Authors and publishers often make the mistake of assuming the recipes are the heart of a good cookbook. Although recipes are of course an important part of the work, today's cooks want more. Colorful and instructive close up photography enhances cookbooks, making them both more appealing and more helpful to new and experienced chefs alike.

Savoring The Images

A cookbook can't emit the smell or taste of a finished dish, but it can provide a mouthwatering image that tempts readers to try new recipes. Close up photography creates highly detailed pictures that leap off the page and grab people's attention. The right image can trigger craving just as much as smell or taste, and inspire cooks to expand their culinary horizons.

Experienced cooks might be able pick meals by scanning lists of ingredients, but those newer to the craft are often lost when confronted with page after page of recipes. Pictures allow cooks to flip through and spot meals that look appetizing. Photographs are also a great way to engage children. From an early age, kids can flip through cookbooks and pick the meals that look good, and then help an adult prepare the food.

Cookbooks As Textbooks

Many cookbooks are more than simple collections of recipes. They also try to educate readers in the finer points of food preparation. Cooking terminology is precise and a misunderstanding can lead to a bad meal. An inexperienced cook might think that mincing, dicing, chopping and cubing all mean the same thing, but each is a subtly different technique. Close up photography clearly demonstrates the difference between the fine pieces produced by mincing and the uniformity of dicing.

Pictures easily depict differences that are hard to convey in words, such as the difference between beating to soft peaks and beating to stiff peaks. They can show the unique features fresh herbs, so cooks don't accidentally grab the sage when the recipe calls for thyme.

Making the Sale

Modern publishing techniques make it easy for anyone to publish a cookbook. Every person with a collection of family recipes wonders if it is possible to turn it into a best seller. No matter how delicious, healthy or easy the recipes might be, there still needs to be a way to convince shoppers to buy this book over the one next to it.

The fact is people do judge books by their covers. Close up photography of some of the delectable meals contained within the cookbook will draw shoppers in and motivate them to purchase the book. Even if the cookbook is an ebook or a collection of recipes on a website, a single picture is all it takes to get people's attention and improve sales.

Close up photography enhances cookbooks in many ways, from clarifying instructions to increasing sales. Supplement your wonderful recipes with bright and colorful images and bring your cookbook to a new level of quality.