Trials and Tribulations of Food Photography

Hey, gang! Happy Friday!

Today I want to talk about the trials and tribulations of food photography. Back in June, I wrote a post about wanting to boost my involvement with Shock Munch. Although I was proud of my amateur blog, I longed to improve. Here is an update on what’s been going with the Munch.

First I need to address a typo from the June post. I said Shock Munch was averaging 2K page views per month. I reran the numbers and discovered I was incorrect. Shock Munch was averaging 5K page views per month. 5K page views are still minuscule compared to other bloggers, but I was over the moon about it.

I’ve been tinkering with Shock Munch for 3 years, but July 2017 feels like the first month I took this gig seriously. I’m not seeing ginormous gains in numbers but I am seeing improvements. The month of July Shock Munch reached over 7K page views. The month of August Shock Munch reached close to 9K!! The moment I reach 10K I can hire a company to manage Shock Munch’s adds for me which will hopefully result in revenue.

So, in order to achieve a larger readership I’ve been focusing on Shock Munch’s content, primarily food photography. Next to writing a post, food photography is the most difficult aspect for me. I shoot with a Nikon D5100 and a 50mm lens in manual mode. I’m teaching myself about composition, lighting, aperture, shutter speed, and ISO. I find it challenging to master all aspects of food photography, hence, the trials and tribulations.

But that’s not to say I don’t welcome the challenges. There are moments I pat myself on the back because the shot I captured looks amazing. Other days I feel defeated because the photos looked like shit. I’m certainly proud of my accomplishments but I’m impatient AF. I want to know everything about photography yesterday, so I’m needlessly hard on myself when shoots don’t go according to plan.

I focus on where I need to improve so much I don’t take time to celebrate my milestones. But the fact of the matter is I’ve improved my craft! I thought it would be fun to show you how far I’ve come. Here are some before and after shots of my updated food photography.

Beer Brats

Caprese Bites

Cauliflower Mac And Cheese

Proper exposure is the biggest obstacle I currently face regarding food photography. It’s frustrating because the images look great on my camera’s LCD screen but when I upload them to Lightroom, they look dark or too light. I’m struggling to find the perfect balance. However, since I’m doubling the number of posts each week, I’m getting a ton of practice. I’m confident my photography will continue to improve.

Photo editing is another area of photography I’m having fun learning about. I shoot in RAW then edit my photos in both Lightroom and Photoshop. Photo editing will help me enhance my images so I’ve been binge watching tutorials to learn how.

Here’s a before and after photo of a picture I retouched.

Snickerdoodle Sandwich Cookies

The first cookie image looks flat but the second cookie image looks more vibrant.

No matter how frustrated I get with photography, I have to be proud of how far I’ve come. Sure, some bloggers are running circles around me in terms of photography skills, but I need to focus on improving myself. I won’t get better by sitting here complaining about it. I’ll only get better by practicing. And that dear readers, is what I intend to do.

So tell me, what camera are you shooting with? What are some of your trials and tribulations with food photography? I would love to hear what methods you’re using to improve your craft.

Thanks for stopping by,
Christina