We've all been there: you have a plate of food in front of you that looks and tastes great, but for some reason the photo just doesn't look the same way. It's a common problem for photographers and food lovers alike, and the culprit can often be the hardest foods to photograph. Thankfully, with a little bit of planning and some helpful tips, you can make even the most difficult foods look delicious in your photos.

When it comes to difficult foods to photograph, the hardest foods to photograph in my opinion have always been brown foods, like meats, grain dishes and some baked goods. For these foods, I always rely on garnishes, sauces and complementary ingredients to enhance the look of the dish. For example, for a cut of meat like pork chops, I often style them with a sauce and some fresh herbs like parsley. For a grain dish, like a quinoa dish, I rely on complementary ingredients like veggies, cheese, nuts, seeds and herbs. Finally, for baked goods, a syrup or chocolate sauce, lemon or orange zest and powdered sugar are attractive ways to elevate any dish. In my Fast Track Food Styling Course, I have put together a few resources on my favorite garnishes for different foods!

Another difficult food to photograph is soup. Not only can soup become messy quickly, but without proper lighting, it can quickly become a bowl of brown liquid. To make the most out of your soup photos, I tend to thin out the broth for an opaque soup and add tons of soup ingredients overflowing to the top of the dish to add appeal. If the soup is a pureed soup, add some complementary garnishes on the top, like a swirl of greek yogurt and toasted nuts or seeds.

Finally, sauces, vinaigrettes and gravies can be among the toughest foods to capture in photos. Many common sauces, like BBQ, teriyaki and honey mustard, can become flattened and unappealing quickly. To make your sauces look top-notch, consider splashing your sauce on the dish to give it a drizzled effect, and then use a white plate to achieve a cleaner and brighter look.

It can take some time and practice to create truly mouth-watering photos of your favorite foods, especially when it comes to the toughest ones to photograph. But with proper planning, natural garnishes and proper lighting, you can make even the most challenging foods look appetizing in your photos.