepare here at home.
Great tips, thank you!
I have been reading about food photos lately and this was a great comprehensive starting point for me. thanks Julie!
I’m awestruck – your post is a course in itself. Beautiful photos, great clear instructions. Now all I’d love is a camera to match 🙂 Please include me in your draw!
Happy Birthday! I’m glad you are enjoying your new camera; you have given us great advice to become better photographers should I be lucky enough to win the other one!
I have followed your blog for awhile, i love your suggestions and ideas. Your photography tips are great for many applications, not just for photographing food.
Love this! I just started getting into photography and these are great tips! Thanks
thanks for sharing all your great photo tips and recipes too!
Mmmmmm, Now I am hungry too! Thank you for the tips. I have been looking at getting into photography for a while now!
Awesome post Julie! I’ve been a follower for years and not only do you take awesome food pics, I’ve consistently loved every recipe I’ve tried from your blog and books 🙂 We make your breakfast bean cookies all the time, and your banana bread recipe with the yogurt in it has become our new staple recipe. Some other recent faves were skillet jam and a recipe for caramelized onion dip in your Grazing cookbook.
My 7 year old Canon Rebel just went to camera heaven recently so it would be awesome to win a new camera in time to capture Christmas and my daughters 1st birthday on Boxing Day!
Crossing my fingers!
Happy, happy, happy birthday! Hope you truly have a most wonderful day!!!
Great tips Julie! So glad you are getting a new camera to keep sharing your yummy creations!
Every snow day my daughter and I pull out One Smart Cookie and try a new recipe!
Love the fact that your son’s angles are good! I love to take pictures of food. These are great tips!
Love the tips, Julie! And the pictures are making me hungry, even on the other side if the world. Since I’m taking pictures if a lot of our meals on vacation, this info will come in handy.
Great tips! Especially the PicMonkey site – I’ll have to take a peek, and see if it’s better than Pixlr, my current free online goto for photo manipulation!
My boss meditates for 15 minutes every morning. I read your blog. Same difference to me. Appreciate the photo tips!
Great tips and I love the egg photo. Cameras are a never-ending learning experience and food is such a great subject to capture.
I LOVE LOVE LOVE your recipes (and I think your food photos are great!) thanks for sharing and being there for us!
I have one of the first digital cameras that came out and it’s dying fast, the battery does not hold the power any more.
Would love a new camera.
Oh my Julie, these are amazing tips! You have just ended years if frustration on why my pics never turn out the way I imagine. I can hardly wait to try these out 🙂
Julie I love your blog! and if you ever check out my own amateurish one in comparison you will see I need this camera! Love the tips esp the tampon one…;)
http://kaledcsa.wordpress.com/
Would love to win! Thanks for the tips! You are always my first stop when recipie hunting.
This would be way better than camera phone photos!!
I love the hint about warm food. I can see how the melted chocolate looks way more scrumptious than solidified chocolate would. Yum. Can I have one for breakfast right now?
These are fantastic tips! They go beyond just food photography as well. I love your blog, Julie and it’s one of my usual ‘go to’ sites when I don’t know what to make. I haven’t found one recipe yet that I didn’t like. Thanks!
Great tips! I switched to Pentax but really miss my old canon
Hello Julie! Happy Birthday!!! Thank you for all the amazing tips and for the generous contest. Enjoy 🙂
Thanks, Julie. Really interesting and useful post.
Juilie – Happy Birthday! Thank you for these tips! You are so multi-talented!
Love your blog. Can’t wait to try your photo tips on my Christmas baking!
Happy Birthday! Looking forward to meeting you in Jasper.
I laughed when I read the tip about buying wood and painting it to look like different tables – I’d been wondering how many different tables you had lying around the house.
I would absolutely love a new camera. My previous camera is so old that it doesn’t hold a charge for longer than a few hours.
I typically use my camera for shooting pictures when I travel. I love to look back at all the fun I had and remember things as though they were just yesterday.
Love the tips. Typically don’t photograph my food, but perhaps I should be reminding myself of what I’ve been eating.
Thanks for the chance and happy birthday!
Those are great tips! I always find myself instagramming and wishing I had some clue how to actually make food look like something I want to eat?
Fabulous tips! I like taking food pics but 1/2 of them never seem to capture what I want, or convey what I am hoping for so your tips will really help!
Happy birthday Julie! Thanks for the tutorial and beautiful photos.
Wow. What a great primer on food photography — jammed full of tips and guidance. Thank-you.
Sure would love to replace my old Canon: really, a great giveaway.
Thanks and Happy Birthday!
Kathryn
Happy Birthday! I can’t wait to read your blog everyday!
Great looking camera. Love the tips on shooting the food.
Julie – thank-you so much for the great photo tips – I will be back again and again to study them. My food photo are pretty…meh.
Love your tips, your photos, and of course your blog. A new (real) camera would be so amazing. I like to share some food photos with friends on Facebook and take zillons of pics of my three beautiful daughters.
Good morning and thank you. Your recipes got me through the first few years of my relationship with my guy. I honestly would not know how to roast a chicken without your directions. Thanks for helping me feed us!
Melissa
Hi Julie,
I love your blog. I have never had a Julie recipe fail and I recommend it to friends all the time. Thank you for the insights above as well as your practical and inspired recipes. Yesterday you made me want to purchase a pressure cooker. Happy birthday!
Great information! Would love a new camera!!
Great photography tips (I definitely need them) and photos! I’d love to win the SL1.
Love the tips. Have a great birthday.
Love your books – we made your oven fries last night. I would love to have a new camera to practice being a Momarrazi and take better photos of my son and his surroundings (and food).
Happy Birthday Julie! Thanks for the tips – I am now inspired to take more good pictures!
Thanks for the tips! You’ve created a feast for the eyes (and tummies, I’m sure!)
Love your pictures. Inspires me in the kitchen – Thank you !
I love your kitchen! And the tips. Thanks!
This post is brilliant! I have recently been asking some friends about tips for food photography, and here I got a little bit of extra knowledge, so thanks! 😀
My flatmate actually also mentioned the cheap lamps in Ikea, ingenius ^ ^ I particularly liked the sections on the different backgrounds and the layers, inspiring! x
Great post , Julie! Love your blog and all the yummy recipes and wonderful stories! A new camera would be amazing….would love to catch our 9 month old daughter in action. I think she’s a future cook for sure!
Great tips! Your photos are gorgeous.
Fabulous post. Too bad it’s not kosher for your mom to enter your contest!
great post, i’m DROOOLING with each photo.
i would love to win a gorgeous camera, i take all my food pictures with my iphone.
what a great bunch of photo’s. yumm.
Julie, happy birthday! What a great contest! I love your site, and hearing you on CBC radio. Thanks for the tips above too, many sound like they apply outside of food photography too.
Love your cookbooks and hearing you on cbc radio! Happy birthday!
Your pictures make me so excited to get into my own kitchen and start cooking! Thanks for all the tips.
Love your cookbooks and hearing you on cbc radio! Happy birthday! Cheers!
happy birthday julie. love the website.
Your pictures in this post are gorgeous, food porn at its best. ha.
These are great tips, I’ll use them for taking pictures of the snacks I serve for my dayhome. If I win though, I’ll give it to my daughter who is a baking and pastry arts chef.
Thanks for the contest Julie.
Man this would be such an upgrade from current method of taking food pictures…. My iphone.
These are great! As I’m just starting out in the food bloggin’ world, I’m learning all this as I go. The light one is the MOST frustrating – why must Canada have such dark winters? But I will definitely try the IKEA light trick!
Thank goodness you said say anything because I haven’t had my coffee yet, my brain isn’t up to anything witty. Happy Halloween eve!
Thanks Julie for the great tips! I like the painted wooden blank idea.
Giveaway or not, I just love this post! Great photos and great tips. Thanks!
Thanks for all the wonderful tips and happy birthday!!
Happy Birthday! Thanks for sharing these amazing tips. Your photos are beautiful. I would love to win this camera as I only have a point and shoot.
Happy Birthday, Julie! Thanks for the photography tips, can’t wait to try them out!
I do enjoy reading your blog and I love the creations you make. Your site is my first point of contact when looking for something to make for dinner.
Beautiful photos!
Thanks for the great photography tips! LOVE your blog!!
Keep loving what you do. It makes it easy for your audience to love what you do. Your passion for food is contagious. 🙂
Amazing post, Julie, and one of the most instructive food photography posts I’ve seen. Thank you! My food photography has come a long way, but has much farther to go. I’d love to win this camera and continue my journey of improvement!
Great tips! Happy Birthday!!!
Happy birthday, Julie! Thanks for sharing! I’d love to test out your tips and tricks with a new camera! Keep up the great work!
Great article! Thanks!
Have been following for awhile – Live this blog and your food philosophy~
Your blog is so inspiring!
Now I know why your photos are so beautiful! I will practice with my little digital camera.
Thanks for the tips.
Love your blog!
Wonderful post! You’ve covered all points to photographing good beautifully.
Happy birthday! Delicious pics!
Great tips – I have an orangey-yellow kitchen with hardly any natural light, so I guess I’ll be taking my photos in the living room from now on!! Thanks!
Those were awesome tips, thank you!
It is amazing how simple little things can completely change the look of your pictures. Thanks for the tips! And you have a BEAUTIFUL kitchen!
Great tips for great pics!
Awesome 🙂
Great article!! Loved this
Love reading your posts. Thanks!
Fantastic tips Julie! I need to step up my photo game big time.
Now I’m hungry.
Happy birthday Julie!
Happy birthday! Great tips!
Those are all amazing tips. I would love to be able to take photos like that. Or even just nice shots of my kids. my Blackberry camera just isn’t cutting it 🙂
Great tips and your food photos make me hungry AND inspire me to cook. Thanks for that and the opportunity to win such a lovely camera.
I enjoy drooling over your blog photos and reading your anecdotes.
Great shots and tips Julie!
Great post, so many useful tips in here! I tried, most unsuccessfully, to take some photos of a soup I made last night. With this advice (and perhaps a new camera!) I know I’ll get the shot I’m looking for! Thanks so much for the opportunity to win!
Very useful tips! Thank you!!
Hope I win! I’ve been trying to photograph my pottery with a point and shoot and “shoot!” (or similar) is what I usually say when I see the results. Great tips and info in this post for me to try. Thx :>).
Great article Julie! Always enjoy reading your posts!
Love this and it explains so much about your gorgeous shots. Still can’t believe the tampon trick 😉
Thanks for the tips Julie! My kitchen would be really boring without you.
Love your colorful photo’s! And your recipes continue to be amazing! Thank you 🙂
Happy birthday julie. My 13 year old daughter who loves to cook is also obsessed with taking pictures. We went to Europe last year and she took over 3000 pictures in 3 weeks she took pictures of every detail that most people would miss. Her birthday is November 24 and she has asked every family member and grandparent to please just give money so she can add to her savings and buy a good camera! Wow she would love this camera. Cooking and photography……. Sounds like 2 people with the same passion! Hope you have a great day filled with great food and lots of pictures to capture the memories.
Great information, thank you
Thank you for these great tips. And also Happy Birthday!!
Fantastic tips on photography. Agree so much about using natural light and avoiding flash. Fingers crossed for the camera giveaway.
Happy Birthday!
Thanks for the great tips! And happy birthday!
These are great tips, Julie! My daughter is at SAIT in the culinary arts programme and in the past she has had me photograph her accomplishments. Your tips are really helpful.
Happy Birthday! Thank You for sharing so much of what you do with all of us, your photos are beautiful and although I love blogs from all of this wonderful world, it’s so nice to have a fellow Canadian.
Looking forward to more from you….
Your photographs always make me hungry! Thanks for all the photography tips, love your blog!!! Happy Birthday to you!
These are great tips for everyone- thanks so much for sharing. Happy Birthday too
Love the food photo tips – thanks Julie!
everyone needs to learn how to photograph food as every other post on social media is food related. thanks for the tips
This would be awesome for taking still lifes that I can paint! My fingers are crossed! (And thank you for all the photo hints…. lots of good info)
Thanks for all the helpful tips!
Please let me win the camera! And ps I love the pic of those cookies the best.
Great tips and tricks!
wow, camera upgrade would be awesome.
per your comment “I am not the best food photographer I know.”, for myself I would beg to differ, you are the best food photographer I know. lol. Your pictures always look so amazing, and I’ve definitely mentioned it before. My biggest issue would be the styling. I have white plates. That’s it. lol
You inspire; thank you.
Thanks for the tips. I love my Nikon, but as great as it is, it’s still only a high end point and shoot. I can’t do “depth of field” things with it, for example. I’d love a DSLR, but the only way that’s happening is by winning one. Thanks for the opportunity!
Hi Julie, e have been listening to you on CBC for awhile now and thoroughly enjoy it. Now that you have your blog it’s even better, being a vegetarian your cook book about beans is on my wish list this x-mas . Hope you had a great birthday! All the best in the future and look forward listening and reading about your creations.
I love your photos and recipes! This is exactly the camera I want for my birthday too! Happy birthday to you!!
Always love your pics, comments and stories. And your recipes! Have tried quite a few and they always turn out! Will see you at Christmas in November this year!!
I laughed out loud at the steaming tampon idea. That’s pretty funny! I just use my iPhone for my photography and it would be great to have a real camera!
I really enjoyed reading this. Thanks for the tips! Oh and Happy Birthday!!
Always great pics on your site. What a great gift idea!
thank you for the information on this post – I would love the chance to improve my food photography skills with the canon ! and happy birthday !!!!!
Your photographs always make the food look mouthwatering. Thanks for the tips.
I didn’t realize there was so much to it! Thanks for the tips Julie!
Julie, what a great giveaway! After reading that post, I’m hungry now!
