Being a food photographer is not for everyone. It takes a tremendous amount of patience, a good grasp of studio techniques and food preparation and a few magic tricks to make certain types of food appealing under harsh photography conditions. If I’m photographing extremely perishable foods, such as ice cream, or trying to get the head on a glass of beer just right, it takes years of knowing which tricks will make the shot successful.

It usually takes several shots of a single image to get it just right in food photography. Anyone can take a successful photo of a beautiful landscape or outdoor image that doesn’t change very rapidly. All these shots require is to focus and shoot, Mother Nature is providing the lighting and beautiful subject matter, but food photography requires that everything in the shot be fabricated by the photographer. Knowing food and how it reacts to sitting out for long periods of time at room temperature and under hot studio lighting requires a photographer who is also a halfway decent chef.

Staging food photos is an art itself and requires a special skill. A food photographer has to be part chef and part magazine editor to know what will make an award-winning or acceptable food rendition for a brochure, menu or magazine. And top restaurants demand their dishes be photographically reproduced to perfection, just as when their chef created it. It is often extremely challenging to please a food editor or restaurant owner.