Book Review: "Plate to Pixel" by Helene Dujardin

"Plate to Pixel" by Helene Dujardin, sub-titled "Digital Food Photography & Styling" was put out by Wiley Publishing, Inc. in 2011. It is a 266 page soft-cover book. Printed on heavy stock, it contains many excellent color photographs to clearly illustrate the ideas and techniques in the text.

"Pixel to Plate" is a comprehensive book about food photography that should be helpful to anyone interested in this subject. Photography basics and camera settings are covered in the first two chapters for beginning photographers. The following six chapters cover natural and artificial lighting, composition ideas for food, set ups for shooting, food styling and post-capture editing, organization and storage.

This was the first food-specific book I read when I finally decided to jump into food photography and start a food blog. It was very helpful, giving me needed information on how to achieve the lighting to make various foods look great. There are also many good compositional ideas to use as starting points.

Overall, "Plate to Pixel" by Helene Dujardin is a very good place to start for beginning photographers wanting to improve their food photography and for more advanced photographers who want to expand their expertise in this area. At $29.99 US, this book is a treasure trove of inspiration.

Book review: "Contemporary Landscape Photography"

Contemporary Landscape Photography is a new book by Carl E. Heilman II. It is published by Amphoto Books which has a large stable of photography book titles. Suggested retail prices for the 176-page volume is $24.99 and it is available new through Amazon.comAmazon.com for $16.99.

This is a well written and fully illustrated book covering all aspects of landscape photography. All photographers from beginners to experienced professionals will gain something to add to their photographic arsenal. Starting with a review of equipment choices and features and progressing through development of a personal vision, it then moves on to the possibilities of location and lighting and ends with post-processing techniques. Topic coverage is thorough, in-depth and inspiring.

Heilman includes his personal thought processes and reasoning at many appropriate spots throughout the book, making this much more than just another how-to manual. The illustrating photos are well executed and appropriate for topic. The printing is crisp and clear on heavy coated matte paper stock.

Contemporary Landscape Photography would be a welcome addition to any landscape, nature or wildlife photographer’s bookshelf. We all need a little review of the basics, reminder of more advanced techniques and injection of inspiration now and then. This book is just the ticket.