Happy birthday! You’re my hero, seriously, you are. I think you’re amazing – both photography wise and just in general. Have a great day!
I always love your blogs Julie! Great photo tips too!
Happy Birthday Julie!
I love to read your posts and drool over your fantastic food photos!
Great tips, love your blog!
Great tips and tricks Julie’s, thanks. You made it fun to learn.
Hope you have a good birthday!
H
I love your blog, I have been following it from the beginning. Great photos, suddenly I’m craving scones and pancakes!
Great tips! Thanks for making me more brave in my own kitchen!
Beautiful pics….makes me hungry to see them!
Love your blog and have tried many recipes. Thank you for the great tips on photography. Keep up the great work!
Rule of thirds, light, good food, and a good camera! Great ideas and Happy Birthday.
Love your blog, love your recipes, love your photography, and am really appreciating the food photography tips.
And I love that you are Canadian, keep up the amazing work.
Jen
I would LOVE this! Love your blog too!
Great points, thanks for sharing!
Thanks for all the photography tips!
Great tips and ideas for background and propping.
Thanks for sharing the points on photography.. love your Kitchen
Happy Birthday Julie!!!
This is a great post.
I so need to take better photos of my food/creations. Of course, maybe a lesson from you on how to cook would be better solution – lol
But a new camera to replace my first generation DSLR that is 13 years old would be a big help too 🙂
Thanks for the wonderful photography tips, Julie. Will definitely put them into action with my own baking!
What an awesome and informative post! I’ve sort of gotten away from food photography because I got really frustrated but your post has inspired me to try, try again! The camera would be an awesome way to get a jump start on my learning! 🙂 Thanks so much.
Love this – going to be looking to buy props at the next estate sale!
I am making your Orzo Feta Spinach salad for our Hallowee’n potluck at work tomorrow. I’ve made this salad 3 times and it is definitely a winner. Yum. and as other people seem to know it is your birthday – Happy day from me too!!
Thanks for the tips. Great!
People don’t understand why I take photos of food. We eat with our eyes first! The camera would be fab!
This is an amazing post. I have bookmarked it so I can refer to it often. Thank you for the giveaway too!
Happy Birthday, Julie!
Point, shoot, click!
Thanks enjoyed this
Awesome giveaway! And helpful post! Some of those are just plain old good tips, whether you’re photographing food or not.
Those are really useul tips. Thanks so much. I am going to go play with my food now (and my camera).
Thanks for this post. Excellent ideas and a lot I’d say are applicable to all types of photography. And your photos are gorgeous and make me hungry!
I’m a photographer but my camera is dying a slow death too. I’d be stoked to win this! fingers crossed etc.
And, more importantly- Happy Birthday!
Thank you for these tips, and your right just keep
taking more pictures!
Thanks for all the tips – I don’t photograph food all that often, but I struggle to even get a decent picture of the birthday cakes and cupcakes that I slave over so hopefully I will do better now!
Fantastic contest — you make food photography look sooo easy !!! I know there have been recipes (on dinner with julie) I have tried because of the picture, we eat with our eyes !!!
Happy Birthday, Julie!
Thanks for the tips! Also bookmarking for future reference!
Happy Birthday! I love following your blog.
Julie always check your blog first thing in morning, makes my day, have it bookmarked for quick referral. Your pictures and recipes are an inspiration.
Hi Julie! I LOVE your blog and have cooked many recipes from it! A new camera would be fantastic and hopefully improve my photography skills.
Happy birthday! And thanks for the tips. What a great giveaway!
Great tips! Thank you. I’d love a new camera!
This post made me hungry for brownies and chocolate chip cookies!
My toddler’s life has been documented almost exclusively with phone photos. A proper camera would be awesome!
Some really great tips, thanks Julie!!
Loved seeing all of the support you provided following the yyc floods. You rock!
Thanks for the tips. The camera looks amazing. Happy Birthday to you. It’s my birthday too.
Those are awesome tips! Thanks for sharing.
Loved seeing all of the support you provided following the yyc floods. You rock!…
What a great contest! Thanks for the tip about the simulated natural light option – I’d already discovered that flash makes food look horrible, but that just meant that I stopped taking food photos in the winter!
Great contest, my old camera is definitely about ready to retire…!
Mmmmmm……food. Mmmmmmm…..camera! Thanks J!
Hi Julie,
I wait hungrily for all your posts and now I know why. Your food photos are so intriguing and mouth watering. Having the right tools (camera) makes such a difference. Happy birthday.
Love your blog! Thanks for the photo tips.
Fantastic post Julie! Your lessons are awesome. I am a Canon lover. My old prosumer Canon 10D is ancient and sloooooow. It needs to retire. Happy birthday!
Julie, these re the best food photograhy tips I have read. Thank you for these.
Cheer and happy birthday!
I have a 6 month old and am interested in documenting her first adventures with food. Now that she’s so active the iPhone camera just isn’t cutting it anymore, winning this would be great!
Happy birthday! Thanks for the great tips!
This was a fascinating post! Excellent advise for photographing non-food items too! Thanks
Really great tips here! Not just for photographing food, but for photographing anything really! Thanks so much!
Julie you’re amazing! Keep up the great work.
Oooooh! Pick me! Pick me!!!
Your food photos (and descriptions) are always drool worthy! And you make it look so easy!
What a great post! I love all the natural light in your kitchen!
Happy Birthday, wonderful photography lesson! You’re an inspiration, as always 🙂
Love your recipes, your food, your pictures.
Happy Birthday.
First of all, happy birthday! Secondly, this is a great piece. I have read a lot of articles on food styling and you pretty much summed it up. I guess the other factor is your creativity. Like you say, just get out and take pictures. Thank you.
Always love reading your blog…..pictures are so tempting!!! Keep up the GREAT work!!!
Thanks for the inspiration – always love your work! Epic birthday wishes to you!
Spectacular photos, Julie! My stomach growled throughout this post. Always a treat to tour through your website. Oh, and I could reeeeeeeeeally use a new SLR. Like, REEEEEEEEALLY. xoxo
rpj.
🙂 Absolutely Incredible Article & Photo’s!!! 🙂 Thank you for sharing the tips of the trade! I LOVE to take a ton of photo’s with my old slr camera, unfortunately it has had its better days. I desperately need a new one to use all your fabulous tips. Thanks for all you do, I love your posts & wish I could sample all the wonderfully photographed food dishes, they look absolutely Divine! 🙂 God Bless YOU!
I think it’s time for me (5 years of blogging) to upgrade my camera from a point and shoot little thing to a real camera!
Your photos are beautiful and you are still my favorite blog!
Happy and Healthy Birthday!
Stacey
Great photographs, and excellent tips! Learned a lot. I would love a new camera–mine broke a few months ago and haven’t been able to replace it, and I miss it a lot. Thanks for the draw
My problem with food photography is shooting in the winter. I work every day except Sunday, but I cannot make all of my meals on Sunday for the blog. Taking photo in low light skills is what I need.
Thanks for the opportunity to win! Great post, the pics have made me hungry!! Cheers.
Love your blog, keep up the great work.
Great post Julie: I’m coming up on my 50th column and was just thinking of a giveaway. Not being “quite” as popular as your column, I suspect it might be a pinhole camera kit!
Amazing article, thanks Julie!
Wow, those photos are fantastic and great tips. I am going to share your post with my following who travel and well, we ALL take photos of our food when we travel! I love that kitchen too!
Great pictures, they are making me hungry!
I love all the textures you use for the background of your photos. These are great tips for and I’m officially hungry!
Wow. So great! ! My camera just kicked it….
Wow! Very cool tips!
Great post. Lots of helpful tips.
Thank you for the photo tips! Very helpful.
These tips are amazing! Thank you so much. I have been taking photos with my iphone as I don’t have a camera and they photos were horrible. I had to hire someone to do a few shots for me. I would love, love, love to win this camera and sign up for photography course, wish I lived in Calgary. Good luck everyone!
Love your blog Julie! I’ve made many of your recipes and always enjoy the great photos.
What a awesome prize 🙂
I would love to win this
Thank you
Great article Julie!
I love food, photography and this post. Than for taking the time to put it all together.
I’m learning all about the ins and outs of interior photo shooting as each job site we complete I muddle the efforts to use my SLR and get the best images possible. We built the Gravity cafe and are currently in the midst of the Bite Groceria reno.
Fun times!
Thanks again
Julie, I was in your kitchen for one of your cookie exchanges a few years ago. Admired the wrap around windows then and knew most of your shots were taken there, how lucky you are. A food blog is just as much about the photographs as it is about the recipe. Well done.
Julie you are such an inspiration! Since meeting you and reading your blog, I like cooking again. Your blog is so fun to read! Happy Birthday!
That one photo of the bread trays – beautiful! That lighting!
Thanks for the great post + entry.
Love all your food (and life) reporting. Thanks for all the tips on photography as well – they can apply to other subjects as well, not just food. Thanks!
Lovely post and pics as usual!!
Your photos always look so amazing!!!!
Hey Julie! Your pictures are gorgeous… and I’m very glad to pick up some tips for making my food photos look less… barfy, would be the appropriate word.
I’m crossing my fingers so hard for this one! 🙂
Great post, your photos are fantastic. 🙂
This is a great post Julie! I never really realized how what I wear could be affecting light bouncing around. Your recipes are always delicious so I keep coming back for more!
Happy Birthday Julie. Looking forward to seeing you at Christmas In November next week.
Thank you for the tips! Love your site. I visit it weekly.
Just love your blog Julie! It has inspired more dinners at my house than I can count. Not saying that I always follow the recipe exactly… but your ideas get me going. Thanks!
Great post. I’d love to win that camera!
I love your photos, Julie. And your energy!!! 🙂
Hi! Happy birthday 🙂
Great tips for photographing anything! Would love to win the camera for my hubby! thanks for a great blog and recipes that turn out all the time!
So hungry.
Love the tip about natural light (but not too much)
Happy Birthday!
Congrats on your book and all of your success! I love seeing how active you are in the community.
Ever the genius Julie. Happy birthday 😉
Hi Julie! Great tips, thank you. Freelance writers (like me) are being asked more often to provide photos, and although I do my best I know there’s always room for improvement. Happy contesting!
Your photos make me want to photograph everything I eat from now on. Also, I am starving now.
Great tips, always love it when we try out your recipes.
Happy birthday! These are great tips! I love reading your stuff, and I’ve had success with every recipe I’ve tried! Thanks!
Hi Julie,
Love reading your blog and try your recipes all the time! Thanks for the great food photo tips! Happy Birthday!!!
Great to see you combining your photography skills with your cooking skills Julie. Always enjoy what you post.
Thanks for the great tips! Love your blog.
Love the rice paper lamp from IKEA tip! Happy Birthday!
Great tips for photographing food, even if it is just to help someone who posts the occasional foodie photo on Facebook!
Thanks for all the great tips
Gorgeous pics! I wish I had this when I shot my cookbook! 🙂
SHOOTS… EATS… LEAVES. 🙂
Happy Birthday, Julie!
xo
What fantastic tips, thanks so much for sharing your expertise. Can’t wait to have my own practise session in the kitchen and try these out!
Excellent tips. I will try some out next time I photograph food.
I’ve been looking on kijiji for a rebel…. please send it to me….. I really really really want one.. thanks
I’ll be waiting…..
Great tips! People keep asking me for pictures of my kitchen creations and I have stumbled in so many ways… this should help!
oooooh pick me! pick me!!
I have been wanting a digital Rebel for years!
and Happy Birthday!
Love your food photos, Julie. Great photos truly make the difference in a great food blog. And happy birthday!
Hi Julie, I love these tips and I never thought that what I wear could have an effect on my photos. I’ll be picking up a big white t-shirt the next time I’m out. Your photos are always fantastic. I currently use my phone for mine and you are right, I’d love to own the Canon to improve my photos.
Great post! Btw love your Alice Eats!
What great tips and tricks…love your blog!
SHOOTS… EATS… LEAVES… and forgets to add a name!! lol.
great tips and not overly technical, which is great when you are learning how to make a food photo look as delicious as the food tastes! thanks.
Great and easy to follow food photography tips. Thank you for the giveaway. Happy Birthday!
Excellent article – very informative. Now you’ve made me want a digital SLR camera.!! I’ve been a lazy photographer since I got a smartphone.
Such a helpful article Julie! And I need to shoot with more than an iPhone these days so that Rebel would be lovely.
Loved the article and could put that camera to good use.
Wonderful photos and so many great tips .
Have an amazing day … Happy Birthday Julie 🙂
Thank you so much for sharing your beautiful pictures, delicious recipes, and this lovely post on how to photograph! I can’t wait to try these tips out!
Those Garlic Cheese Fries are KILLING me! And your Naan on a pizza stone n the BBQ is delish! I have dabbled in the Food Photos but they never turn out quite right. Now I know I need to get to HD to get some new light bulbs, now that its winter, I’ll rarely get to shoot in the daylight. Oh, and a new camera too. I hope the person who stole mine (on Thanksgiving no less) is enjoying looking at the photos of my kids first day of kindergarten. For now I am using my phone to capture the memories.
Happy Happy Birthday!
Happy Birthday Julie!
Thanks for the tutorial. I’ve always admired your wonderful food pics. Like all things done well, it seems effortless (i.e., when you look at the pics). It’s great to know a few tips for taking pics.
Thanks also for all the great recipes you’ve given us over the years!
Gosh, my camera is SO old my iPhone takes better pictures! I desperately need a new one to get into the nitty gritty of amazing food photos… I LOVE all the shots you’ve included in this post!
Thanks for the great tips! I love your little nook in the kitchen.
Awesome tips! I love taking photos of Holiday meals, or my dining table when it’s all set up for a party, but they rarely capture the true experience. Thanks for sharing!
Genius idea to wear a white shirt and become a human light-bounce! I’ll do that from now on.
