Open Studies Course Registration

Essentials of Culinary Photography is the first course in a specialized series for photographers eager to dive into the world of food and beverage photography. Unlike other genres, this field demands precision in styling, mastery of lighting, and the ability to evoke flavor and texture through imagery. In this course, you’ll strengthen your technical skills while learning to craft visually compelling photographs for commercial, artistic, and digital platforms. You'll explore essential techniques and tackle the unique challenges that make food photography both demanding and rewarding. Designed as a strong foundation, this course prepares you for more advanced topics in future classes, equipping you to approach food photography with clarity, creativity, and confidence.

This course guides students through the full 3D production pipeline, from initial concept references to final rendered portfolio-ready assets. Students will create a complete character or prop asset using industry-standard tools such as Blender, ZBrush, Maya, and Substance Painter, with AI-assisted workflows integrated at key stages (concept generation, topology cleanup, texture enhancement). The final project emphasizes both technical competency and creative expression, equipping students to adapt modern AI workflows into established pipelines while maintaining professional-level craftsmanship. By the end of the course, students will deliver a fully textured, posed, and rendered 3D model, presented in a polished showcase format, suitable for inclusion in a professional portfolio.