Note to Self: Never Attempt A Photo of Buttercream Frosting In Direct Sunlight!

I am in the process of creating gluten free & vegan recipes for my blog and upcoming cookbook. I decided to finally take the time to actually learn how to use my very expensive and hardly used Nikon camera. I called a friend who is a professional and asked if he would give me a few pointers. 

Above is my first picture after my first photography lesson. I bartered chocolate ganache (which is a fancy word for fudge) brownies for the hour and a half "how to take pictures of food for a blog" class. The cupcake (gluten free & vegan pumpkin pie) and frosting (also gluten free & vegan butter cream cheese) tasted fantastic but the photo is a hot mess. I mean literally a hot mess...the room where I was trying to take the photo was to warm for the butter cream frosting. As you can see the frosting is screaming "I'm melting" as it is sliding off the cupcake.

This is my second try after I got smart and put the frosting back in the fridge. I let the frosting get a little firmer before I tried icing the cupcake. Taking good pictures of food is so much harder than I thought. Now I know why there is such a job as a "professional food stylist" that assists the photographer. I am learning how to do both jobs along with preparing all of the food loving every minute of it. Hmmm...now all I need is a "taste tester" of my recipes.