Thanks for the great tips. I do photoshop – quite heavily.
Sorry I missed you in Langley – so near, yet so far.
Heidi M.
Think of how great my cupcake photos will be!!!
Some great tips here- I would love to have an slr camera- all my pics are now with a phone!
Wowee! so much to know and so much to learn. Looking forward to seeing more pics now that I know what’s happening in the background!
Thanks for the great tips! I love taking photos of my meals and the meals my amazing boyfriend makes and these tips are really helpful. We eat with our eyes.
OOH – I could so use a new camera! My girls pulled mine off the table while the lens was open – and bam – no more nice digital pictures of my food creations or the twins – just good ole iPhone photos.
Thanks for the tips!
Thanks for the tips. I see so much beauty in food pictures, and find it is a form of art. Sadly I broke my good camera, so iphone photos is all I do at the moment.
Thank you so much for the food photography tips! I’m bookmarking this page and using it! GOLD I say 🙂 All the recipes I’ve tried from your website are amazing! Thank you for doing what you do! Happy birthday!!!
Great tips. I need to start using my camera more. I default to my phone more often than not. My photos don’t suck but they aren’t the best. Oh and Happy Birthday!
Anything!
I’m trying to teach my two boys to cook, and your blog and books are fantastic tools.
Have you seen this? People only use their iPhones to take pictures of food. http://youtu.be/uIRBxRlsYR0
Happy birthday! You do amazing things, I love following your adventures in food.
Cheers!
Heh- these tips fit for garden photography as well. Good job
Happy birthday, Julie! My nephew is in the Photography Club at WCHS, and he’s got an amazing eye for things, already. He’s already shot a wedding! I think a new camera would make the greatest Channukah gift (and solidify my status as Greatest Auntie Ever). Great post.
Great tips, thank you!
This blog post just made me very hungry. Love the photos and thanks for the tips Julie!
Wonderful tips!
I celebrated my birthday last week so both born in a good month! I think you have to have an innate ability to understand how to compose really good photographs. You have the “eye”.
I had the immense pleasure of attending your session at FBC and my photos have improved dramatically. I will be sharing this post with tips…
Happy Birthday Julie!
If I don’t win the camera can I get some of your sourdough starter ; )
Julie,
Love this site and look at it daily. Your food photos are always fabulous. I have always owned Canon cameras and have had great success with them over the years and am now in desperate need of a new one.
How do you not eat it
BEFORE you shoot it?? It all looks soo yummy!
Great article and great photos!
Happy Birthday. I love your accessible view on both food and blogging.
I’m doing a painting series involving food. Would be great to get some decent photos.
Julie – Happy Birthday! Thank you for such a detailed description of photographing food. Your photos always make the food so delicious and have caused me to make many, many of your recipes.
I have been following your blog for years and have made countless number of your recipes. Also love hearing you on CBC.
Hi Julie – just want to say I love your blog. I enjoy following your adventures which are so “close to home” in places that are familiar (I live in Central AB). I so enjoy your recipes, which are comforting, homey and obviously created with love – which is the only way to cook! I have made several of them, most recently your Pumpkin Spice Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting. It was a hit!! Thank you!
Long-time reader (but first-time commenting I think) here. Wonderful tips.
Very exciting to see how you work 🙂 Love the info.
I just love taking pictures of food! My instagram friends love it too.
Thanks for the tips!
Thank you so much for those helpful food shooting advice, especially the action shot tip!
Your photography is great! Thank you for sharing!
Thanks for the tips! I missed your talk with the Calgary Public library on this, so getting to hear what you had to say was awesome!
(and please please please pick me for the camera draw. Mine is quite literally falling apart)
Wonderful tips – thank you Julie! You should teach a class about food photography!
Hi Julie!
These are fabulous tips and I can’t wait to put them into practice.
I’m dying for a camera!!! I currently use my crappy phone to take even crappier photos.
Love your site!
Awesome tips! I am always trying to take good pictures of my food that most of time it gets cold before I get a good shot! Thanks!!
Great tips! Thanks for sharing!!
Thanks so much for the tips! I’m a big fan of yours and appreciate all the food tips you offer. All of the recipes of yours I’ve tried have always been a huge success at my table. Cheers!
Happy Birthday Julie! A Scorpio like me ????. Love the tampon in the microwave idea!! Great article.
I love taking great photos of food. My birthday is on November 9th, this would be a rad gift!
Cheers Julie, love your blog.
Love your blog, and lots of your recipes!
Great information! I’ve shared this post on Facebook for my friends who are interested in photography.
I take most food shots with my iPhone (because it’s always with me), but would love to up my game with a real camera. Please put me in the draw! Thanks 🙂
Hi Julie,
I just love your blog and I really could use a new camera. BTW saw you on Global TV when you were in Vancouver last week.
I love shooting food, though most of my work is nature and wildlife, with a little portrait work thrown in. Thanks for the awesome tips!
Lovely photos all the time.
Great food, great pictures, great lady!
What more do you need?!
Cookery books/food blogs are my story books! Lovely photos of even lovelier food. Bless x
I love your blog – your recipes are amazing! Also, thanks for the photo tips – I like to take pics of food when I’m out and about, so will keep your ideas in mind! Thanks so much!
Love your blog <3
Loved this! Such good ideas; I’ll definitely have to go find a few props for myself.
This post made me hungry!
I’ve been thinking about starting my own food blog for quite some time. If I get the camera I might actually do it! Thank you for the tips and your great recipes!
Excellent post, really informative.
Also, pick me!
Thank you for the excellent tips!
Love your website!
I’ll throw my hat into this ring. I enjoy the blog with all its great information and especially your great personal style!
My digital camer’s CCD broke and now makes everything look like The Scream…a new one would be great 🙂
Great tips, Julie! I can use them for non-food photography too!
Wow Julie – what a great post, really informative and inspiring! And … now I am hungry 🙂
Happy birthday! Love your blog and your segments on cbc radio. Great tips for photographing food. Thank you Julie!
Say anything? Would a lot of flattery work, beautiful lady? 🙂
Hi Julie,
I just wanted to say how much I love your blog and cookbooks. Although I love cooking and am really getting into photography, I haven’t thought much about photographing food until I saw your blog today. Thanks so much for the tips!
Great tips Julie! Thanks for sharing!
Happy Birthday, Julie! Great tips!
I’ve been refinding my love of cooking lately after school cramped my style for many years…I’ve been taking photos using a camera phone but they aren’t very good. I’m excited to use your tips to get better! Although I suspect no amount of tips can help a picture of greyish risotto look good….
Photographing food runs a very distant third to eating and preparing food, yet I find myself doing it on large family occasions or whenever I am full of hubris regarding my culinary creation. Thanks for the very applicable tips.
avoid flash at all costs & ‘steaming tampon’ are my favourites! but great tips overall! thanks for the insight.
You are such a generous and beautiful soul.
Hi Julie, great tips for us amateurs who just like to post pictures of our delicious adventures. Cheers!
as always, beautiful photos and fantastic recipes!
Thanks for the helpful tips. I must get one of those rice paper lamps.
Would love to win that camera!
Great tip about wearing a neutral shirt. I never thought of that!
Also, I bought some foam-core board from Staples, which has proved very useful at bouncing light. I duct taped two pieces together so they stand up on their own and can bounce light from two different directions. Super cheap and easy.
I love the advice you laid out here!
Julie! I’m glad to see a well written “How To” Article.. you offer really great practical tips that are feasible for just about any photog- from consumer to pro. As a foodie who spends lotsa time shooting food photos while traveling, its a passion that many don’t understand when they see me languishing over a photo…sometimes letting my food get a bit cooler, but when the photo communicates how amazing the meal is…then they get it.
Steamy article! Thanks for all the “bright” ideas! Hope it’s the Happiest Birthday Ever!
now i know how you do such a good job of photographing of food. :)) Thanks for sharing!
You’ve seen my photos and you know I need the help! Thanks for the tips and pulease pick me! 😉
Great photo tips, great photos, and a great camera!
Happy Birthday Julie from a long time Lurker. I really enjoy your blog and read it daily.
Great photography tips
Great photo tips. Thanks!
Happy birthday! I wish Canon would give everyone a free camera for their birthday.
Oh Julie!! Pick ME! Pick ME!
Very helpful! Thank you Julie.
Thank you! I love reading your blog and trying your recipes!
Great tips Julie! Thank you!
I have more recipes bookmarked from your blog than any other. I just added some scone recipes after being inspired to search thanks to the photo in this entry. Happy birthday, and thanks for the photography tips!
Great blog, Julie. We have birthdays in the same month!
Hi Julie, I enjoyed your tips and tricks that you shared on the art of photographing food. I recently made your easy strawberry jam and it was devine! Thanks for the contest!
Awesome giveaway! Our camera has also shuttered for the last time.
Happy birthday Julie.
Love the article on photo tips – simply awesome.
Dear Julie,
How typical and kind of you to offer up a “present” or at least a chance at one on YOUR birthday! Your many tips on shooting food are very helpful, even to those of us in other fields that use photography as a visual resource…think “still life” etc. I would love a chance to try the Canon EOS Rebel SL 1. My film camera is a Canon EOS and it has proven to be a workhorse even though digital is leaving it “in the dust”.
Love your cookbooks and blog!
Great tips for photos! Always look forward to your blog…your recipes have never failed me!
Not a week goes by that we don’t eat something courtesy of a JVR recipe (the name you go by on my menu plan)!
Thanks so much for the tips Julie. I see a trip to IKEA this week!
Thanks for sharing all these tips, Julie! Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to find myself some key lime pie to satisfy a sudden craving…
excellent photo tips! Can’t wait to try them 🙂
I would love to be a food photographer!
Thanks for the tips! I’ve been wanting to get more into food photography – a new camera would be a great starting point!
Thanks for all the wonderful advice and the tricks great advice!!!
Very useful tips, Julie. I hadn’t even thought about the effect your clothing colour could have a on a shot. Thank you!
Thanks for all the tips Julie!
I love taking pictures of my creations and looking to get into basic photography as a project for my 30th year!
I will be asking Santa for a new camera or my 30th birthday in January 2014!
Perfect article to keep for my reference!!
Great and informative post, especially the tampon trick, haha! I’m jealous of all the beautiful light in your kitchen, and those wooden counter tops.
Thanks Julie! Your food photos are always gorgeous and enticing, and probably 95% of what makes me decide to make your recipe! Sadly my photos never match up, but I hope I can get better with your tips and an awesome new camera 😉
-Michelle
I’ve been using your recipes for a long time, some many times over. My husband will now never look at a photo of steaming food the same way!
Happy Birthday fellow Scorpian! I loved your article, very informative and great job on the photos.
great post – thanks! I wish I were canadian -!
Happy freaking birthday! Somehow over the past year your blog has replaced my Joy of Cooking as my first stop when looking for any recipe whatsoever. Usually with success unless I fall into it for too long and have to serve cereal for supper. Sorry family.
Thanks Julie for the great tips.
I am still chuckling about the steaming tampon!! 🙂 Thanks for all the tips – you always do such a fabulous job, both cooking and photographing. Love it! Maybe A new camera will help me out but you’ll still have to come cook for me 🙂
Oh Mia would love the camera. I’ll show her this blog. She could incorporate your tips into her flower photography. Thanks for posting and Happy Birthday!
I’m sure that this camera is amazing, but Julie, you’re pretty awesome yourself! Having said that, I’d certainly love to win! 😉
Thanks for the great tips!!!
Umm… amazing post, JVR!! Not only are you an expert chef, but it turns out you’re an unbelievable writer, teacher and photographer too. I just love what comes out of your brain (and your kitchen), particularly on your birthday. Mad props to you.. 🙂
Love your blog! My favorite website to try recipes from…
These are all great tips. I’m enjoying watching my own food photography get better, looking back on some of my old blog posts and seeing the improvements. You are right, you learn by just starting to take a lot of shots. And I love how you mention the part about each picture being in thirds. That’s really helpful. I would love to win this camera to up my game! Thanks for your insight.
I would LOVE to win the camera, how awesome would that be, I have a small point and shoot I use for my website now and it does an ok job, but a wizzy wow camera would be great. Pick me, pick me.
Great camera, would love to take great pics like you took I guess the secret is a good quality camera, thank you for the chance.
Very useful tips! Your food photography makes everything look so yummy!
Julie – this is an amazing post!!!!! One of the best ever on how to photograph food. You are an inspiration woman!!!
What a lovely sunny kitchen! Thanks for these tips, I find them useful for other subjects than food, actually.
We do love your recipes and your down home style of blogging. These are fantastic tips and it sounds like a fantastic camera too. I haven’t had a decent camera in years now so it would be fun to get back into photography.
As your photos show, food definitely is art!
Wow! Am I the 400th comment? Cool. Loved the tips and would love a camera! Happy Birthday, dear Julie! (btw- that steaming tampon tip is the funniest!)
I love how your tips are actually a great metaphor for life in general. Especially the part about avoiding ‘flash’ at all costs.
xo
I really enjoy your blog. I always get lots if great tips. And the recipes I’ve tried have been fantastic.
Appreciate the tips. I’m going to try and photograph some of my kitchen successes, a great many of which come from your recipes.
Thanks for the tips! Love your pictures and inspires me to make a family recipe book for the kids with pictures.
Some great tips! That camera would be much better than my smartphone photos.
Great tips!
Happy birthday, Julie! Quit playing with your food, wouldya?
Great post with some fantastic tips! Thanks so much for sharing!
your pictures make my mouth water, in a good way. WOW
Another fantastic post – just like all the rest.
Ooooh, those are great tips – I’m going to try to use some of these in future posts on my vegan/gluten-free blog.
Thanks for the inspiration, Julie!
