Which of these two sandwiches do you believe was prepared by a professional chef with years of culinary experience for the Nassau Inn in Princeton, NJ? Which one was created, from scratch, by some schmuck kid with a degree in psychology (of all things!) in a kitchen that’s smaller than the bathrooms at the Nassau Inn? (Answer at the end of the post!)

Same question. Which of these salads was created by a culinary professional for one of the most popular places in Princeton? Which was created by a twenty-something in her house using just a George Forman grill, a cheap pot from Target, and a dull chef’s knife? (Answer at the end of the post!)

More importantly, which one would you rather eat?

I am the cook behind the zuchini-turkey burger with brioche bun (a recipe I copied out of Real Simple magazine) on the left and the nicoise salad on the right (a recipe I copied out of a Jaime Oliver cookbook.) The sandwich on the right and the salad on the left are original creations by the highly-trained chefs at the Nassau Inn. Yet, I imagine the more appealing sandwiches were the ones cooked up in my kitchen, even if they didn’t taste as delicious as those from the Nassau Inn.

If it isn’t obvious by now, the problem with the Nassau Inn’s photographs — which are splashed on their Facebook page daily to entice patrons with succulent seafood and braised beef — is that they’re simply not professional. Someone who works there, with a point-and-shoot camera they bought at Best Buy, is probably doing his or her best to capture the food in the dimly-lit restaurant. The problem is, photographs like that don’t sell food. A professional photographer who can expertly light food with minimal equipment and a good eye for light and resources on hand does.

Please note: I didn’t have a lot of fancy equipment for my food photographs when I made them. They were taken with a high-end camera and a single strobe with a bounce card. That’s it. Nothing complex. Just the essential equipment (and some basic correction in Photoshop and Lightroom) and a trained eye.

I can tell you, for a fact, that the Nassau Inn makes terrific food; I’ve eaten there a few times and enjoyed drinks at the Yankee Doodle Tap Room more often than I can remember. They’re professional chefs; their food is on a different stratosphere from my home cooking. But notice that a homemade meal can look BETTER than something that tastes a million times more appetizing simply with the help of a professional. And when I’m looking for a place to eat while I’m online, I can’t smell the aromas of curried chicken, cannot taste the subtle flavors of hummus and fresh pita bread with olives. All I can do is see what I want to eat; going by the photographs alone, I might have a few more patrons coming to me than the Nassau Inn.

PS: Hey Nassau Inn! Want to hire me as your photographer? Email williams.melizabeth@gmail.com or call 609-353-7646

Edited to Add: Due to some confusion, I feel compelled to add that I am the “schmuck kid” who cooked a hamburger from a Real Simple magazine recipe and made seared tuna on a Foreman Grill, then sliced it with a dull knife from Target.