COOKBOOKS
Hi, I'm Amanda,
and I'm your artist.
I plan your book before I ever pick up the camera.​
Two weeks before a shoot, I'm already deep in it. Pouring over cookbooks and magazines. Pulling props and surfaces. Staring at your recipes, turning each dish over, working out what it wants to be. By the time we shoot, I've already seen it.​​
I'm your food stylist and chef.
I take your dish from plated-for-eating to camera-ready and assemble it right on set, placing every crumb, building every cheesy drip. I reduce the syrup until it's almost solid so it can be sculpted. I make ice cream that doesn't melt under the lights. I keep a foamer on hand for when the beer goes flat.
​
I will spend an entire day hanging carrots on fishing line for a single image, because they are sexier suspended in the dark than they'd ever be on a sheet pan.
​
Creating art is my job and I don't take it lightly.​
​I'm your photographer.​
Styling and photography are two different crafts, and I've spent years on both. That's why nothing gets lost in the handoff and why your food ends up looking like the best version of itself, and still like your food.
​
Here's what I need from you.
​Hire me because you've seen what I do and you want it. Then let me go do it.
​
I'm at my best when I'm trusted with the vision, not managed through it. My obsession is your product. If you want someone to shoot exactly what you sketch, we're probably not a match. If you want to collaborate, provide the vision and then open your next cookbook and find something better than you imagined, we're going to get along.
​
I know what your food means to you. It's your name, your years, your whole life. I don't take it lightly. I know it's a privilege to be a small part of what you do.
​
Let's make some magic.
"Amanda is so worth it! She listens to you and your vision of your brand, and if you are not sure what that is yet, she can also help you solidify your dream and make it a reality! I have worked with Amanda on two different shoots and will be bringing her along on multiple other events! Having a great photo library of your work is imperative!! And by the way this is completely unsolicited ... I just saw her post and wanted to chime in!"
CEO Vedam Clementi
VeeCulinary, Atlanta, GA
Some Of My Published Work
MY MAGAZINE
I Wrote, Styled, Shot, Designed, and Published an Entire Magazine.
Alone.
This is the part I always forget to mention, which is a little ridiculous considering what it took. I wrote every word, styled and shot every image, designed every page, and published the whole thing myself. A full print magazine, start to finish, by my own hand.
​
It started small. I told myself it would be easy, that every six months I would just compile a few blogs into a little guide. But true to form, I ended up with a huge vision and could not go halfway with it. That is exactly how I work. I keep my eye on the smallest details, the tiny elements that tie an entire vision together, because those are the things that make a finished piece feel whole instead of assembled.
​
Here is why this matters for your book. Producing a cookbook is a book length editorial project, recipes, images, layout, and flow all working as one. I have already done that, alone, from the first idea to the printed page. So when I tell you I can help carry your book all the way to the finish, it is because I have carried one there myself.
"Amanda is a delight to work with! You can tell she cares deeply about every detail and really gets to know you before taking photos. She is so fun and spunky. I've had a blast shooting with her on 5 different shoots and am always happy with the results."
Chef Deb Cantrell, Fort Worth, Texas
Your food deserves to be photographed like art.
The map I wish someone had given me.
WHERE TO BEGIN
Every Cookbook Begins With a Book Map
Before we ever step into the studio, we build your Book Map together, the plan that makes your whole book cohesive instead of cobbled together.
​
In one focused hour we map out your recipes, decode the photography terms that will help you understand the process better, and set you up so your recipe testing and planning all point toward a book that photographs beautifully.
​
Here is the thing no one gave me. When I wrote my own book, I did not know what a Book Map was, let alone what I needed to hold it all together. So I built the tool I wish I had. It is yours to keep and work from, no matter how long it takes to test your recipes or budget your project.
Already have a Book Map from your publisher? Wonderful, we will build from yours.
The consult is $250, credited toward your project when you book.
​
I take a limited number of full projects each year,
so every one gets my complete focus.
Now Booking: One spot left for October 2026.