Recipe Beauty Shots: Before and After

 

Get a peek at our best photography reshoots. The food goes from ugly to awesome in these photos, thanks to a focus on great lighting, composition and styling.

 

Photo By: Renee Comet ©Renee Comet

Photo By: Teri Lyn Fisher

Photo By: Matt Armendariz ©2014, Television Food Network, G.P. All Rights Reserved

©2014, Scripps Networks Interactive, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Photo By: Tara Donne

Photo By: Kate Mathis

Photo By: David Lang

Photo By: Tara Donne

Photo By: Armando Rafael ©2015, Television Food Network, G.P. All Rights Reserved.

Photo By: Matt Armendariz ©2014, Television Food Network, G.P. All Rights Reserved.

Photo By: Matt Armendariz ©2014, Television Food Network, G.P. All Rights Reserved.

Photo By: Scott Gries ©© 2016, Cooking Channel, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Photo By: Matt Armendariz ©2014, Television Food Network, G.P. All Rights Reserved.

Photo By: Armando Rafael ©2015, Television Food Network, G.P. All Rights Reserved.

Photo By: Armando Rafael ©2015, Television Food Network, G.P. All Rights Reserved.

Photo By: Adam Rose ©2014, Cooking Channel, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Photo By: Kate Mathis

Photo By: Tara Donne

Ultimate Lasagna (Before)

Who knew that layers of pasta, cheese and sauce could look so unappealing? Click to the next slide to see the remake.

Ultimate Lasagna (After)

It was amore at second sight. Get the recipe for this Italian classic below.

Get the Recipe: The Ultimate Lasagna

Low and Slow Scrambled Eggs (Before)

Chrissy Teigen's sensational scrambled eggs aren't exactly the star of this plate, hidden under bacon and behind some salad.

Low and Slow Scrambled Eggs (After)

Chrissy's brilliant breakfast gets the fluffy, golden treatment it deserves.

Get the Recipe: Low and Slow Scrambled Eggs

Double Chocolate Pudding Pie (Before)

Double chocolate? More like double trouble. Neither the chocolate nor the whipped cream is appetizing.

Double Chocolate Pudding Pie (After)

Phew — now we've died and gone to chocolate heaven.

Get the Recipe: Double Chocolate Pudding Pie

Siba's Sunday Trifle (Before)

This glorious trifle doesn't exactly look like the show-stopping five-star dessert that it is.

Siba's Sunday Trifle (After)

This gorgeous mix of fresh berries in a sauce made from frozen is the perfect spring sweet, in a shot that actually looks like it!

Get the Recipe: Siba's Sunday Trifle

Fried Calamari (Before)

Whoa to this calamari close up. Or is the focus the lemon wedge?

Fried Calamari (After)

Plunge those golden rounds into their Puttanesca Dipping Sauce.

Get the Recipe: Fried Calamari

Over the Rainbow Mac and Cheese (Before)

Where's the gooey cheese? This may be over-the-rainbow, but it's underwhelming.

Over the Rainbow Mac and Cheese (After)

Crisp and appealing, this is the mac and cheese that sends us over the moon.

Get the Recipe: Over the Rainbow Mac and Cheese

Shrimp Fried Rice (Before)

Justine's fried rice is a fan-favorite recipe, but this quick shot doesn't do it justice.

Shrimp Fried Rice (After)

Get out the chopsticks and dive into this vegetable-packed bowl.

Get the Recipe: Shrimp Fried Rice

Holiday Salad (Before)

Giada De Laurentiis' salad appears as much of a hot mess as your aunt does after too many holiday drinks.

Holiday Salad (After)

This colorful salad is ready for a night on the town, with dried cranberries, corn, crisp apples, Gruyère cheese and endive.

Get the Recipe: Holiday Salad

Marinara Sauce (Before)

This is just too close for comfort. 

Marinara Sauce (After)

Just try to tell us you're not dying to steal a slurp of marinara sauce straight from the bowl.

Get the Recipe: Marinara Sauce

Rice Pudding (Before)

This is the most-unfortunate thing to happen to blueberries since Violet's incident in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.

Rice Pudding (After)

Even though we miss the pop of color from blueberries, something about the white color scheme — including a drizzle of sweetened condensed milk — is very calming.

Get the Recipe: Rice Pudding

Roasted Asparagus and Bacon (Before)

This bacon-wrapped asparagus is a no-fail win to sneak in some vegetables... if only it looked as good as it tastes.

Roasted Asparagus and Bacon (After)

Phew: Here are beautiful little spears all wrapped in bacon coats and ready for dinner.

Get the Recipe: Roasted Asparagus and Bacon

Spicy Garlic Sauteed Chicken Breasts (Before)

Patti's chicken is fast and easy, using ingredients you should already have on hand, but the butter sauce here takes away from the main event.

