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Food Photography: Capturing Food in Your Kitchen (Udemy.com)

With DIY Food Photography, you'll be taking better photos in no time with what you have in your own kitchen!

Created by: Phil Ebiner

Last updated September 2026

Our take

Based on the ratings of 3,345 students, a sample of their written reviews and the syllabus, as the course stood in September 2026. No course pays to be reviewed.

Phil Ebiner and Will Carnahan built this as a small, practical course on shooting food at home. It runs about 2.9 hours across 38 lectures, but the core lessons on location, styling, light, camera settings and four shot types add up to roughly 45 minutes. The rest is five demo shoots, a long water-splash workshop and a section of Lightroom presets. The syllabus was last refreshed in September 2026, so it is not stale.

Reviewers like how clearly it is explained and how cheap the lighting tricks are. One mentions already knowing the white board but being surprised by how useful a black board can be. Beginners call it easy to follow, and one photographer with 35 years behind an SLR still picked up ideas on lighting, reflection and composition. The complaints are about depth. A few say there is less content than they hoped. Editing gets little time, one person could not see which buttons were being clicked, and the presets only work in Lightroom.

With a 4.7 rating from 3,345 reviews and nearly 95,000 students, most people leave satisfied. About 120 of the ratings are one or two stars, and the one low-star review in our sample calls it thin for the price. Treat it as a quick first step for a phone and some natural light. If the goal is serious editing or styled multi-dish spreads, plan to learn that somewhere else.

Best forHome cooks and food bloggers who want better phone or camera photos using natural light and household props.
Skip it ifYou want in-depth Photoshop or Lightroom editing, or shots of whole tables and multiple dishes.

Pros

  • Lighting setups use a white sheet and poster board, so there is little to buy
  • Five demo shoots show how setup, styling and angles come together
  • Easy to follow for beginners, yet a 35-year SLR shooter still found new ideas
  • Adds a water-splash workshop and free Lightroom presets

Cons

  • Editing gets little time, and one reviewer could not see the buttons being clicked
  • Presets are Lightroom only, which leaves Affinity Photo users out
  • Several reviewers wanted more content, including whole tables and multi-dish scenes
This was perfect as an introductory to food photography. Everything was explained well and easy to understand. No fancy equipment needed so perfect for anyone who wants to make a start in photographing food.
Andrea Simpson, a student

Listed for all levels, but it really suits beginners with a phone or camera. No photography experience is needed.

Featured in our guide: The Best Photography Courses on Udemy in 2026

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What you will learn

  • Take beautiful photographs of food in your home.
  • Compose a variety of mouth-watering food photographs that tell your food's story
  • Create a unique setting and style for your own food photography
  • Control natural light in your home to shoot better photographs
  • Edit your food photographs to make them look even better

Course content

6 sections · 38 lectures · 2.9 hours of video 6 articles

  1. 1Dive in to Food Photography 5 free previews14 lectures · 45 min
  2. 2Food Photography Demonstrations 1 free preview5 lectures · 17 min
  3. 3High Speed Product / Beverage Splash Photography2 lectures · 58 min
  4. 4Conclusion 1 free preview2 lectures · 6 min
  5. 5Free Lightroom Presets14 lectures · 47 min
  6. 6Bonus1 lecture · 3 min

Who it is for

The instructor says it suits

  • Food bloggers
  • Foodies - anyone that loves food
  • Home chefs - anyone that loves to make food
  • Photographers looking to learn how to shoot food photographs
  • This is NOT a course about fancy studio shoots. This is a DIY food photography course for anyone that wants to learn how to take better photos of their food at home.

What you need before you start

  • Students don't need any experience with photography or preparing food.
  • Students should have a smartphone or camera that they can use to practice shooting their own food photographs.

How it compares

Against the other 275 rated Udemy courses in Photography on CourseDuck:

  • Rating4.7 out of 5higher than 80% of them
  • Reviews3,345#16 of 276 by number of reviews
  • Length2.9 hoursshorter than 52% of them
  • Last updatedSeptember 2026more recently than 90% of them

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Course Description

With DIY Food Photography, you'll be taking better photos of your food in just an hour.

Every lesson is hands on, and shows you how to use resources right in your home to create delicious, mouth-watering images. We'll walk you through the entire process, and we're available if you have any questions along the way.

Whether you're a food blogger, self-proclaimed master chef, or just an Instagram foodie, this course will give you the skills needed to take professional food photos.

Impress your family and friends with great photos of your food creations!

Steps to great food photography that you'll learn in this course:

  1. Pick the best location for your photos. 
  2. Prepare and style your food and setting.
  3. Light your food with inexpensive tools like a white sheet and $1 poster board. 
  4. Choose the best camera and settings.
  5. Compose 4 types of shots to get all the best angles.
  6. Edit your photos to make them look even more tantalizing!

