With the arrival of video on the internet, it has become the way to show how things are executed in motion. My son James has picked up so many Yo-yo tricks you'd think he was taking private lessons. Imagine if he had to learn from still photos. Video is much better on explaining, for instance, how to truss a chicken because there are so many small steps, the same as tying your shoe. If you were to show it using still photos, you'd need an impractical amount of them.
So, with cookbooks, magazines and other places where video is not possible (yet), the importance of shooting in sequence becomes imperative. The cookbooks that have them may not always be as aesthetically beautiful, but ask any cook if it helps and they will say hell yeah. An important thing to remember is to keep the photos close in size, perspective and scale. Don't take one from overhead and then switch to a closer eye level shot. Determine what angle will work best for all of the steps. Keeping things consistent will give you a film strip look, allowing you to clearly show the difference between the first and last steps. The more photos in your sequence, the more instructive. So if you want to teach a technique or show the correct texture changes, use lots of photos in sequence. And if you want to keep your techniques secret, just show one beautiful finished photo and keep em guessing.
Great advice, Donna, and as always, great images!
Some of the same techniques apply to video editing. Our 'green grocer' would shoot his segment, then the photographer would go back and shoot close-ups for detail ... but I had to remind the 'green grocer' to handle the produce in the same manner as he did when taping his on-camera portion, and also not to change the angle, so the background wasn't dancing around.
It's a small detail, but an important one. I also like to do this with interviews shot over the shoulder ... if the reporter's head/hands are in a certain position and I switch to a reverse angle shot (usually done after the interview in a one-camera shoot), then it's nice to have that same angle/movement.
I have been doing sequenced photos on my blog. I appreciate the pointers so I can improve! The hardest thing is how to take photos if you are recipe testing at night.