Great food always elicits strong reactions-the smell of freshly baked bread, the taste of a perfectly prepared steak. The job of a food photographer is to elicit that same mouth-watering reaction, but without the benefit of scent or taste. A well-shot photograph can send crowds flocking to a new restaurant or boost the sales of a culinary magazine. Capturing the perfect image requires a trained eye, finesse, and photographic skill. Digital Food Photography gives you the ingredients to cook up your own recipe for success-with professional lighting techniques, composition, food and prop styling, retouching, and tricks of the trade. You'll learn how digital photography combines teamwork, creativity, and technology, and how to make money creating delectable works of photographic art.

Lou Manna is an award-winning Olympus Visionary photographer. He has more than 30 years of experience working with chefs, photographing cookbooks, and shooting food for publications such as Wine Enthusiast, Food Arts, and The New York Times, where he worked as a photojournalist from 1975 to 1990. Manna is an early adopter of digital technology¿he has been shooting digitally for more than 10 years. Manna has worked on location and in his studio with famous chefs such as Michael Lomonaco, Jacques Pepin, Bobby Flay, Lidia Bastianich, and Emeril Lagasse. He has appeared on ABC-TV¿s World of Photography and on the Food Network, and has lectured at the French Culinary Institute. Manna¿s award-winning photos have appeared in more than 30 cookbooks, including Dr. Phil's The Ultimate Weight Solution Cookbook, Jacques Torres's Dessert Circus, Pierre Franey's Cuisine Rapide, and Arthur Hettich¿s The Four Star Kitchen. He recently provided a number of shots for The New York Times's bestsellers America 24/7 and New York 24/7.