We love to take photos of our food, anytime, anywhere. But a lot of those photos turn out pretty terrible, even if the food was fantastic, because we don’t take the time to think about how to get the best shot. I spend a lot of time thinking about getting a great food shot in the National Geographic studios. I’ve shot apples and beans to accompany pieces about heirloom food and a spread of forks that would make even the savviest diner scratch their head.

As you may know, The Plate just launched a photo challenge with National Geographic’s Your Shot community called #UglyFoodIsBeautiful to call attention to ways we can reduce food waste by grabbing those unloved veggies