Tell your food's story!

Our goal is to teach you how to take better photos of your food with any camera, wherever you are. After walking you through the basics, you'll see us shoot 5 different food and drink setups that will inspire you to take your own food photos.

Bonus: Everyone who enrolls gets a composition cheat-sheet that shows how to compose your shots.

Enroll now to get started! We can't wait to see you inside!

Will Carnahan & Phil Ebiner

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Instructor Details

Phil Ebiner

I’m Phil Ebiner, an educator, photographer, filmmaker, and founder of Video School and Photography & Friends. Through my online courses and creative community, I’ve helped millions of students around the world learn practical skills in photography, video production, design, and more. My goal is to make creative skills feel accessible, useful, and encouraging, whether you’re picking up a camera for the first time or looking to take your work to the next level.

My teaching style is clear, supportive, and hands-on. I break complex topics into simple steps, explain the “why” behind each technique, and share real-world examples you can immediately apply. As a photographer and filmmaker, I believe great creative work is not just about gear or settings, but about storytelling, intention, observation, and connection. My goal is to help you feel confident, inspired, and capable of bringing your own creative ideas to life.


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Reviews

4.7

3,345 ratings on Udemy

Select a bar to show only those reviews.Select the bar again to show every rating.

By Andrea Simpson on 5/11/2024

This was perfect as an introductory to food photography. Everything was explained well and easy to understand. No fancy equipment needed so perfect for anyone who wants to make a start in photographing food. Instructors Will and Phil presented this course well. I enjoyed the watersplash workshop and learned a little bit more about this. Its a shame the presets included in the course are for Lightroom only as I use affinity photo 2. Overall...Excellent!

By Alexis Passarelli on 3/23/2024

I am only on the 6th module and I am loving it so far!! I am by no means a photographer and this course has really helped me to understand what it means to take a good photo by adding props, having the proper light, using the right camera, etc. By doing all of this, you can create a great photo that adds so much value to your dish!

By Hana Oser on 9/16/2021

I enjoyed this course because, it was simple enough so you weren't overwhelmed by an overextended course, or too many technical terms. It also wasn't too easy to where I didn't feel like I wasn't learning anything. It was just the right amount of information and resources for me to be better at photographing food. Thank you!

By Susan Collins-Smith on 5/5/2021

I took this course because I'm taking on some duties related to the food section of a blog. This helped me understand how to set a camera for still photos of food and get a good photo by setting up the right environment. But the bonus, I think, is learning how to style the food with items on hand. I found it really helpful.

By Lisa Shaughnessy on 4/12/2021

I thought it was a great intro to food photography. It covered a little bit of every area and not I at least know which areas I would like to focus on for continued learning. Everything was easy to understand and that was key. I would recommend this course to anyone curious about food photography as a hobby or part of your business.

By Shermin Fathima on 7/9/2020

A short and crisp course on food photography. The practice session looks really helpful. Types of shots (based on angles) was new to me. Learned a lot of DIY tips. And basic DIY photography equipment. I was expecting more technical knowledge on 'composition of food'. Also on motion/action in photography.

By Abdul Halim on 7/1/2020

This course was really useful for me. I am not a professional photographer but have a great passion in it. I am running a homestay in Thekkady, Kerala. As part of my business food photography is very important. By this course, I got confident and the idea to take food photos. Thanks my teacher.

By Jennifer Bogan Flores on 5/26/2019

This course was perfect for a beginning food blogger/photographer! Will & Phil obviously know their stuff, but more important to me as a student is their ability to respectfully instruct me logically & methodically, supporting me to grow from basically knowing nothing more than how to point & shoot on my smartphone--to understanding how to locate, design & light my settings, to compose & edit my shots, and to recognize & appreciate the pros & cons of different types of cameras! These guys already have me shopping my home for accessories & purchasing my foam core--I've got my first recipe ready to practice prepping & shoooting! Thank you gentlemen--I loved this class!

By Mangirish Mate on 8/8/2018

As Will said in the intro itself, this course is for anyone who wants to learn food photography with the basic setup giving professional looking photos. Lessons are to the point and adding difference makes the idea very clear what and how the particular thing affect the photo. Most of the times we visit a restaurant with friends at evening/night. Will & Phil should add a lesson for photography in such environment, dark/limited light, with the smart-phone.

By Paul Hannagen on 4/30/2018

Course is delivered at a great pace. Love the way its divided into topics, really appreciate the language used to deliver the information and I'm looking forward to the rest of the course! Gave it 4/5 as I haven't learnt anything new just yet but I've only just completed the first 5 'sections'.

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Overall Score : 94 / 100