Former New York Times food photographer and award-winning Olympus visionary Lou Manna just announced a contest called "Best Looking Food of 2009." Participants are asked to hit their kitchens, whip up some savory, eye-catching dishes and snap photographs. The winning shot will be used as the cover art for Manna's forthcoming second book, More Digital Food Photography (to be published this fall). The winner will also walk away with a bag of food- and photography-related goodies.

For more contest info, log on to www.digitalfoodphotos.com/blog/ contest. You can also watch Manna in a brief video about the contest.