# DIY Food Photography: Capture Compelling Closeups of Fruit - review & insight | Gareth B. Davies Source: https://garethbdavies.com/course-insights/diy-food-photography-capture-compelling-closeups-of-fruit/ [← All courses](https://garethbdavies.com/course-insights/) Photography · Quick win · Rated 6 /10 # DIY Food Photography: Capture Compelling Closeups of Fruit Updated August 2026 Tabitha Park · Product & Food Photographer Intermediate · 40 min A working photographer walks through four real fruit setups in 40 minutes, but the terminology stays deliberately shallow. [Get a Free Month on Skillshare](https://skillshare.eqcm.net/c/3155494/298081/4650?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.skillshare.com%2Fclasses%2Fdiy-food-photography-capture-compelling-closeups-of-fruit%2F435656890) New to Skillshare? Your first month is free, enough to take this course at no cost. ## What it actually covers The course opens with a short lens-and-terminology primer before spending most of its 40 minutes on four hands-on demonstrations: cherries in a silver canister, blackberries shot from above, a grapefruit dripping juice into a glass jar, and a plate of sliced kumato tomatoes finished with rock salt. Each demo repeats the same underlying loop: pick a background, set the light direction, style the subject, shoot, then briefly discuss what worked. The cherry segment gets a full Lightroom walkthrough attached to it; the other three get shorter styling and lighting notes without a matching edit session. The macro terminology section is intentionally thin. It defines macro photography, explains minimum focal distance, and contrasts a dedicated macro lens against a $10 clip-on macro filter and smartphone lens attachments, but explicitly declines to get into the math or technical depth of the topic. That is a reasonable choice for the stated audience, but it means anyone expecting a real macro photography education will need to look elsewhere. ## Where the value actually sits The strongest material is the physical styling logic: testing a dark cookie sheet against a light cutting board before committing to a background, nesting a small cup inside a tall canister to fake a full bowl of cherries with far less fruit, freezing blackberries so they sweat and frost for a set amount of shooting time, and salting tomatoes heavily for contrast texture. These are specific, repeatable, low-cost tricks that translate directly to a home kitchen setup, which is exactly what the course promises. The Lightroom segment is useful but uneven. It covers a real workflow: exposure and contrast first, then selective vibrance, a masked adjustment brush to pull unwanted warmth out of a metal can without touching the fruit's saturation, spot-healing a distracting shadow line, and a light vignette at the end. The explanation of the tone curve is skipped entirely with an admission that it isn't fully understood, which is an honest moment but also a real gap for anyone hoping to learn that tool. ## Honest assessment The course delivers on its narrow promise: DIY, at-home, low-budget fruit photography with visible before-and-after results. The instructor's approach is conversational and demonstration-heavy rather than didactic, which suits viewers who learn by watching a process unfold, but it also means techniques are shown once and rarely reinforced or summarized. There is no structured recap of settings used per shot, no aperture or shutter numbers given for the demos, and no discussion of composition rules beyond a brief note on centering versus rule-of-thirds. At 40 minutes across eight lessons, the pacing works better as a lookbook of ideas than a technical curriculum. Viewers wanting camera-setting specifics or a repeatable checklist will come away wanting more structure. Viewers wanting inspiration for a weekend project with the equipment already in their kitchen will get exactly what the blurb promises, delivered by someone clearly comfortable in front of a camera and confident in the aesthetic she is going for. The standout The fill-card demonstration, showing the same cherry shot with and without a bounced-light card, makes the single biggest visible improvement in the whole course for almost no cost. ## What you will learn - · How to use a fill card (a bent white index card) to bounce light back into shadow areas of a close-up shot - · How to choose and audition backgrounds (tile, paper bags, cookie sheets, butcher paper) against a subject's color before shooting - · How backlighting versus front lighting changes the mood and halo effect around translucent or wet fruit - · A basic Lightroom edit sequence: exposure, contrast, selective warmth removal with the adjustment brush, crop, and spot healing - · How to use a macro filter versus a dedicated macro lens versus a smartphone clip-on lens, and the tradeoffs between them - · How to style a scene for volume and realism, such as nesting a smaller cup inside a container to fake an overflowing pile of cherries Best for: Hobbyist photographers or food bloggers with a DSLR or smartphone who want quick, low-budget styling and lighting tricks for tabletop fruit shots. Skip it if: Anyone wanting rigorous macro lens theory, manual camera settings walkthroughs, or a structured Lightroom tutorial rather than a loosely narrated one. Engaging Teacher Helpful Examples Clarity of Instruction Actionable Steps [Get a Free Month on Skillshare](https://skillshare.eqcm.net/c/3155494/298081/4650?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.skillshare.com%2Fclasses%2Fdiy-food-photography-capture-compelling-closeups-of-fruit%2F435656890)