Happy birthday and I think you qualify on giving a tip or two on photography;)
So many great tips here! And practice really does make perfect. My photos were TERRIBLE when I first started blogging 3 years ago, but they’ve come along way. And it’s funny because people assume I must have a fancy setup or a really expensive lens, but I don’t. I learned to use the buttons on my camera (read that manual! It really helps!), and I have a white piece of cardboard to bounce light and reduce shadows. That’s pretty much it.
Love your food! Make your recipes a lot!
Great tips! I’m all for keeping it real. Did a few photo shoots with fake stuff – paint, food colored balls of dough etc. I hate it when the pictures don’t make me feel hungry looking at them and those fakey pictures I did made me feel sick.
Thanks for awesomely sensible thoughts on this Julie!
First timer on your blog and whattay a superb giveaway that is 🙂 Thanks for the information you shared about food photography. It is like an never ending ocean and every day I learn some nifty tips that go a very long way.
Siri
Love your site and recipes! Pretty photos 🙂
i love these tips, thanks! i’ve been trying to improve the quality of photos on my blog and food is always so difficult. keeping my fingers crossed! -laura
I love your blog, have been reading it for several years now. I lived in Canada as a child so its kinda like a little memory for me!!
Love your blog and cookbooks!
Thanks for the photography tips! I love reading your blog and cooking from your recipes – always delicious!
Great tips!
Hi,
I love the pictures of your kitchen. You can feel the family love through the photos…
I love your blog, tweets and FB updates.
Thanks!!
Thanks for these great tips. We are currently doing a student cooking show called BITE ME at the University of Calgary and these will be very helpful for us!
Julie;
I love your recipes and most of my tried and true favourites come from your kitchen to mine.
Thanks for all the food photo tips and all the great food inspiration over the years!
Marcy
Thanks for sharing your food photography tips and great doable recipes! I can’t wait to try out the photo tips during the upcoming Christmas cooking/baking marathon at our house.
These tips are great — thanks so much for sharing!
Julie, your recipes never fail me and your pictures are always inspiring!! Love your blog!
I love listening to you on CBC, your passion for food is infectious. I am not a culinary master by any means, but love experimenting with flavors and textures. Plus I have a minor obsession with photography, so this blog post was right up my alley!
Thank you for doing this Julie,I am looking forward to getting your new book “Alice Eats” for our 8 yr old daughter…
Love your blog and all your recipes!
I think I am the faux pas queen, so thanks for the tips!
I read your blog almost everyday. I really enjoy your Tofino posts, as they remind me of my childhood in Qualicum. I am an Island Girl transplanted to the Prairies.
Lovely photos!
Along with your recipes I’ve always admired the pictures that go along with them! They also work as a nice guide for what my version of the recipes ‘should’ look like!
Keep up the great work!
Sign of a good photographer – the photos look natural. Only when I read this post did I realize what goes into the shots. Happy birthday!
Beautiful photos! And I’d love to get to know a camera like that 🙂
Thank you for the fantastic tips! Love your work!
Beautiful photos!
Love your pictures….I would love to rekindle my interest in photography.
great tips!
You make it look so easy!! I have followed this blog since the 365 recipes days and am gradually improving. Thank you.
I think I have to go make some pancakes now!!!
I’ve been reading your blog for a few months now on recommendation from a friend and I love it! It is so nice to read a good blog by a local 🙂
Great tips! I can’t wait to try them!
Love the tips.
Great tips. Love the rule of thirds.
I’ll be practicing both – making my food look that tasty and then taking the great photos…. both not easy. Thanks for the tips.
Happy happy birthday!!
Happy birthday! Thank you for sharing your tips and tricks!
Great article! Thanks for sharing Julie.
I love your blog! Thanks for the photo tips!
Happy Birthday Julie! Keep up the great job w ur blog! An thx for the opportunity to win such a fantastic prize. 🙂
I love the tip about avoiding the flash at all costs and making sure to photograph food when it’s warm! Thanks for sharing all of these tips!
Your blog is one that I regulary visit and I just want to say thanks for all of the food inspiration!!
Love your food and your pictures! Thanks for sharing! I’d LOVE to win the camera!
I love your blog and your photos!
Great tips! And great food.
So you don’t just leave the camera on Auto?! Darn. Great tips!
Great post on food photography. It’s definitely one area that I struggle with even knowing my way around a camera.
Great tips and techniques. Thanks for the article.
Your blog is such an inspiration — the words, the food, the photos!
Thank you.
Happy Birthday! Wonderful tips on taking photos and beautiful photos too. I have NEVER thought about what I was wearing and how the colour reflects! Wonderful, helpful blog. Thank you for the contest too.
With the clocks going back this weekend, I was glad to see the tips about creating a filtered light source using the Ikea rice paper lamp!
Happy Birthday Julie, wishing you a wonderful year full of good health and good food!
Happy Birthday! I love how comprehensive this post is – I’m going to be bookmarking it, as I need some inspiration to get better at photography.
This is why my food photos always look terrible! Good tips. Thank you.
Whoa, awesome article and awesome camera… good luck to all 🙂
I love taking pictures of my dayhome kiddies eating and your tips make sense and are easy to follow. Thank you so much.
Love your Blog Julie!! Keep up the great work!
interesting article, very helpful for me
You’re photos are so fantastic! I love the one of your kitchen! I’m thinking it’s time for me to get a new camera…thank you for the chance to win one!
Such a shame anyone in Quebec isn’t eligible. What if the person took photos of a dish made with local Ontario ingredients? Would that count? 🙂
These are much nicer than people taking pics with their phone. Great advice.
Happy Birthday <3 Thanks so much for the great pic tips, I need to be working on my lighting situation, especially as we head into winter:( I would absolutely love a camera, it is on my Christmas wish list! Pretty please, randomly pic me! haha
Sounds like a great camera! You certainly got some really good shots with this camera!
Thanks for the tips and the contest! I’ve pinned this to my Photography board on Pinterest. I’m working on improving my food photography skills and have a long way to go.
Your photos look good enough to eat! Enjoy listening to you on CBC as well – your cheery personality radiates through your voice. My claim to fame is that I checked some books out for you at Memorial Park Library a few years ago 🙂
I love these hints! A good friend is a photogarapher in Vancouver, B.C. and was telling me a story about trying to shoot food. Not as easy as it would seem! All the best…
Thanks for the tips. I can’t wait to try some new ideas.
Can’t wait to try out some of these tips.
Amazing article Julie! Not only am I drooling over those pictures, I am overly enthused to take some pics and #tweetitafterieatit
I want my photos to look like yours!
Thanks for the helpful tips! Can’t wait to put them to use.
Great post! And that camera would be amazing!
Great tips! And now I have to go bake something chocolatey….
Delicious looking food and gorgeous pictures. Awesome.
Thanks for the awesome tips Julie! And please pick me! 😉
oh, yes please!! we’ve been eyeing this camera for a while now 🙂
great photo tips… thank you!!
Thanks for the hot tips! Love Love Love your blog and I have all your cookbooks except Alice Eats because I can’t find it! But I’ll keep looking! My kids love it on Tuesdays when I drive them to school because we get to listen to you on the Eyeopener. You rock! (and I’m not just saying all that because I want a new camera, either!)
Great tips! How about some hints about making food sound wonderful on the radio?
Great tips, Julie. Many of my food shots are furtively taken, usually with a macro setting, in restaurants. I sometimes use the fisheye setting on my Canon point-and-shoot to get a different perspective.
What a wonderful way to celebrate your birthday! Thanks for the photo tips, and the inspiration to be take time to appreciate great food & photography.
Thanks for this, Julie! I love pictures of food – now I can try some of my own. This camera would be a great addition for a family with a 12-year old interested in photography.
Thanks for posting this information, Julie.
Great tips, thanks!
Hi Julie,
Love your blog very much. Your recipes, travel and info are entertaining and valuable.
So timely for me that your giving away a new Camera…
Mine a Pentax Optio… a touch screen, its battery has lost all its life.
So instead of spending lots of money either replace a costly battery or a new camera. I will wait and see who (hoping its me lol) wins
Great photos Julie!!!
Julie you take amazing photos. I’ve lost track of how many amazing recipies I’ve made from your blog! (Spolumbo Chili is still a reigning favorite, followed closely by baked beans and Mac & Cheese)
Excellent tips!
love the combination of photo tips and recipes 🙂 it’s always great to see things through others eyes
This is a great opportunity for me to tell you how much I appreciate your work! Over the last 2 years I find myself more consistently checking your site for inspiration and talking about what I heard on the radio.
Thanks so much for sharing your talent!
Love your recipes and food stories. I’d also love a camera to begin my journey in photography!
Hello Julie, I look forward to recieving a call about winning the camera. I have enjoyed your blog and often wonder, How do you do it all and make it sound so effortless.
A lovely article about my two favorite things – photography and food! Thanks.
Great post! Very inspiring.
Great tips. I am webmaster and photographer for our church website. Would love a new camera!
Love your post, and all those gorgeous pictures of food. You have a real talent for “everything!”
I could use a new camera.
Your pictures always make me hungry! Happy birthday!
Hi Julie,
Love the tips. Natural light is always a friend. Hate shooting in dimly lit restaurants. It’s the bane of my existence.
random comment for random drawing.
Great tips! Thank you for sharing.
Loved these tips! Thanks for sharing!
great tips, my website needs better photos
Cool article. You certainly do make the JUGO food look so amazing! You would think food is easy to shoot…..
Very, very interesting – thanks for posting. Photographer, chef, blogger, media personality…you do it all so well!
Thanks Julie some great ideas. Now all I need is a fabulous camera.
Interesting blog!
Your photos are amazing! Thanks for the tips!
Thanks for the tips!!! Now I finally know some more for shooting food 🙂
Yummy! Now if I could just make the food taste as good as you as well 😉
Hi Julie. I’m new to your blog but I will be a daily reader now. Love your food pics.
Happy Birthday!
Wonderful tips for food photography.
Makes me hungry!
I always enjoy your food photos, Julie. Thanks laying out some hints and tips they’ll be put to good use!
SO HUNGRY!!!
Great tips, and beautiful photos.
Happy Birthday! I hope you get to celebrate with cake 🙂
Would love to get my hands on this camera!
When I get tired of shooting pics of food, I have all winter to take shots of SNOWFLAKES! Thank you for having this giveaway.
Thank you for the tips. My food photos always look totally unappetizing. I’m looking forward to playing with my food and putting your tips into practice.
Thanks. Very practical set of tips.
I like food and pictures of food and cameras, too.
Happy Birthday!
Thanks for the terrific tips! I’ve never had much luck with food photos – hoping I will have more success now.
Love your photos! Happy Birthday!
Hi Julie! How fun to learn that we are birthday-twins!
So far the food entries on my blog are photo-less, and I’m sure a good camera would help to fix that! 🙂
(somehow this comment ended up on a single picture, so I’m adding it here on the main post as well).
Great tips Julie! I catch your advice while I drive into work listening to the Eyeopener. PICK ME TO WIN!!!
Great pictures. Thank you for all the delicious recipes and comments you post daily.
Wonderful tips and amazing looking photos! Thank you!
I would love to win this, as I need a great camera for my travel photos- not to mention one that’s light! Thank you!
Happy Birthday, Julie! Your recipes are a staple at our house.
Great tips. Thanks! Love your kitchen. Happy Birthday!
Thanks for the hot tips, Julie!
I realized while reading the article that all I was thinking about was the actual food in the photos and how good it looked and that I should find the recipes immediately! Haha. Great article though and I am seriously wanting that camera now!
Great tips, and great shots!
This is one of the cameras my 15 year old has been drooling over. He doesn’t want to shoot food, though…he wants to shoot pics of mountain biking and skiing. (then, eat the food!). Expensive taste, I know.
Love your blog! Love the contest!
A visit to your blog is like having a wonderful conversation with a close friend, and I haven’t even met you! Many times you have saved my bacon (pardon the pun) and helped me to get dinner on the table with few ingredients and much taste. Thank you! Happy Birthday, and I hope our paths will cross someday.
Happy Birthday! I would love to have a camera other than my phone.
Love W’s eyeballs near the pies!
Thanks for the great tips.
you are so generous with your prize AND your information!
thanks for sharing some of your photo tips….
now if i could just cook like you!
cheers
su 🙂
Thanks, I enjoyed reading your photography tips.
Now I’m hungry. Those shots are just drool-worthy!
between my old Elph point and shoot and my iPod, I take endless photos that don’t really work the way I want- maybe a new camera and some classes would help?
Thanks for the chance to win such a great camera! Love the blog — thanks for all your time and effort (It is appreciated!)
Thanks for the great advice Julie! Everything looks so delicious!
Hello, I’m 13 years old and I’ve just started taking pictures of food and other stuff! I would love to be able to take pictures with a real camera, as opposed to an android phone 😛 I’ve made alot of your recipes and they are quite tasty!
I’m so inspired by this post, and always grateful to people who are willing to share their creative tips & processes to those of us trying to learn. Thank you for being generous with your skills and insight!
love the tips, would love a better camera – for puppy photos too!
Loved the tips! Had a good laugh over the tampon trick.
Love your website! Many of our family favorites are from it. I so want a camera to capture all my dinners and parties.
Cheers
Your photos are amazing! Thank you for sharing your “tricks.” Hopefully one day I can have pictures like yours.
Great tips! My wife is obsessed with taking food pictures and sending them to the kids! Now she can be even more obsessed!! 🙂
We love your recipes as well
Awesome article, your photos are always wonderful!
Your photos are lovely and so are the tips. I love your kitchen- that light!! I’d love to have something more than my tiny canon powershot s90 camera 🙂
Happy Birthday Julie: Thanks for this easy to understand article – and wonderful pics. Love your blog!
Awesome blog and as always, great pictures!