Spicy Garlic Sauteed Chicken Breasts (After)

These simple, spicy breasts get the beauty shot they deserve.

Get the Recipe: Spicy Garlic Sauteed Chicken Breasts

Salmon with Sweet & Spicy Rub (Before)

A pile of lentils with oversaturated tomatoes is the focal point, instead of the real star: salmon.

Salmon with Sweet & Spicy Rub (After)

Now, that's more like it. The lentils have been nixed entirely in this reshoot, replaced by crisp green beans, and the salmon gets its time in the spotlight.

Get the Recipe: Salmon with Sweet and Spicy Rub

Toasted Coconut and Orange Icebox Cookies (Before)

A dusting of powdered sugar can be a nice finish, but when it's just scattered over the edges of the plate? That's just sloppy.

Toasted Coconut and Orange Icebox Cookies (After)

Look at that perfectly melted chocolate! It'll melt your heart.

Get the Recipe: Toasted Coconut and Orange Icebox Cookies

Portobello Mushroom Lasagna (Before)

You can't tell that Ina Garten used "good olive oil" for this lasagna. Can you even tell it's lasagna?

Portobello Mushroom Lasagna (After)

In Ina's words, "How good does this look?"

Get the Recipe: Portobello Mushroom Lasagna

Homemade Roasted Tomato Soup (Before)

Dark and slightly out of focus, this roasted tomato soup doesn't look like the five-star bowl that it is.

Homemade Roasted Tomato Soup (After)

Bright and appealing, with its kick of chile oil, Tiffani's tomato soup is ready for any rainy day.

Get the Recipe: Homemade Roasted Tomato Soup

Rib Dry Rub (Before)

What exactly are we looking at? We're not quite sure.

Rib Dry Rub (After)

Now we're talking.

Get the Recipe: Rib Dry Rub

Vegetarian Shepherd's Pie (Before)

Chuck Hughes' recipe is undoubtedly delicious, but you wouldn't necessarily know it from the pic.

Vegetarian Shepherd's Pie (After)

Now it's a gorgeous casserole dish filled with comforting goodness.

Get the Recipe: Vegetarian Shepherd's Pie

Burger Bar (Before)

That's a burger bar? We're not really seeing the big picture.

Burger Bar (After)

Now, that's a burger bar!

Get the Recipe: The Burger Bar

Heavenly Sauteed String Beans with Garlic (Before)

These garlicky string beans look like we're seeing them inside a sauna.

Heavenly Sauteed String Beans with Garlic (After)

Crisp, bright beans, just the way they should be.

Get the Recipe: Heavenly Sauteed String Beans with Garlic

Sizzling Pork Sisig (Before)

What, exactly, is this eggy hash?

Sizzling Pork Sisig (After)

Dive into these sizzling skillets!

Get the Recipe: Sizzling Pork Sisig

Adult Shamrock Mint Shake (Before)

Shot with a flip-phone camera?

Adult Shamrock Mint Shake (After)

Welcome to the 21st century!

Get the Recipe: Adult Shamrock Mint Shake (The Irish Pirate)

Roman Summer Salad (Before)

If you squint, you can spot the olives, the balsamic and maybe those radioactive tomatoes shining bright red.

Roman Summer Salad (After)

Now it's an instant summer side dish.

Get the Recipe: Roman Summer Salad

Dry Rub Ribs (Before)

EXTREME. CLOSE. UP.

Dry Rub Ribs (After)

Finger-lickin' good.

Get the Recipe: Dry Rub Ribs- Memphis (Dave's Dinners)

Pan-Fried Branzino (Before)

Is it chicken or fish?

Pan-Fried Branzino (After)

Glorious fillets with crisp skin leave no question of what's for dinner.

Get the Recipe: Pan-Fried Branzino

Red Velvet Cupcakes (Before)

Underexposed, out of focus — and unfortunate, because red velvet cupcakes sound so good.

Red Velvet Cupcakes (After)

Wow — that's more like it.

Get the Recipe: Red Velvet Cupcakes

Balsamic and Parmesan Roasted Brussels Sprouts (Before)

This shot is too close to show the pine nuts and turkey bacon that make this dish a dinner winner.

Balsamic and Parmesan Roasted Brussels Sprouts (After)

Crisp little Brussels just waiting to be scooped onto a dinner plate.

Get the Recipe: Balsamic and Parmesan Roasted Brussels Sprouts

Grilled Coconut Lobster (Before)

We guess that's lobster? There are a few claws in the background ...

Grilled Coconut Lobster (After)

Grab a lobster bib and melted butter, 'cause we're headed to seafood heaven.

Get the Recipe: Grilled Coconut Lobster

Oklahoma Joe's Smoked Brisket (Before)

Uh, what?

Oklahoma Joe's Smoked Brisket (After)

Yee-haw!

Get the Recipe: Oklahoma Joe's Smoked Brisket Flat