One of the best parts of Well Plated Every Day is that EVERY RECIPE has a gorgeous photo!

To capture all 110 shots, Ben and I “moved” into an AirBNB in LA for 2 weeks to work with one of the most talented food photographers in the business, Matt Armendariz and his husband/food stylist Adam.

It was incredible being at a professional studio. The prop closet alone was insane. We shared a video of it over on Instagram!

Here’s a look behind the scenes.

Watching Adam (above) work was one of my favorite parts of the whole shoot.

• He made every recipe look gorgeous, while capturing the feel I wanted for the book—food that looked beautiful but “lived-in.” I wanted you to feel like you could reach in and grab a spoon!
• He planned which recipes we shot each day, often arriving early to get baked goods into the oven so they’d be ready in time for the shoot.
• He picked out just the right selection of dishes and props to enhance the food.

As the author, I was involved in every part of the process and had final say.

• I set up shop in the kitchen to answer questions.
• Anytime we needed “hands” in the pictures, I jumped in (good thing I had my nails done!)
• I approved every shot before we moved on to the next.

We ATE all the food, often right after we finished the photo!

• It was important to me that we use all real food, no gimmicks like you see on TV.
• Above, that’s Matt and me digging in the moment he had the shot.

Even with taste testing everything, we still had leftovers.

• My breakfasts, lunches, and dinners were a mash up of whatever we were shooting (which at one point led me to sip an old fashioned at 9 a.m…)
• I also shared the wealth as much as possible. Over the weekend, I loaded up a cooler and stocked the freezer of a good friend in LA who had just had twins.

Here’s a look at a typical day in the studio.

• We shot from about 8 am to 3 pm every day.
• We shot 10 recipes per day, depending upon how involved it was to make them.

As we progressed, we hung up photos on the wall in order so we could see how the book would flow. Photos are blurred above so as not to ruin the surprise.

• We made sure to have a good variety of angles as you paged through the book.
• We ensured no two recipes looked too much alike.
• It was also SO FUN to watch the progress.

Here’s the team, just after wrapping up the final recipe.

The book is STUNNING. I adore the recipes, and I’m so happy they look just as beautiful as they taste.

DON’T MISS THE BEHIND THE SCENES VIDEO: CLICK HERE.

You’ll us working in action, not to mention the huge prop closet!

Order Your Copy to See it in Person!

There is still time to preorder the cookbook and get FREE STUFF:

• An invite to a LIVE cooking class where we’ll cook one of the recipes from Well Plated Every Day together.
• A preorder bundle with 3 sneak peek recipes (you get them before everyone else!) and 2 EXCLUSIVE recipes that aren’t in the book or on WellPlated.com.

Your preorders are SO appreciated because they’re a big part of driving the success of this book.

More Ways to Get Your Well Plated Every Day Fix

Learn about my book tour and see if I have an event near you—in person or on TV! And find out more about why I’m so flipping excited about Well Plated Every Day.