Loved the tips; love the recipe; love the blog.
Happy Birthday!
Beautiful pictures! Now I’m hungry…
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Julie! Love your blog, it is my go-to-and refer-everyone-I-can place for when I need a recipe for anything delicious (romesco dip, hello!!). Hope those boys of yours spoil you, you deserve it!!
Happy Birthday – your biggest fan.
Great blog, great photos! Thank YOU for sharing your wisdom with us!
I listen to you all the time on CBC Radio. I just discovered your blog today! I have 2 pictures I have taken of food, that I think are my all time best … I love photographing my food when I am traveling.
Thanks for offering up the camera to some lucky winner for your birthday! Giving is greater than receiving!
Saw u at “well seasoned” in langley bc. Loved your presentation.
I love the tip to buy the lamp and Ikea and the daylight bulb! So simple! Hope you have a fantastic birthday!
I love your recipes!
So many wonderful tips – thanks Julie! I’ll aim to keep them in mind no matter what kind of a photo I’m taking. Love your site – my fave recipes that I go back to often include your two-bite brownies, banana bread, caesar salad and chicken thais.
My family now asks if a new recipe is from Julie. It usually is. Happiest birthday!
Love your advice…wish I ha had it when I tried to photograph my daughter’s Titanic themed dinner.
Love your blog, Julie. Can’t wait to check it out very day!
Great tips. Thank you for sharing! Always great to see such straightforward explanations.
This is great advice! Thank you so much.
Hope you have a wonderful birthday!
Happy Birthday Julie! Thanks for the photography tips… I have lots to try now!
Thanks for these awesome tips. Being a Vancouverite I enjoy seeing the city through your eyes when you blog about your trips out here.
All the Best,
Lori
Love your recipes and photographs. Thanks for sharing!
Thsnks for sharing, JVR! An SLR would be so great for getting a photo of our 7 Y.O. NOT making a horrible face or fake smile (like Calvin of Calvin & Hobbes)- we might get the shot before he even notices!
Happy Birthday! You are such an inspiration to me.
Excellent tips. Thanks! I love to take pictures of food for personal enjoyment and also future reference, but they are never at the quality I see on blogs. I had no idea about the tampon trick and that the colour of the shirt you are wearing makes a difference! Thanks again 🙂
Love your site.
Holy cow, this is when you know lots of people love your blog! I love it too!! Enjoy your new camera.
Great advice Julie! Would love this camera to create a cookbook of family recipes for my Mom 🙂
What a perfect month and day for a birthday. Hope it was a good one!!
Love your blog and love that you are right here in Calgary!
Excellent tips. Had your roasted shrimp and broccoli for dinner again tonight. So good!
Happy birthday! HomeSense has good deals on dishes and napkins for props too. Usually there are single items marked down.
Beautiful pictures!
Oh yes, please! I would love to win your camera… Even though my food pictures probably won’t be quite as scrumptious looking as yours.
Camera! Food! Julie!
Your photos are gorgeous and the food looks fabulous! Now I am so hungry!
Thank you for the awesome giveaway!
Happy Birthday! Thanks for your wonderful blog and sharing your great recipes, many of which I make regularly.
Look and think before opening the shutter. The heart and mind are the true lens of the camera…by Yousuf Karsh
Julie,I also love your blog. I read it every day and have tried many of your recipes.
I would love to have a new camera.Thanks for the photo tips.
Wow! A camera giveaway – amazing 🙂 Happy birthday to you and congrats on your new book.
simple, valuable advice, thanks! btw, I’m so going to make that sponge cake roll thingy!
I read a lot about food photography and this is one of the most helpful posts I’ve read.
Hi Julie
Wow! That’s a ton of great info on picture taking! Thank you! Wish I cOuld have been at one of your book signings in Vancouver…..the rain has started!
Rose
Thanks for this. Your photos are incredible!
Great information, thank you and best wishes!
Thanks for the photo tips! Love your blog! Happy Birthday!
Happy (belated) Birthday Julie. I think you are an amazing woman with all the work you do for Calgary and now a teacher of photography! Thanks
Great information..thanks for sharing. You’re pictures are lovely.
Fantastic post, this will definitely make a big difference in the quality of my photos. Thank you!
Excellent photo tips – thanks for sharing
Wow! Great tips and advice…thank you!
I’m going to have to try to figure out what recipe goes with the very first photo on this post… yum.
Oh, a new camera is exactly what I need to break me of my iPhone photos only habit right now! And I love the food photo tips and ideas.
Wow! What an amazing give away! I love to photograph food. I rarely think of grabbing my camera while I’m at home in the kitchen; but it’s something I always do on holidays,and encourage family members to do the same. For us, nothing invokes the vivid memories of a trip like the meals you shared.
The tip to avoid flash was the most valuable for me. I always used natural light plus flash thinking more light was better. But I’ve always got distracting shadows on my images.
Thank you for sharing all of your wisdom. You are generous of heart, mind, and spirit which is evident in all that you do. Best wishes!
You are a generous star, as always!
I think the best tip is indeed to shoot more. We all cringe looking at photos from a year or a few ago. But, oh, what a learning it has been!
Happy Birthday!!!
“Ask not what you can do for your country. Ask what’s for lunch.”
? Orson Welles
What a great post. This is exactly what I’ve been looking for!
Lots of great tips, but will I remember anything? I’ll just continue checking out your blog daily – thanks! 🙂
I enjoyed your post here with food photo tips and OH MY, I would really be putting this camera and your suggestions to good use!
I love your blog! I check it daily and use many of the recipes with my High School Foods Class.
Now we know why your food looks so good and we want to make it! Ever notice how the mail floods in when you have a giveaway?
Hi Julie! Happy birthday to you! Very generous giveaway! Super fantastic post. I’m going to print it at the kitchen tomorrow to keep handy for shooting food in the kitchen and at events. Thanks for sharing so much detail in the post!
I knew a few of these tips, but I am definitely glad that I read through this article. I hadn’t even given a thought to what I wear when I am out shooting, plus, I am definitely trying that tampon trick when I next have some treats that need to be photographed.
Happy Birthday Julie
Fantastic tips, Julie!! Thank you!
I love this post, Julie. That shot of the French fries is MAGIC.
Thanks so much Julie. This is such great and useful info. My pics will be better for having read this.
I made Blueberry Galette with frozen berries again yesterday…everyone’s favourite dessert. Now I wish I had taken a picture of it!
There is nothing I love more than beautiful photos of food. Well, I guess eating the food I would love more, but gorgeous photos are a very close second. Great post as always. Have a great day!
Julie – I LOVE all the bits of advice you have shared here! I’ve ben following you for ages…. heard you speak at a conference in Canmore several years ago (actually won a cookbook from you!), then found your blog & have been following you ever since!! Thanks for all the delicious meals you’ve inspired!! The Canon camera would be so amazing – I appreciate the opportunity to add my name to your list of possible winners! Thank you!
Thank you for the tips; I will share them with my photographer son. I may not share the camera with him however, should I win! (On second thought, he’ll probably have to teach me how to use it, ha ha!)
Wow! Great tips. Happy Birthday!
Happy Birthday Julie! Hope you had a great day celebrating YOU!
Oh man good food photography is so vital to blogging! What a sweet camera!!
I would LOVE to win!!!!
Thank you for this great giveaway, informative post and amazing blog!
I’m so glad i stumbled onto your blog years ago!
Your recipes are always an inspiration
These tips with their accompanying pictures were instructive. YOur pictures and recipes have inspired and informed many of our meals.
This is a great article not just for photographing food, but just about anything that fits on a table top! Thanks for putting so much great info in one place. Beauteous and delicious:)
Happy Birthday!
Thanks for this post -great photos illustrating the tips.
Happy Birthday!
So many great tips! Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for taking the time to share…its appreciated!!
Julie I am a huge fan and am excited to read anything you write. You are a great teacher and inspiration.
Love the photo tips!
Stumbling across your blog about 4 years ago, while looking for the rosemary pecan crisp recipe I had heard about from a friend, re-ignited my love of cooking. Thank you for all of your beautiful photos, stories and, of course, recipes!
Julie, this is awesome! Thanks so much for the opportunity to enter to win a camera… this could mean everything to my family!!!
Excellent tips on food photography, and what a fantastic giveaway. Thank you!
Happy birthday Julie! I always enjoy your recipes, don’t think there’s been one I’ve tried that hasn’t been awesome! But the thing I like best is your stories and your down-to-earth nature – your blog is always a pleasure to read 🙂
You’re Awesome! Happy Birthday!
Wow! Love that camera — it would come in very handy since I love to travel. Love your blog Julie!
Hi Julie. Thanks so much for the amazing tips. Love your blog and photos. I am just starting my blog and these tips on food photography will really help.
I love cooking, writing recipes and storytelling but my photos still need a lot of work. When I started my blog I never realized how critical that skill would be!
I’ve been using a borrowed camera with a better lens then mine and have to give it back soon sooo…. I would love love love this camera.
Plus I am painting some boards this weekend and have completely justified some thrift shopping:)
I would love to win a new SLR!
Hope you have a lovely birthday, and Congrats on the Book! 🙂
Birthday greetings. I thought I would ‘treat’ myself this morning by looking at your blog before I went to work. You quite often help decide what I am making for dinner. You have never let me down. I was pleased to see the ‘tricks’ in photography. So that’s how you do it ! Whoever wins this present will be very lucky…. I hope it is me.
Wow Julie! Great tips!
My food photos never turn out well. Looking forward trying these!
R
Can’t imagine how many photos you have taken in your career blogging. Love them all!
Hi Julie,
What a fun contest! I appreciate you sharing all those photography tips, they are most helpful.
Thanks for letting me know if we win the camera, we’ll put it to good use on our farm!
-see you next time.
Tamara
Thank you so much for the tips. I’m creating a simple cookbook for my children and a couple friends and the photos were stressing me out. Now I’m not quite as nervous to give it a try. 🙂
works of art! W with the pies…i can relate. the quail eggs. the cookie with warm chocolate.
cheers,
trevor
Happy birthday! Love your blog!
Julie – gorgeous food, gorgeous photography, gorgeous camera to replace mine that is also dying. Please 🙂
Oh – and Happy Birthday!!
Fantastic tips and yummy photos! I am forever trying to work on my food photography! I’m definitely heading to Home Depot to get some supplies to make new backdrops!!
THANKS SO MUCH!
Wow! Lots of super helpful tips. Thanks Julie! Happy birthday as well!
Good lord you are ridiculously talented with words and photos. This I knew already – but when you lay it out all of that – reminds me you are true master my friend.
That is all 😉
xoxoxo
Happy birthday, Julie. Great job as usual on the blog – my little break in busy days.
I want to think a great camera will make my pics close to yours, but really a camera can’t be that much of a miracle! Still worth a try 🙂 Thanks for the tips
I am trying out the Vanilla roll cake this weekend for a charity thing. Thank you for the direction on that too.
Cheers,
Thanks for all the delicious tips!!
Thanks Julie for all the great tips! It’s on my personal to-do list to get better at photographing food (not an easy task apparently…) I think I need to make a trip to the hardware store for supplies 🙂
Love reading your blog each day for great new food ideas.
Happy Birthday!
I’m going to go invest in some white plates right now! I’m so drawn to the cheery colours of fiestaware but white just looks so clean and crisp.
I have to admit I photograph my children more than my food at this point, but your advice, esp about light, works there too!
Thanks for this, and thanks for being our go-to for recipes!
First, thanks for a great blog on shooting food! I just love cooking and now that I have found food blogs, the urge to create my own “food photos”, even just for my own fun, has taken over me. Alas, don’t have the $$$$ to get a great camera (although we gave our daughter a Canon Rebel for her grad present from university! so someone has one in our family) so winning the camera would be great!
Happy Hallowe’en!
I would love a new camera to play with, and thanks for the great blog posts.
Well you sure know how to inspire your readers! Always enjoy seeing what you’re up to … Thanks!!
Thanks so much for the great article!! I love taking food photos and would love a decent camera to do it with. 🙂 Keeping my fingers crossed!
Great tips, thank you so much for sharing!!! Happy Birthday Julie 🙂
Looks delicious and even tho I’m an amateur photographer, I’d rather be eating these treats than taking their photos.
Thanks so much for the food photography tips. Have been wanting to read/learn more about this for quite awhile. Love your recipes, and our family has many new favorites now from your postings!
Wow, I love all of these tips. Very, very useful. Just starting a food blog now and am looking to improve my photography skills. Photographing food is definitely harder than it looks! This is my first visit to your blog, but I will be back for sure. Happiest of birthdays! 🙂
Yes, great tips that will definitely come in handy.
Thanks for some great tips and tricks! All the food looks yummy!
These are really helpful tips, I will keep these all in mind next time I go out to eat, Thanks!
I love this article! Thanks so much for the contest, I’d love to enter it. Cheers!
Love this blog!! Good job Julie!!
Thanks for the tips! I, like many of my peers, have become obsessed with taking photos of the things I eat. Normally I look back through the photos for inspiration and think wow, that was so good but how did I manage to make it look so terrible in the photo?! I know iPhones will never be able to capture the memories that my taste buds can – but a new Canon might help 😉
Happy Birthday to you Julie!
What a wonderful prize.
I will read your hints several times in the next few weeks to help compose pictures.
(mostly outdoor holiday shots – but hey, I need all the help I can get)
Crossing my fingers for my obsession with pies
I am in desperate need of a new camera. I am expecting my first child, and this would surely get a good workout in my house!
Hi Julie. Love your blog and would love to win this wonderful camera.
Happy belated birthday Julie! I always love your photos 🙂
Always read your blog,and usually learn something or come away with inspiration, or both! This one was fascinating. Thanks, and looking forward to seeing you in Jasper this weekend.
Your photos are always beautiful.
