Guest Post by Matthew, Food Writer at MarxFoods.com

I’ve been experimenting with photography for most of my life, but I’ve never had much practice photographing food. Mostly I’ve shot architecture or trees…things that don’t dry out, get cold, or melt.

Since starting this job I’ve been photographing food at home more, trying to get good at it. Here’s a white-chocolate-raspberry crème brulee I helped a friend make:

Once or twice I’ve had the chance to practice my food photography on the job, once Ryan (the MMM food photographer) has styled the plate and taken the primary shots going to be used on the Marx Foods web store and blog. He was recently kind enough to share one of my burger photos on the MMM blog.

Of course, it’s a lot easier to shoot a great food photo when you’ve had a pro style the plate for you, but I still had to jump on the opportunity immediately. Because MMM doesn’t use the sprays, lacquers and stand-in ingredients often found in the food photography biz, time is of the essence.

The camera has an unerring ability to pick up subtle visual clues in food that has already started to cool down or dry out. It’s hard to put your finger on what exactly you’re noticing, but somehow your brain knows when a dish is past its prime in a photo.