Food lovers and creative chefs — this week's round of the Mashable Photo Challenge Guest Series is just for you. Cook up delicious homemade casseroles, bake your most decadent sweets, assemble colorful salads and chow down.
But before you dig in, take a photo of your food masterpiece and share it with us. Guest curator Marla Meridith will choose her favorite submissions from the bunch.
See also: Mario Batali's New App Turns Food Photography Into Philanthropy
Meridith, a Colorado native, works as a food and lifestyle blogger. In 2009, she launched FamilyFreshCooking.com, and her photography has been featured online, in magazines and in cookbooks.
"I have always had great passion for the visual arts, and food," she told Mashable. "My diverse job allows me to work with wonderful clients in the food and travel industries."
Follow the directions below to submit your photos by Monday, Oct. 14, at 12 p.m. ET. Meridith will choose her favorite submissions to feature on Mashable, as well as on our Facebook album, Pinterest board and Google+ page.
"Show your character and true colors with unique props, fabrics, textures, table tops & more," she advised. "Find the freshest, most vibrant ingredients and don't be afraid to carefully color enhance!"
Tweet your food photo to @mashablehq with the hashtag #MashPics OR
Instagram your photo with the hashtag #MashPics OR
Upload your photo in the photo widget below OR
Post the link to your photo in the comments below
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When guest curator Marla Meridith photographs food for her food and lifestyle blog, she looks for the best ingredients and the most colorful settings. "Find the freshest, most vibrant ingredients," she says. "And don't be afraid to carefully color enhance!"
Guest curator Vivienne Gucwa uses Lightroom, the Nik Software Suite and VSCO to edit her non-mobile photographs. "Try to notice all of the editing functions that change for each preset," she says. "Then play around with each function to understand the effect it can have on your photography."
When editing his photos, guest curator Paul R. Giunta only tweaks the exposure, white balance, and contrast. "I never touch the sharpen slider or saturation," he says. "I want the photographs to represent exactly what it looked like during the show."
Guest curator Kim Landgraf uses Adobe Lightroom and Silver Efex Pro 2 to edit his photos after shooting in RAW. "The RAW format gives you much more freedom for editing afterwards," he says.
Guest curator David Gamboa takes amazing #jumpstagrams in unique settings. "Shooting from very low, at eye-level and high up can alter a photo in crazy ways," he says. "Try some of them out and see what I mean."
Guest curator Adam Senatori, who specializes in aerial photography, makes subtle adjustments to his photos before publishing them. "Adjusting color temperature and contrast are critical to any photo," he says. "But I use most adjustments sparingly, never overdo anything! Subtle is best." He also believes photos taken on an iPhone require different edits than photos taken on a DSLR. "For the iPhone I typically bump up the temp," he says. "I feel that native iPhone shots are on the cool side."
When photographing silhouettes, it can be easy to accidentally overexpose your scene. Guest curator Nicole S. Young uses specific techniques to make sure this doesn't happen. "If your metering mode is set to something such as 'spot metering,' then you'll end up exposing for the subject and overexposing your sky," she said. "So you will need to do one of two things: underexpose your photograph (this will make your subject black and your sky properly exposed), or pre-focus the camera and point it at the sky so it meters for the light in the sky, and not the light from your subject."
Guest curator Alex Koloskov specializes in splash photography. "To get a decent splash shot with only one light source, use clear water (or any other clear liquid) and highlight the background, not the splash itself," he says.
Guest curator Rose Sauquillo takes a lot of shots of walls head-on, but still manages to give them a sense of depth. "Depth can be achieved by adding a vignette, making a colorful subject the focal point, how you compose the shot, or through lighting," she says.
Our guest curator Zak Shelhamer says timing and composition are key elements in good photography. You can use wearable cameras such as the GoPro, the JVC ADIXXION, or the Sony Action Cam to take perfectly timed shots of yourself in action. "Your photos should be able to show viewers what you're seeing and what it feels like to be where you are," Shelhamer says.
Our guest curator Timmy McGurr takes hundreds of photos at a time, but is very selective when choosing his final few to publish. "Just because you shoot a bunch of images from a bunch of different angles doesn't mean you need to post it all," he says. "Learning how to edit and how to decipher what to publish and what not publish is just as important."
Dave Fung and Yena Kim, co-founders of Menswear Dog, use programs and apps like Photoshop, Camera+, Instagram and Hipstamatic regularly. "Effects can make a quirky photo even more whimsical by giving it a vintage feel," they say. "Any number of filters and effects in Camera+ and Photoshop can achieve this."
Guest curator Finn Beales does freelance photography often using just his iPhone. He uses Average Camera Pro and Slow Shutter Cam to take long exposure shots, and then VSCO Cam and AfterLight to add finishing touches to his photos. "Because of the long exposure time, you shouldn't hold your phone in your hands," he says. "Either use a tripod or lean it against something to get sharp results."
Guest curater Dylan Isbell makes sure to steer away from the obvious and capture the things that might be a bit hidden. "Look up, down… all around," he says. "Also look beyond the reflection of yourself to see what play in front and behind you."
Our guest curator Matt Lutton values consistency when he photographs. He uses the same programs each time he edits his photos in order to maintain similar colors and movement. "I try to be as consistent with editing and toning as possible," he says. "These two photos were taken months and hundreds of miles apart, but when next to each other they evoke the same feelings and emotions."
Our Mashable Photo Challenge guest curator Kevin Truong believes light is everything in photography. "Whether it's soft or harsh, from a window or a flash, when used effectively it can beautifully set the mood for the photograph," he says.
Our guest curator Liz Eswein uses two apps to apply filters and text to some of her Instagram photos. Liz says, "One of my favorite editing apps is AfterLight -- it provides such a great array of filters! Also, Over is one of my favorites -- great fonts and steedicons to use on your photos."
Guest curator Brian Difeo uses Snapseed to adjust contrast, sharpness and saturation on his photos before posting them to Instagram. Brian says, "I take photos in the iPhone native app, and I take a LOT of photos so I have many options. In the native app I'll tap the screen to adjust the focus and exposure, and take some photos in HDR too. This way I have variety of photos to choose from before I edit and share on Instagram."
Our Mashable Photo Challenge guest curator Murad Ossmann uses these smartphone photo editing apps to touch up his photos before posting them to Instagram.
Photo courtesy of Murad Ossmann
Murad Ossmann has an Instagram following of almost 270,000, and his feed is full of stunning pictures based on the theme "Follow Me." These photos put a new spin on the traditional travel photo: instead of only photographing landmarks, he features his girlfriend leading him around the world by the hand.
Photo courtesy of Murad Ossmann
One of our guest curators, Santiago PerezGrovas uses natural light to shoot his photos. What began as a limitation (he didn't know how to uses professional flashes) became his signature style.
"In a world of perfection, the production of the photos we see everyday is overwhelming, to the point that everything has to be flawless," says Santiago. "I limit myself to use a simple camera, a model and the available light at the moment."
Image courtesy of Santiago PerezGrovas
Santiago has more than 80,000 followers on Instagram. He posts regular updates around a central theme (shots of models and his friends). His signature style is instantly recognizable.
Image courtesy of Santiago PerezGrovas
The winner of the Photo Challenge Series Dan Evans, Jr., says to use Elements for basic adjustments like cropping, color, contrast and brightness. It is also sophisticated enough to creatively alter a photo without being too complicated.
Image courtesy of Jeremy Cabalona
Image: Marla Meridith