…the tampon trick – who knew!?! Really enjoy your recipes and writing – it’s one of my regular go-to sites.
HOLY COW!!!!! what a great post! Did you do this on your BDAY? (btw I never heard bacl from you about dates after your return) Hope you have a great Halloween!
Axo
Love your blog. Your recipes always turn out. Glad to know you take photos of real food – makes it so much more inspiring. And thanks for the great photo tips.
Wonderful tips!!!! Thanks!!!!
Just made two of your soup recipes- Roasted Beet and Butternut Squash soup and Chef Giuseppe Di Gennaro’s Butternut Squash soup last weekend. The soups were delicious and the contrasting colors were fabulous! I tried to photograph the soups but will need to do this all again after reading these tips! Thanks!
Sweet Post!
Thanks for all the good tips!
Great post! I never replaced my camera after it died, but the pictures I take with my phone certainly look nothing like yours! Nice work.
Happy Birthday! I thought of you when I took pictures my plate while on the Rocky Mountaineer a couple of years back! “…what would Julie do?”… the pictures turned out great!
Thanks for an awesome post, the girls have been taking photos of their food and the results haven’t been picturesque! :O)
Good tips here. :O) Love your recipes.
Hi Julie. My sisters and I are going to start a food blog someday and we’ve been wondering how you always take such amazing pictures. Thanks. – Kate, Tori and Ali (Ali says Hi to W!)
I love your website-love your recipes-love it all—
Dinner with Julie is always on in my household.
Helena
So much info, thanks!
I have been in need of a camera since mine died on my visit to the Royal Tyrrell Museum this summer – fingers crossed!
Thanks for the excellent food photography tips! I have enjoyed your recipes too.
great post! pick me!
Love the photos. Can’t wait to try some of these techniques on my on photos.
Thanks for the tips! Pick Me 🙂
Happy birthday, Julie. My birthday is next week- just in time for your draw for the camera!
Love your pics on the blog particularly- who knew how much you have to think about!
Can’t pass up such a great draw! Thanks for such practical tips. Also, loved the good ol’ meat hand on BT this morning!
Thanks for all the photo tips – you definitely could teach classes! I would love to own a ‘real’ camera and learn how to take some amazing photos….food included!
the first food blog i ever read starting around 4 years ago and still my go -to resource… and thanks for all the great photo tips too!( i’ll never look at a tampon and think its just a tampon again…) certainly would love to be further inspired by an incredible camera…
Thanks for all the tips Julie…as always…LOVE you!!! Happy Birthday!!!!
Wow, what a giveaway. Read your blog several times a day (lol too much time on my hands?) Love your posts and your links. Perhaps I can talk my hubby into some food photography if we had this camera? He mostly is interested in EATING the food I make!
Thanks for the pro tips! I like to take food photos on our travels as I think that food is such a huge cultural element of our world…plus I like the memories months after the real mccoy was enjoyed. My birthday was last week – hope you enjoy yours!!
Happy Birthday! Love your blog!
Love your blog, it’s my daily read. Thanks for all the photo tips today.
Happy Birthday Julie! Your blog posts are always so informative and entertaining, even without a recipe. Thanks for the wealth of tips on how to photograph food…somehow I don’t think mine will ever turn out as beautifully as yours, but it’s good to have something to aspire to 🙂
Hope you had a great birthday! Would love to win this!
Amazing giveaway – and love the tips!
I’m in! Great tips, thanks Julie.
Found you through Family Feedbag-love this! So many easy peasy ideas for making a difference in food shots. I take pics of my food creations insessantly with my phone.. .my son thinks I’m a kook:) Cooking delicious food is my creative outlet-taking awesome sauce pics is sometimes the best part-then I can revel in my works of art! Thanks!!
Great tips! Awesome giveaway. Thanks Julie.
Thanks for all the helpful tips!
Love your recipes…now if only my results were the same as your gorgeous photos.
gimp is another free editor that is just as powerful as Photoshop. I love it.
Pick me for the camera, please!
Saw you on tv. I would love to win this
Yahoo
Photography and food?! oh these are a few of my favourite things!
OMG….love taking photographs of food and I need a new camera. Pictures from my cell phone just don’t cut it!
Food is our common ground, a universal experience.
Your photos are always soo delicious looking… I’d love to try that myself! 🙂
Thanks for the tips. 🙂
I have never been able to take a food photograph that has turned out well. Thanks for the great tips 🙂
I would love to win this lens! I already use a Canon and would love to upgrade!
Great tips!! My Instagram followers will appreciate the better quality pics for sure!!! Have a great day 🙂
So many great tips, I can’t wait to try them all. The best place I take my food photos is n the stove, which means I have to clean up as I cook.
Wow, what a great comprehensive tips list! Have always loved your food shots, especially fresh baking. Thanks Julie, and Happy Birthday 🙂
Thanks for the tips, Julie. My food photos always look so unappetizing but I’ll start following these recommendations and see what I can do.
Thank you for continuing to inspire! Not only through your recipes but also by helping food bloggers improve their game!
I eat, shoot, and live vicariously through your blog and tweets!
Above all, avoid including the chef in the photo. Especially if the chef enjoys eating his or her own creations.
What a great thing you’re doing here… Foodie and mom wrapped into one; giving on your birthday. I like it, thanks.
I have found much inspiration from your columns (radio and print) as well as your cookbooks. Thank you.
Great tips! Would love to upgrade from my cell phone camera 🙂
Especially love the tips about pouring drinks JUST before taking the pictures – and photographing food while still warm!! Thanks for a great article!!
I love your tweets and the recipes. Thanks for the interesting article on shooting food. I will try out the tips!
What great ideas and simple . You always make things sound easy and doable , whether it’s cooking or any of your many talents and I can’t wait to try a few of these ideas out.
Thanks for sharing Julie!! I always enjoy your twitter feed. I’ll try out some of these tricks soon.
Vina
Love your blog. Fabulous recipes & photos!
My grandson used to spend hours in the Calgary Zoo butterfly house, taking pictures. He is now in Grade 10 in Western Canada High’s photography club, responsible for all the yearbook photos. These kids are truly passionate about the craft, and would get use of that lens for years to come!
Ok, I just need to say, I love the tampon trick!! Crazy creative. And, it made me laugh. I think I need to go try it just to see it work. Thanks for sharing that tip and all the other insightful ideas.
Great tips! I can’t wait to try them out.
Anything…
My family complains how long it takes me to take a picture. A new camera probably won’t help with that but, I like entering your contests and maybe someday I’ll win something. Thanks for the chance!
Love your blog! Been following it for years now!
Thanks for the great tips Julie!! And Happy Birthday!!
I love how a great photo of a dish can stir up memories, inspire you, or make your stomach growl. Thanks for some simple tips on how I can improve my own food photos.
Hi Julie. I really enjoy your blog, and I hope I win the camera.
Thanks for the great tips! I’ve enjoyed making good food for a while, but I’ve just started photographing my food as well to share it with friends and family. This gives me lots to think about and try!
Happy (belated) Birthday, Julie! I hope you had a lovely day.
I loved the tips! Great photos are so inspiring.
wonderful photos and recipes! thanks for the photo tips!
Great tips! I certainly needed them! Thanks
Hi Julie
My brother forward this to me and it was really helpful. Great pictures. I’m meeting a food stylist this weekend to get more tips. I’m really hoping to become a much better food photographer. Keep up the good work. Look forward to more posts.
you know i love me my food photos 🙂
love these tips, julie.
xo,
molly
These are some amazing tips Julie! Thank-you! I would never have thought that what I’m wearing might cast colors onto the food and plates. Thinking about it, I know that’s happened to me before.
Thanks for the chance to win a Canon EOS Rebel SL1.
Great tips, especially the one about using a white shirt. I would never have thought about that!
Such good tips! Thank you!
Your photos are always amazing, as are the recipes. Thanks for the tips!
Thank you for sharing and for the opportunity to win such a lovely camera. I love taking shots of food especially when I am traveling in different countries.
I love your blog….it makes cooking so much more fun. I would love to start photographing food; thanks for the inspiration!
Great blog post! Photography is a part of my day job and the tips and tricks above are immediately useful for me. Thanks Julie!
Great tips – thanks! And what a pretty camera…!!!!
Great post as always! Thanks for all you do 🙂
Thanks for the tips and the chance to win. Happy (belated) birthday!
Great tips. Love your blog.
Hello Julie,
I really enjoy your blog and have tried out several of your recipes. I also really like the fact that you’re Canadian!
Thanks,
Sarah
Happy happy happy birthday Julie.
Congratulations on ‘Alice Eats’ looks simply beautiful. Hope we have a book launch in Calgary.
Your photos are lovely, totally enjoy your blog and thanks for the very informative and helpful photo tips. We love you are our local star!
Thanks for the tips, and love your blog!
Happy birthday, Julie! I swear, whenever I smell something delicious in the hood, the recipe pops up on your blog next thing! Thanks for the awesome tips and wishing you a delicious birthday 😀
What a great article – I would love to be able to take photos like yours. I think I need more than a great camera, but that would be a start!
Love your photos, Julie, and your recipes are always the bomb! Would love to win the Canon EOS Rebel … !
Your food is beautiful! and tasty too!
Happy Birthday! Great photography tips! Your photos always look amazing and the food always tastes great!
Hi Julie. Your photos are very vivid. Do you adjust saturation? Also, do you use macro lenses or just the stock lens for your camera?
Enjoy your twitter adventures so much Julie! I’m thinking that camera would take great pictures of my new granddaughter as well as food! Happy Birthday 🙂
Thank you for all the wonderful tips, Julie!
Such beautiful photography, Julie 🙂
Nice article! I always find the key for me is finding an abundance of natural light, but having one that does well in low light is essential. Good read.
These are great tips. Thanks for posting them.
This was a great post and inspired to start taking time to create beautiful photos. I could use a new camera for even more inspiration!
Hey Julie, thanks for inspiring us! (My family thanks you too.)
Love the blog Julie. This was a very helpful post
Wow your pictures look great. Thanks for the tips 🙂
Happy B’day!! What incredibly helpful tips =)
Thanks for the tips. And thanks for sharing birthday presents! Happy Birthday Julie!
Happy belated Julie!!
Thanks for sharing your love of food – and your sense of humor.
And happy birthday!
What a great give-away! My only camera is on my i-pod and it’s very basic. Love your blog, too. 🙂
Love the photographs and the tips! Fingers crossed for the camera!
now i’m craving fresh baked cookies!!
great pics & great camera
I love your columns, ideas, and passion for food and family cook-books.
Great website, beautiful pictures, and helpful hints I will be able to use when (if) I win this fantastic camera.
Thanks for the opportunity to win a camera!
Stumbled across your site the other day. Beautiful pictures!
My 3 year old just dropped a broke our camera last month.
Happy Birthday ..you have a great blog..love the pictures..your stories.., and ideas.
Keep it up…thank you.
Have been following you for some time and like your talks on CBC radio.
Loving the helpful information, I do have one slight issue though… the pictures were making me drool so much it was a bit distracting. 😉
Fantastic article on how to take the perfect shot…Here’s hoping for the perfect camera to take it with!
Great write up, would love the SL1 to try out some of the tips.
Thank you for sharing all your tricks. I have always admired your photos, so will try your suggestions and hope to be as good as you someday!
Thanks for the useful tips Julie!!
Love your blog. The photos are making me hungry!!!!
Your photos truly picked up the essence of good food.
Thank you for all the great ideas over many years!
Wonderful photos and I picked up some great tips. A good camera would also help-than you for the chance to win one!
What a fantastic, helpful post. You’ve given such useful advice that any one can easily employ. Thank you.
Nice blog! Nice photos! Love your recipes!
HI Julie – dinner with your site has always been a treat! Thanks for the great advice – Happy Birthday.
Great post! With shorter days now, I find it hard to catch daylight after work for food photography so I’m forced to do all my recipe posts on the weekend or put up with the awful evening light. Now I want to try and set up a lamp with a daylight bulb. Thanks for the tips!
I hope you had a great birthday. Thanks for posting these photography tips. Your photos are inspiring and have given me ideas for the photo course I am currently taking.
Fabulous tips! The food you make and photograph looks so, so good! I’m hungry now!
I’ve read a lot of “how-to-photograph-food” blogs and tutorials and this is, by far, the best yet. Thanks Julie!
This wants me to go back to Food Photography!
Great tips! Thank you 🙂
ackk! I love your photography, and I think this makes me love your blog even more (and you too, you are so interesting!) I would love to win this!
Very Nice!!
It was sure a treat to get the scoop in person at the Calgary Public Library…but even better now to have it in a nicely photographed and laid out blog post.
All it’s missing is a few fun ‘Julie’ stories!
I have used a few of your tips and already I can see an improvement on my blog 🙂
Thanks!
We keep tossing around the idea of making a cookbook of our best recipes to give as a gift at Christmas. Photos are key to this and I am sure your tips will help. Thanks!
Love your blog, my go to source for fabulous recipes.
If I won this camera, I will definitely be putting your food photography tips to good use!!
Everything I have tried from your blog has been yummy. Thanks for inspiring me to cook real food!
You always make it look so easy. Thanks for the great tips. I end up trying to balance my iPad to get food shots of what I make but that camera would be fantastic! Stay warm with all the snow, it’s a good day for soups and stews
Love the tampon trick!
Great tips! Now I just need a good camera to get the most of them 🙂
The food looks so good. Wow, that camera takes awesome pictures.
Great tips now I need a camera to use them on.
WOW great photos! I personally find that food is by far the hardest thing to capture with photography! Your pictures turned out stunning with this camera, the shots just jump out at you and make you want to jump in the kitchen and start cooking!
Pick me please! I am trying my hand at photography and it is pathetic with my sad camera and phone. Thanks for the chance!
