When I started food blogging, I knew I needed to attach a photo of my creation to get people interested in what I’m offering. At that time, I had a point and shoot Sony camera (Sony Cybershot DSCW50 6MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Zoom.)

I wasn’t aware of how to take a proper food picture. My angles were weird, for example in some photos the plate looked as though it was flying!

Flash was my best friend, it was ON every time I took a picture. Blurry pictures were a frequent result and I didn’t know how to avoid them. Styling the food was another problem.

Looking at mouth-watering food pictures of my foodie friends, scared me like hell. “I can never do that,” I told myself.

I didn’t give up on my point and shoot camera, in fact I still have it and use it. You can take beautiful pictures using your point and shoot digital camera as well.

Take a look at the photos below, they were taken by my point and shoot camera and they’re actually in my Best Low Calorie Recipes cookbook:

Low Calorie Lemon Walnut Scones

Low Calorie Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Glaze

Low Calorie Macaroni with Cheese and Vegetables

Low Calorie Mushroom Frittata

Tandoori Chicken

I used point and shoot camera and sunlight. For editing, I used Photoshop but you can use Irfan View software.

Irfan View is free to download, very simple software, which has limited editing options, yet you can see below that I was able to make some changes in color enhancement and lighting.

Some of the pictures I took using point and shoot have actually made it to websites like Foodgawker and Tastespotting.

All you have to do is practice and you’ll make it. If I did it, so can you.

This is my effort to make it easier for those who are new to food blogging and have no experience in food photography.

How to take a good picture:

- Read the camera’s manual. It’s very important though boring.

- Get your camera ready, clean the lens.

- Make sure the battery is fully charged. You don’t want the camera to die on you while taking pictures of Ice cream.

- Turn that flash off, please.

- Take your pictures at daytime.

- To reduce blurriness, support your elbows on a table or any stable object.

- Turn on Macro on your camera.

- Get closer to the object you’re photographing. This will insure that your dish is visible and not lost in the background.

- Focus on the dish, not the background or the table it’s on.

- Make sure the dish is not in the center. This will help in editing the picture later.

- Taking pictures from different angles is the best way to find the best shoot. Take a picture from the right, left, stand on a stable chair, or bend your knees a bit. You’ll be surprised how different the dish looks from different angles.

- Hold the camera horizontally and at times vertically. This makes a lot of difference.

- Lock the focus before taking the picture. This will also reduce the blurriness.

- Take that picture with confidence.

Few tips on taking better pictures:

- Before taking a picture of your dish, search the internet for similar dishes and look at how it’s presented, the angle, and the distance to the dish. Get inspired but don’t copy it 100%.

- Let it be simple. Don’t crowd the background since this will divert attention from the dish.

- White or black plain plates are great.

- Serve the food in small plates and small glasses. Other than looking cute, it will fit nicely in your frame.

- Just cooked dish with steam rising out of it will bring life to the picture.

- Taking pictures of vegetables or fruits being cut also adds movement and life to pictures.

- If shooting a cold drink, it’s better to keep the glass in the freezer for a while before taking the picture. This will add a cold foggy look to the glass and the drink will look chilled.

- If you cooked or baked the dish at night, save some and take its picture the next day at daytime.

- If taking pictures of Ice cream and the temperature in the room is high, place the ice cream in your choice of serving bowl and keep it in the freezer. After setting everything for the shoot, take the ice cream out of the freezer and immediately take its picture. Make sure the bowl you’re using can take the temperature of the freezer.

- Don’t overdo the styling of the dish. Too many fruits or too much decoration adds noise to the picture.

- Choose wood, white, or streaked tablecloth under the plate. Keep the colors light.

- Don’t be afraid of cropping the picture if there are other objects beside your dish.

-  If you found a good light but it’s creating a dark shadow on the other side of your dish, place a thick object on the shadow’s side. This will reduce it. In the picture below I have used a book.

- When editing your picture, what you have to work on is:

a- Brightness (either increase or decrease).

b- Color balance. Your picture might look too red or too blue, color correction allow you to balance the colors.

c- Contrast.

d- Saturation.

•   Get this book , The author explained how to get professional food photographs. She takes you through the technicality of taking food photos, lighting, editing, composition, and more.

•   Get this software if you want to have more options for editing your photos, . There is a lot you can do and this software have made it all easy with tutorials and a video available on their website showing how to make your photos look their best.