How To Take Better Food Photos: 5 Simple Secrets

“As much as it flatters me when I get emails asking for advice about food photography, I rarely have a good response. I don’t think of myself as a real photographer, I never learned accepted techniques. If you like my photos, you’ll probably agree you can get far without this information, though I suspect you could get further with it.”  — Taha Ahmed, Ace Instagrammer 

Do you take pictures of your food? Is it impossible for you to dig into meal without a photo or two? Do you drool over those gorgeous, splashy images that are all over Instagram? Ever wished you could take such mouthwatering shots? 

Me too!

For most of us, our photography skills are a perpetual work in progress and I, for one, am always looking for pointers to up my food photo game. This time, I stalked, ace Instgrammer, Taha Ahmed, and asked him for his top tip and tricks. 

BTW, even though he doesn’t exclusively photograph edibles, Taha’s images are so clean and beautifully composed, it’s easy to fangirl over his feed. In other words, in case you haven’t had a chance to check out his work, do it now!

Taha's Instagram feed is to die for and definitely worth following!

To demonstrate the difference his advice makes, I used my iPhone 6 to take before and after photos using each of his suggestions. The results speak for themselves. 

So, let’s get started!

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11 Legit Life Lessons From My Mother + Garlic & Herb Marinated Mozzarella Bites

To my mother: Some women are born to shine. Others are born to blind you with their brilliance. I love you. 

Once you have kids, there are a couple of things you realize very quickly. 

Some are rickety cliches, but mostly true. There is no such thing as “alone time”. You’ll be astounded by your own capacity to love. Your children are your greatest strength and your greatest weakness.

Others realities are a little more esoteric. You know. Like that overwhelming impulse to try and instill 7.2 billion nuggets of earth-shattering wisdom into those little sponge-like minds before they venture out into this wild and crazy world because you’re determined to equip your babies with everything they’ll need to know in order to tackle the pain in the ass that is adult life.

The struggle is real, people. 

My mom insists I’m overthinking things. 

Easy for her to say. 

When it comes to imparting the secrets of life, she’s like some sort of Shaolin monk. Totally fierce,totally slick. Her “you move, you die” look is on point and her “doing trumps saying” game is seriously strong. 

In other words, she’s almost never had to verbalize any of these rules. Instead, she’s quietly lived by them, silently allowing us to choose between f*cking up or following suit. 

That’s some mad power, yo! You can read more about her championship-winning child-rearing skills here. 

Meanwhile, here are 11 of the most life-altering lessons she’s taught me. 

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