Great post! So many helpful hints that I look forward to trying!
This article makes me want to start writing again.
Enjoy your time in Jasper. Thanks for all the great photo tops.
great tips!
I love your recipes
Yay! I found your blog just in time (it was referred by my friend after a desperate plea for help on FB about how to do great food photography!). I’ve just spent the past hour pouring through your site – SO awesome! Thank you for all the great tips and recipes. Crossing my fingers and toes about the camera ~ 🙂
Jen
I am constantly taking pictures of our chocolates at Epiphanie Chocolate. Many of your comments are confirming and others good points to ponder. Nice to have all these points compiled together for everyone to learn from you. All the best Julie, hope to see you sometime soon maybe with a new camera. 🙂
love your photos, especially the chocolate chip cookies!
Great post Julie! Happy Birthday!
The images you took of the food are fabulous. I love the clarity and vibrancy of the colors. I like your tip about using white plates. Thx for the chance.
I’ve always loved your food photos and now I know why…you’re a pro!
Thanks for this!
Love your website Julie! I have an old Canon Rebel that is now also dying a slow death and would love an upgrade. Keep up the amazing work!:)
Over the past few years, my comfort food recipes now come from your site. Thanks for the great photo tips and wonderful recipes.
What an awesome giveaway!!!
I love the pictures you include on your blog, this can be the motivating factor for me try something new!
Thanks for sharing your tips! Really appreciate when fellow food and photography friends help improve the community with their knowledge. -Janet
What amazing pictures the camera takes! Thanks for the chance to win one!
Thanks for all the great tips and happy belated birthday!
Thanks Julie. Always like seeing your recipes, and especially the stories behind them.
Great tips! I am constantly improving, I’m just not where I want to be yet. Looking back 6 years ago when I first started I can’t believe I ever published those photos. It is a fun evolution though.
Great tips, thank you!
I don’t qualify for the drawing.. but just wanted to say the pictures are marvelous and made me SO hungry .. thanks for the eye feast.
Great hints – and smaller and lighter would be better for sure (and you didn’t mention lenses – but the ones with this pkg would sure make it easier!) Biggest problem tho: remembering to take the picture before jumping in to devour stuff!
Wow, Julie – thanks for the great post! Happy belated birthday too. I’m really hoping I’ll be the lucky one who wins your camera for my November birthday later this month, so I can retire the Blackberry (!!!) for taking pictures for my blog (just google yumgoodfoodeh). Your cousin Pam in Toronto told me about your blog, and I’m glad she did!
I’d love to take food photos that are enticing as yours, Julie! I’ll get practicing…
I’ve tried taking food photos before but they never turn out very well! I appreciate your tips – it encourages me to try again!
Boy, could I use a camera like that!
And cooking lessons!!!
Thanks for all the great recipes, Julie.
I agree with you on the flash – it always makes food look terrible and shiny! Thanks for the photo tips!
Beautiful pictures!
As much as I love my phone I think it’s time I put on my big girl panties and start shooting with a DSLR. A win would help the cause!
Thanks for the tips! I’m so bad at photography but I’m still learning.
Sweet maple syrup action shot! Mmmm, pancakes.
Your pictures make me WANT to cook! It made me realize aside from food tasting reaaly good – the food “looking” really good is a big part as well! Amazing pictures!
Thanks for the practical helps!
I love your blog and all of your recipes….thanks for inspiring the non chefs….
This has been a tried and true site for a few years for me. Love it!
Congratulations on the new book! We are excited to read it! We love ‘grazing’, and pretty much always have a jar of your peanut sauce in our fridge!!
Great article on food photography. And I have to say that a lot of that food looked amazing too. Cheers!
I love your well-illustrated, uncomplicated suggestions for food photography — and your recipes, too!
Thank you so much for the great tips! Especially about lighting and framing in a tic tac toe!
Awesome tips!
Amazing camera. My wife would love to have one of these. Would make a nice Xmas Gift. 🙂
great information. I actually learned something and I don’t usually understand my daughter’s photography lingo. I am just learning.
Great post, great pics! 🙂
Love reading your blog! And totally need a new camera!
I would do just about anything for a new camera~anything!
Great tips! I never thought about the impact of what you wear on the photo. I would love to own a DSLR – finally!
Great tips Julie! I’ve never really put much thought into taking food pictures. Now, I’ll have some tips to keep in mind when I do now! Thanks!
Awesome post! In the past year, I’ve started to get more serious about food photography for my blog. I’m still a rank amateur, but I have learned some things. Like lighting is incredibly important, and natural light is the best if you can swing it. And I’m LOVING the 40mm lens.
Thanks for this, I’ve bookmarked it to come back to again and again.
These pics make me so hungry! I am really bad at photography but a nice camera like this may change that!
Oh my goodness, what an absolutely incredible prize – thank you for the amazing giveaway!! This was a really helpful article, some fantastic tips in there. I really like the idea of capturing more motion in my photography, like a drizzle of syrup or a curl of steam!
You’re an inspiration to wannabe food-bloggers everywhere, both for your amazing recipes and your stunning photography. 🙂 Thanks for being such a great role model, really hope I win!
Fingers crossed! I enter all of these draws – so maybe one time it will work out! 😀
Julie, just what I was looking for! Seriously, I was looking through magazines wondering how they create such wonderful food shots – wanting to make my #gastropost a little more appealing. Thank you! This was very helpful – and beautiful photo’s.
You always have great food and photo tips…always entertaining…
Mark
Thanks for some great tips!!
Great tips. Now I’m hungry. Thank you!
Julie, thank you so much for sharing your knowledge. I think you take great pictures of food, and I appreciate being able to learn from you.
Although I usually am not a person to take pictures of my food (unless it’s on holidays), I think this post was fascinating. I didn’t realize how much work went into taking great pictures of food. We’re in the market for a new camera now, this would be perfect.
This was such a great post, thank you for taking the time to write it! And wow, the Canon EOS Rebel SL1 looks like an amazing piece of equipment… your article seals the deal for me! I’ve been using a second hand camera for years and am in desperate need of a new one. They’re hard to afford, so winning this would mean the world!
Keep up the great work, fingers crossed!!
I Love Food, and love your blog. This camera would be great to start capturing some food creations! Great Tips!
Have been following your blog for a few years now, and I always love the recipes that I try. Keep up the great work!!
Yay Christmas baking soon!
I love photography nada new dslr would be awesome 🙂
Great tips. I love your website. 🙂
Wow, Julie, this is making me realize I missed breakfast! Those are some fantastic photos, and great tips!
On editing: the full version of Photoshop is available for $30 US per month these days. It’s still pricey if you don’t use it much, but it might be helpful for those who do a lot of photo editing—especially since we no longer have to cough up hundreds of dollars at once for each new version!
Some great tips!
win or lose, still love to cook along with you.
Thanks JVR for making me like food even more
Thanks for the tips – the photos are beautiful!
Great entry, thank you! I very much enjoy being in the kitchen, working with food, serving it to loved ones… but haven’t yet mastered the technique of photographing it. I would love to actually commit myself seriously to it sometime!
Wow what an amazing giveaway and your pictures have made me very very hungry! Everything looks delicious!
Great tips! Love canadian giveaways 🙂 thanks for the chance
you do wonderful work, and thank you for sharing the tips.
great things to know for a budding food enthusiast.
Those are amazing photographs.Thanks for sharing the tips for photographing food. I have been a photography enthusiast for about 25 years.That is an awesome camera! If I won that, I know I would be able to take some very impressive photographs with it.Thanks!
Great article Julie! I could sure use a new camera for the bakery 🙂
Delicious pictures , love your article so informative Thank you !!!
Happy Birthday
Hi Julie,
I so, so, so want to win. I have wanted a good camera for so long and it never seems to make it to the top of our priority list, damn kids and all their needs.
Crossing my fingers!
Jenny
Great tips. Great blog.
Thanks for sharing ! 🙂 Great tips !
Those pictures are making me so hungry! Thanks Julie!
Your recipes have saved my butt a hundred times. And they’ve inspired me too. Now if I just had a fantastic camera to capture those moments 🙂
Great article with some great tips! Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for the tips Julie!
Like others, I appreciate that you have photographed “real” food.
Great tips, Julie! Thanks so much for sharing.
Awesome advice! Those scones made my mouth water and as soon as my kiddo saw them, she asked if we could make muffins. So you convinced both of us. 🙂
Thanks for all the fantastic tips, Julie 🙂
My first time posting a comment here – though I’ve followed for years since getting a copy of your wonderful book “Grazing” – often pulled out when the munchies strike!
Thanks for the great tips! I’m inspired to bake something beautiful now.
Great PRACTICAL tips!
Love the one about buying a rice lamp from IKEA and a daylight bulb from Home Depot. Saved me from spending money on a lighting set with Amazon this week.
Thanks Julie! I’ve always wondered what some of your tricks were!
Fantastic tips! I never thought of things like the colour of my clothes making a difference to my photos!
I’m sure my pic will be better after reading this!
Great tips! Went to Jamaica for a destination wedding and took pictures of all my meals. Couldn’t begin to explain to others just how good the food is, so the pictures were worth a thousand words
The Gnocchi looks amazing!!
Thanks for the great tips, and especially watching what you wear. The steaming tampon tip is rather interesting… I’ll be watching for it in your photos!
Most of my recipes are from your blog or books!
Wow, really great pointers. It seems like these tips translate to just about any still subject matter, not just food. You make everything look so delicious!
Thanks! for the great info, photos and tips … your stuff looks fabulous!
Great post–and I’d love a new camera!
Great post with lots of helpful tips. Thanks for all the suggestions (was quite surprised at the one on how to create artificial steam!), and great contest too – we could really use a second camera for our blog!
Julie, Happy Birthday! (and please post a pic of your cake and candles…)!
Great tips! I am using my son’s hand me down camera- a point and shoot. Wait, if I am using his old camera, does that make it a hand-me-up? Anyway, it is held together by duct tape. Seriously.
Love this post! Camera too 😉
Great tips. My camera is dead, dead, dead! So this canon would be so exciting to start shooting with. Happy birthday!
Fantastic shots and great food. I love the pictures, but now I’m hungry!
I love the tips on action: steam, pouring maple syrup… something simmering. It’s a lovely tip to bring food to life. When we eat it, it has life; so it would be appealing to have that aliveness in the shot. Thank you!
wonderful tips…I will definitely put them to practice soon! I’m striving to be able to call myself an amateur photographer. like all things, there is more to learn than meets the eye.
Thanks so much for this great post. I love your blog and all your recipes. Keep up the fantastic work!
I’ve been following your blog for a couple of years now, love the food, the photos and the stories!
Love the tips, especially the bubbles in milk and action elements like dribbling syrup. Thank you for this inside peek to what must have been a fabulous day of learning at your house.
I loved the tips – I think this was transfer into other types of photography too! Just one question: Are there any calories in any of the pictures – they look good enough to eat!
Thanks for the tips. I would love to take one of your classes at the library. Your photos make me hungry!
Hope you had an awesome birthday Julie! I just happened to buy my 2nd pressure cooker the week before you spoke about it on CBC… I’m totally in on the pressure cooker movement!
Thanks for inspiring my wife to make these awesome dishes.
Your pictures are amazing! Thank you for sharing so many great tips. Now to tweak my cooking and picture taking skills… 🙂
I check your site every day and love reading your stories.
Boy, would I ever love this. I am a foodie and a blogger. Your tips are amazing!
Love your blog. From one Albertan to another.
Pick me please!
great food, awesome photos.
rather be eating it than looking at it.
ill try to make it sometime.
If not the camera, maybe the sticky toffee cakes with treacle icing?
Great article. I’ll be sure to use some of your tips! Thank you for taking the time to write it! 🙂
Thanks for all of the helpful tips! I’d love a new camera to try them with ;-).
Aargh, I was away for a couple of weeks and just got back. Went directly to your site to catch up and thought I’d missed this–so glad to hear the draw isn’t till the 11th, but seriously, nearly 1000 comments? Aargh again!
Great article, July.
Fantastic article! Love the idea of a dual sided board!
These pictures are amazing! Thanks for the helpful tips. I always love taking pictures of food, but now I have some insight on how to take better pictures (:
Your posts always make me want to ransack my fridge to see if there is anything at all in there to make what you’ve photographed!
Thanks for the wonderful tips! I particularly like the tip about having bubbles in your milk so it doesn’t look like flat paint.
Thanks so much for all the wonderful tips! I love your food pictures. Looks like an amazing camera, I would love to have it!
Great tips. I think I will use all of them… well with the exception of the steaming tampon!
Great tips and even more beautiful photography Julie 🙂 I can’t wait to get back into my photography once C starts school.
WOW! Julie, these are fabulous tips! I learned a lot from you at the little food photography workshop at Food Bloggers last Spring. I am looking at getting a good camera and taking a photography course.
Your photos always make me so hungry!
I am drooling over this camera and the pictures it takes.
Love this post and it’s very helpful but it would be great if you can do a post offering tips in taking photo in restaurants 🙂
Great giveaway!!!
Thanks for this generous sharing of tips, Julie. For a rookie like me they’ll all come in handy!
Great tips!!! I have not delved into food yet but often take pictures of products and was looking fro tips! Thanks and fingers crossed 😉
Great post and awesome tips! I’d love to see another post on taking photos of food in restaurants 🙂
Wow. I knew you were talented but this was a really outstanding post. No wonder my attempts at food photos have been pitiful… I’ve been doing EVERYTHING wrong.
What an exciting giveaway!
Thanks for the tips!
Great tips, great blog, great recipes….That is why I keep coming back!!
Thank you for hosting such an awesome contest! I would love, love, love to win this camera! Your photos are fantastic and your tips are really helpful:-)
Your pictures are amazing. Hope you do more classes on food styling and photography!!!
