I'm a food stylist and I create mouthwatering dishes for the camera — here are my best tips for taking your food photos to the next level

• Food stylists work with food to create the perfect photo for an ad, magazine, or publication.
• Each person has their own way of arranging food on the plate.
• Katie Farmand is a full-time food stylist who spends her day prepping, cooking, styling, and sometimes tasting her projects.

We all are a guilty of taking an instagram or two of our lunch, but very few of us have mastered the art of making food that looks as good on camera as it does in real life. These people are food stylists.

A food stylist is a person who plates and styles food that's featured in everything from promotional photos to magazine spreads. They work closely with chefs, editors and photographers to make food look as good as possible.

We asked Katie Farmand, a professional food stylist, what an average day looks like for her and it sounds amazing.

Morning: She starts every day ready to get her hands on some food.

Farmand works primarily as a food stylist in Orlando, Tampa, Lakeland, and Jacksonville, Florida.

Farmand started as a food writer and graduated with a master's degree in journalism. She said she worked closely with food stylists at her last job as a magazine editor. Eight years ago she branched out on her own as an official food stylist.

She creates mouthwatering dishes specifically for the camera for Publix Supermarkets, Pfizer pharmaceuticals, YUM Brands, and more.

She is responsible for all the preliminary work that goes into the dish. This includes pre-cooking any items, chopping, dicing, separating, and any other steps to make cooking go faster. The "before" is not as glam and artistic as the finished product.

"I begin the day by going over the recipes," Farmand told INSIDER, "I'll be making and gathering ingredients for prep."

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A lot of time and effort goes in to mastering the recipes and forming the eye-catching treats.

"I prep everything I can to make the execution quicker when it's time to make the hero dish," she continued.

Afternoon: After she finishes preparing her dish, the crafting begins.

Once she reaches her location, Farmand turns on the heat and transforms the ingredients into camera-ready concoctions.

"I cook, make adjustments, plate the food, and put it on set," Farmand said.

Farmand works alongside the photographer to choose props for the dish such as silverware, plates, and sometimes splatters of sauce. They decide on a "vision" for the shots.

"Sometimes the changes needed are minimal," she said. "Other times we have to try several different things to get the shot we want."

She said the hardest part of her job is working with challenging eats because some foods are never ready for a close-up. Farmand told INSIDER the most difficult foods to work with are frozen foods.

"Frozen foods are hard because the texture is totally different than fresh, and you either have to thaw it and rearrange it, or make it look right from frozen," she said. "Either way, it's tough!"

She said her favorite foods to work with are burgers, salads, and colorful food, because of the different layers and colors.

Evening: Farmand spends the rest of her day styling and adjusting the food in the picture.

She makes tiny movements on the plate until she feels that it is ready to be photographed. The photographer captures every small rotation of carrot or shift in pasta structure. Farmand works with the photographer until the project is finished. However, she admits she is not a perfectionist, so she doesn't mind a little chaos. Her style is editorial.

"I like food that looks beautiful, but real. So I will often make a dish, then mess it up a little bit ... I'll sprinkle crumbs, drip sauce, or even take a bite," she said. "I try to tell a story, and I like to plate food and use props that make sense for that story."

Her advice to hopeful food stylists, "TURN THE FLASH OFF. Don't use direct light, watch out for clutter on the table, and utilize photo editing apps to bump up exposure, contrast and saturation. Those little tweaks can take a quick pic from terrible to post-able."

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