Food photography is like all quality photo-illustration. It's about
meticulous preparation, staging, lighting and carefully
choreographed minimal, non-distracting styling. Creating appetite
appeal requires the elevated necessity to balance all of the above.
The goal is to entice the viewer into wanting to put the product
in their mouth.

Jay Leno paid Dan a sort of backhanded compliment in one of
his monologues. Talking about a cover photo of Madonna, he
said "she looked so sweet and innocent; it must have been
shot by the same photographer that shoots the Denny's
commercials and menus and makes the food look so appetizing."