I get so hungry every time I look at these photos!!!!
Wow, now I’m starving. Awesombe blog btw!
I love cooking and baking, and documenting my recipes! This camera would take that to the next level, without a doubt! I also love the continuous shooting mode in these cameras. Definitely a must have!
Great photography tips, Julie. Awesome post.
Your site is amazing, and you’re such an inspiration Julie!
Julie, you are my favorite food blogger. I also enjoy listening to you on CBC. Thanks for making my cooking journey a yummy one!
Such a great contest. Thanks for sharing the love.
Happy Birthday! And thank you for those great tips, I’m now quite hungry. My only camera is my phone, not so great for taking fast shots of my kid hurtling down the luge track. I hope I win!
I have my small Canon Elph which I though was pretty good until this summer. Our French intern has a Canon Rebel and her pics of our farm and The Cheesiry were OUTSTANDING. I want to take photos of the farm and The Cheesiry for our boutique and farmers market booth and I know this is the camera I need. The photo tips you gave here are great! At my engagement photos the photog used my hubby’s white shirt as a reflector for me!
I take ok pics of food with my iPhone=Fake Foodie. I really want to take great shots of my new grandson=Groovy Gramma 🙂
I’m always so hungry after reading any of your blog posts!
Hi Julie! Love your blog! Really hope me and my daughter win!
Thanks for these great tips Julie! I’ve followed your blog for years now & appreciate a non-food post. Would love to wina. New camera – pathetically I’m still shooting my kids with an iPhone camera. 🙂
Thanks for all the great food photo tips 🙂
Love your food and ahhhh photos. I just need a personal helper as I go….
Great tips, thank you
Happy Birthday
Thanks for sharing!
You are one smart cookie & a great teacher. Thanks for inspiring me in the kitchen and now behind the camera. Happy Birthday Julie!
Classic tampon trick ha!
Thank you for the tutorial! You make your tips seem practical and achievable(with a little magic thrown in). I also appreciate that all of your props and tricks were done on a budget. Thank you for creating a stunning and classic blog.
I’d sure love that camera!
Thanks Julie! I love the way you make everything seem so simple. You inspire me to try kitchen tricks and use ingredients I would never otherwise 🙂
BTW – I must be the only one who has never posted a photo of my dinner.
thanks Julie!
some great tips in there!
would love to win a better camera to photograph food with
Always an interesting and inspiring read, thank you!
Thank you, Julie for the tips and suggestions
I have been taking food photos, too but I do not have such an expensive camera, so all my photos are just taken by my iphone!
Thank you for advising how to take food photos!!
Thanks for the great tips! I feel inspired to try to take more food photos now!
oops I forgot to leave my e-mail address.
Lovely camera!! Would love to win this as our canon is slowly going too! The food photography tips are perfect! I have been working on my ‘negative spaces’ for the past little while!
Thanks for the tips! I’ve airways considered making my own light box.
A very happy and awesome birthday Julie!Thank you so much for the great tips! Now if only I could win the camera……Don’t own one and it would be great to win it.
Great tips! I’m always taking pics of baking or meals to post but they never look quite right… I’ll try again!
Hi Julie. Love your recipes and your photography! It’s my hobby too. It would be cool to win the camera, thank you.
Fantastic tips! I’d love to win because I’ve needed a good camera for years. Crossing my fingers!
Julie – these tips and tricks for photographing food are awesome! Thanks!!
Thanks for the tips!!
I’m a beginning photographer and U of C student who loves good food! Cheers Julie!
Thanks Julie, it’s great to have all of these tips in one place. My great discovery recently was to invest in a tripod. I feel like it gives me a third hand when I’m shooting food, which is a big help.
What a wonderful blog! Thanks so much for sharing these terrific tips.
Thanks for everything you do Julie…you are my go-to for all things foodie. I would be lost in the kitchen without you!
Thanks for the photo tips I find food the hardest thing to photograph.
I love foo and I love photographs of food!!
Thanks for the tips Julie!
Hi,
This article was incredibly helpful. I take photos of food at restaurants, and they are awful. Now I know why! There is a lot more to taking a good photo then pressing the click button.
Thanks.
I last night arrived from a three week journey in India. The food was fabulous and much of it recorded on a simple Lumix. I missed checking your site while I was away and it is so good to be home.
Love your site it gives me so many ideas and new things to try.
Thank you for this informative post, and for all of your simple, fuss-free recipes & blog posts. I find so much inspiration from your ideas and your style. A new camera!!? Oh yes please!!
great tips! and you are the best food photographer that i know 🙂 have a fantastic birthday.
Great photography tips Julie, it makes the food look like it should taste so good, it really entices you to want to try the recipe.
Gosh, could I use a new camera. I dropped mine while traveling and it hasn’t been the same since.
I knew some of the things that you shared, but learned a bunch as well (shirt reflection ftl!). Thanks for the lesson, and the opportunity to learn.
Great Tips! I would love to try them out when I win the Canon EOS Rebel SL1!
Fantastic tips. Especially love the one of Home Depot boards Mike painted for you. Can’t wait to put these into use.
I follow your tweets and love your sense of humor. Also, W is following in your footsteps – he’s got a wickedly dry sense of humor too! Thanks for all the great photos.
Great tips! I’m going to revisit this a few times, there is so much good information! 😀 And great giveaway too 🙂
Great tips, thanks for this post, and for the chance at winning an awesome camera. 🙂
Who knew there was so much to taking your wonderful pics of your food? Thanks for the insights!
This is such a useful post Julie. And a generous giveaway.
Great post, thanks for all the tips!
Holy, Julie!! These tips are perfect. Looks like I’ll be one of those people who instagrams their food now, but better!
thank you for the photography lesson! i really needed it! and hip hip hooray for canon cameras and canadian giveaways 🙂
Love it and all of your posts.
I hope to win. Taking pictures of food is sort of like a food diary! Presentation is important!Thank you for the tips.:0)
Great tips! I can’t wait to try them out on my next creation (perhaps with my new camera!). Thanks for sharing.
Thank you for sharing such informative food photography tips with everyone. I have learned a lot and truly appreciate it.
What an amazing give away, perfect Christmas gift for my husband!
I would love this camera. It is so versatile. Way better than our phone camera! Lets take picture taking to a whole new level!
Thanks for the opportunity.
Awesome tips you are sharing.
Looks great – love the tips and now I”m hungry for some yummy baking – at 7 am!
Hi, fellow Julie!
Thanks for the tips. There are so many good food pictures out there on blogs these days; they’ve really helped me take better pictures – and not just of food. 🙂 It’s fun to see the progress!
Love your blog 🙂 These tips are awesome too!
Beautiful photos! I love the photo of the pancakes. So clear you can almost taste them. The light on the syrup and berries is lovely.
Truly lovely pics. Love the idea of incl people so really like the one w the pies and the boy peeking over!
The warmth in your food photos is fantastic. I’ve loved your blog for years, and your Starting Out book is still teaching me about cooking. You rock.
I love you for posting these tips!
Happy Birthday to a great cook! You are an inspiration to me and I have tried your recipes and gained many great cooking tips. I often listen to you on the radio as I am enjoying that second cup of coffee. Have a great and memorable birthday.
Wonderful that you have received a new camera so that we can all enjoy the photos you take!
Crossing my fingers!
If only I could access the delicious looking food in your pics whilst reading the post……that would be amazing.
Beautiful pics! I’ve been drooling over digital SLRs but I’ve never been able to justify the expense.
How did I not see this post sooner? So excited about this contest. Would absolutely love one!
Thanks for the great photography tips!
just about anything 😛
These are really good tips, thanks. Your photography makes me want to try again, with the camera and the cooking.
I love the shot of W. and the pies. “Change your perspective!” Yes.
Looking forward to a new camera!!
When I first read this post and your offer of the camera give away I decided to leave it for someone else because I have a camera already. Seeing those few shots you have posted here and in the great outdoors (which are VERY good) I decided that I really should have my name in for the draw. Thank-you in advance……
Great tips!! Thanks! Looks like you’re having a great time in Jasper!
Nice photos. Love all your amazing recipes. Keep coming.
Great seeing you in Jasper last weekend – love this article!
Wow. Thanks for so generously sharing all your knowledge. Seriously, so helpful!!!
Hi Julie,
I love your blog and your recipes. Thank you for being so generous with your time and effort.
The photos in this post are spectacular!
Thanks for the great tips and photos, Julie. Love your site!
Another great post Julie. I can’t wait to see all the new photos you take!
The photos I take on my point and shoot camera have always seemed lacking compared to the quality of photo I took on my old film SLR’s – back in the day when a 36 picture roll of film was such luxury.
Thanks so much for your blog with food/recipe inspiration and now how to photograph it as well. 🙂
MMM all those beautiful photoa make me want to get my bake on.
Julie – your photos are always so great! And, I think many of your pointers are helpful for photos in general, not just of food – thanks for that!
Loved meeting you at CIN, thanks for all of the tips.
Beautiful pictures 🙂
Love your blog. My favourite recipe so far are your browned butter blondes. YUM!
Great tips. It’s amazing to see the “simple” things of life look so beautiful. God just gives us so much to celebrate every day.
Simple answer to your question re need for a new camera – YES! Really enjoyed this post, thanks!
Even though I don’t qualify for the Camera draw,(I’m from Puerto Rico in the Caribbean)just a note to congratulate you on the info and nice pictures.
Julie! You’ve inspired me since i attended a session of yours on publishing books in Canmore AB! Right about the same time I found your blog & have love, LOVED it!!! I would love to win this fabulous camera! And am thinking of creating photo collection of babies, toddlers…little ones eating their most delicious foods. Those expressions of rapture, revulsion and/or resignation are expressed so clearly on little faces. Keeping my fingers crossed! Thank you!!!
I really need to make those chocolate chip cookies!
Wow! These are some great tips! Thanks Julie. And that looks like a great little portable camera, just right for bringing along with the family. What a great giveaway!
Great photography, wonderful recipes, super photo tips.
Since moving away from Banff, I’ve missed hearing you on the radion every week, but I’m so glad that I can follow your blog from the east coast. Thank you for the beautiful photos from Jasper… I miss the mountains so much!
Canon EOS Rebel SL1 with lenses…Wow, what a great little camera and what wonderful pictures you were able to take with it. I enjoy your cooking features and one day am going to eat some of your best food. Thanks Julie for making my day!
I’ve a lot to learn – even without a fancy camera your photos look pretty great. Love the latest ones you’ve posted from Jasper though!
I just started a blog with my mom called “For the Love of Borscht”. She has been
raving about you for years. I am a university student who loves to eat well, cook for friends, and squeeze in some time to blog. Thank you!
Thanks for the tips for shooting food!
Been a fan of your column and books for years – you’ve inspired me to start a cookbook of my own recipes. I’ve been playing around with it the past year and hope to have something to publish (even if it is only one copy that sits proudly on my rather large cookbook shelf – what am I saying – cookbook bookcase) next year.
I love your blog and recipes. I have always wanted to go to Christmas in November so thanks for all the photos and descriptions so I feel like I was there (well kind of). I like all your event blogs and the wonderful photos. Keep them coming.
Thanks for the tips and the beautiful shots of Jasper! That trip sounds like a dream come true – some day… That camera sounds amazing. If I don’t win it I may have to out it on my list! 🙂
I have the same camera, but without the video and LOVE it – but it is old. Pick me! Pick me! What a fantastic post, Julie! Wonderful laughing with and at you last week. My cheeks still hurt. GORGEOUS post about Christmas in November, by the way. I am just writing mine, but took few outdoor shots this year… just didn’t get into nature with mom… and look what else we missed. SO much to enjoy there.
XO
Valerie
My favourite piece of advice you gave is the “Know the rule of thirds, and then forget it”. That has truly helped my occasional iPhone pics of food that I send to any friends that are not with me….
Love this site!
j
It seems we’re always making great meals that can’t be recreated easily because they contain the oddest of leftovers, so a picture is the only way to keep the memory alive. Thank you so much for showing us such creative tips!
Wishing I was in Jasper right now!
What a great photography tutorial! Would love a new lightweight camera!! Thanks for the chance to win one!!! Cheers!!
Fantastic giveaway, I’ve never owned a good camera before and this would get me into learning photography
Great tips for not just food photography, but getting better photos in general – thanks!
Wow, great tips! Thanks, Julie, I adore your site and recommend it to everyone! 🙂
Would be a great improvement from an iPhone!
I have been using my phone to take pics would be great fun using a wonderful camera.
Oh My I hope I didn’t miss out on this awesome chance to win. As a single mom I would of course love to have this but time will tell. Thanks you for all the amazing tips on how I can take better pictures.
This is my one of my favourite posts to date – I’ve always wondered why my pics look so far from yours!
Thank you for all the useful tips. I look forward to trying them out!
Just bought your book “Starting Out” and it has really encouraged and inspired me to try new recipes
Your photos are fantastic and a feast for the eyes! I’ve a lot to learn about photography and cooking, looking forward to the challenge!
I love how you reinvent recipes and use leftovers, and your photographs lend themselves to the process. I have shared this blog numerous times as it is my absolute favourite, and it was the first I added in my bookmarks!!
Beautiful pictures of beautiful dishes. I would LOVE to kick my photography up a few hundred notches with this camera!
“anything” Love you blog and would love the camera 🙂
This was a very informative article. Thank you for the tips. I am expecting a baby in March and would love this camera to capture the moments with my family.
Fantastic photos! I love your blog – thanks for all the great food ideas!
Your tricks and tips are great because they’re so specific. I enjoy your Canadian perspective on the food scene.
Great tips, thank you!
Thanks for all the great tips and hint. I love to take pics of food and parties I throw.
Thanks for all the fabulous tips Julie!