For taking pictures of food in good lighting conditions, I use the following workflow:

• Take the shot with the native camera app
• Open the picture in Snapseed to rework
• Save to Pictures
• Open new version in Instagam
• Finish editing and share through Instagram

This way you can get some lovely results in Snapseed, and then use Instagram for sharing across your Social Media channels and a final tweek if needed.

Instagram is great for its photo sharing options, and good for a quick snap. However, often images edited in this app look like quite similar – so I use it sparingly.

I like to have a bit more control over the final image than instagram allows – that said the results can be lovely.

If the lighting conditions are poor, I use Filterstorm to correct the image contrast and colour balance before opening in Snapseed and following the workflow outlined above.

Click here for an earlier post about Filterstorm – and ignore previous posts about PerfectPhoto…!

Next Blog Post will be detailed use of Snapseed…

I find that the best spot in a restaurant to shoot the food is by a window, with the light coming from one side, as side light brings out the texture in food – also try lighting from behind the food to create ‘blown out’ highlights and a nice feeling of light. Generally you should avoid direct sunlight, as this is just too strong and will give you an image with very high contrast.

Once you have found some lovely soft directional window light, you may find quite a strong shadow on the opposite side of the food. Unless you are in the middle of a nice meal and dont want to create a scene, use a reflector on the other side of the dish to bounce light back into this shadow area.

I think it is important to use all of the tools in your tool box, rather than depending on just a couple for your photography. Photographing finished dishes with these apps can work OK, but I prefer finished dishes to look clean and clear.

That said, I think there is a couple of situations where these apps shine, and my favorite use for them is photographing produce and people.

Both apps give you some control over some lovely post processing effects, and these effects can really help to add atmosphere and feeling that is very evocative of the emotions of a situation.

http://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/filterstorm/id363449020?mt=8

Start by cropping your shot down a bit, to remove unwanted details / distractions. The crop tool can be found under the option ‘Canvas Tools’.

Under Filters on the left hand side, select Hue/Saturation.

Select the top spectrum icon, and then move the slider down until the preview image looks more natural – this reduces the overall saturation.

Select the bottom blue / yellow icon, and then move the slider up – this removes yellow / adds blue.

If the image looks a bit flat, try the curves option. Move the middle of the curve upwards to brighten the mid-tones and give the image a bit more life.

From the tools menu, select the levels option. Adjusting the levels of an image is a way to fine tune the tonal range of an image – as a rule of thumb you need to push the end sliders in to improve the exposure. When you are happy with how the image looks, select the apply button.

Next select Color Balance in the Tools menu. If your image looks too yellow, move the blue slider to the right to increase the amount of blue in your image. Sometime shots taken in commercial kitchens can look a bit green – try sliding the green slider to the left to reduce the amount of green in your image. when you are happy, select apply.

Select Color Temperature from the menu – this is similar to the Color Balance. Lets skip the theory lesson here and keep things simple – if your image is too yellow, move the slider to the left hand side.

And that should just about do it!  Please feel free to leave any questions or comments on this post below.