notes in photo editing

I used to be what I saw as a purist about digital photography editing (of any subject): a well-composed photo taken in the right lighting shouldn't need editing, I thought.

While I still value the magic moments of shooting in perfect light, I've come to understand that any camera interprets light and perspective, just like our eyes do. Sometimes cameras (my experience is all digital) don't interpret the scene quite right. Other times, your camera will see and capture things more clearly than you see them, literally. We control this with camera settings, but also with computer software. 

So, enough for my apologia; let me show you what I've been up to!

I've been using vsco cam (an Apple app), using direct manual edits more than filters as I've gotten comfortable (though the filters can be great, too; you may have noticed the new quality in my last couple of posts). I've noticed that my iphone tends to shoot rather blue/cool:

The original image.

Temperature adjusted.

Original image (yes, beets again!).

Temperature adjusted.

Both of these "after" shots have slight adjustments to exposure & contrast in addition to temperature, but that's the main difference in each set.

Knowing this about my iphone, I'm able to adjust the shot to my own visual interpretation of the subject much more quickly, and I'm really happy with the results.

What do you use to shoot your food photos, and how do you edit them?