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your guide to restaurant photography.

Whether you are a blogger or Instagrammer, or a photographer starting your own

food photography business, you may be approached to photograph for a restaurant.
Shooting for restaurants is often how food photographers start their careers.  As
their budgets tend to be on the lower side, restaurants are willing to hire new and
unknown photographers.

However, restaurant shoots are not that easy. In fact, they are one of the more
difficult type of food shoots to do, as you will often be asked to photograph staff and
patrons, the interior of the restaurant, as well as menu items. This means you need
to be adept at shooting portrait, architectural, and food photography!

There is so much to talk about when it comes to shooting for restaurants, I could
probably write a book about it. For now, here are my top tips and tricks on pulling
off the actual shoot, as well as what to consider on the business side of things.

RESTAURANT PHOTOGRPAHY | 02

 be organized and prepared.
ASK FOR A SHOT LIST

This is the first thing you should ask for when beginning to communicate with the
restaurant about the shoot. You need to know what you will be shooting in order estimate
how long it will take you. Beverages, for example, can take a lot longer to photograph than
a plate of food, as managing reflections in glass takes time and is quite challenging. If you
can’t estimate how long the shoot will take you, you can’t price your services accordingly.
In the beginning, you will find that you'll underestimate your time, but eventually you'll
learn through experience roughly how long it will take you to complete the shoot. To be on
the safe side, add 25% to your time and work estimates. 

The pitfall is that when a restaurant approaches you, they will likely not have thought this
far ahead. They may go on to another photograph who makes things easier on them. At the
very least, try to get a breakdown of how many food images, how many drinks etc. For food
images, I find it takes an average of 20-30 minutes per dish if I am propping the scene and
taking a few shots from different angles, which I recommend doing. 

You will also need to figure out where to set up your equipment and workspace. This
should be done with advance agreement from the manager or proprietor. It is important
that if the restaurant is open when you shoot, that you are as unobtrusive to the patrons as
possible.

RESTAURANT PHOTOGRAPHY | 03

SCOUT FOR THE LOCATION AND LIGHT 

Go check out the location before a shoot. It’s the only

way to know what you will be up against in terms of
lighting.

I find that most of the time, I have to bring in

artificial lighting when shooting at restaurants. It's
just too dark! If there is some available window light,
you can use reflectors and bounce cards to harness
more light to photograph the food.

You can also do a longer exposure. Keep in mind that

you'll need a tripod and shutter release, or to trigger
the shutter from Lightroom if you are shooting
tethered. The slightest movement or vibration to the
tripod or camera will cause your images to turn out
blurry. 

If you do not have a strobe head, you can use a

speedlite shot through a large diffusor, or bounced
against a white wall if there is one. There are many
ways to approach lighting a shoot. Once you check
out the location, you can plan your light accordingly. 

I recommend that you do a lighting test before the

shoot to make sure that the set-up you choose will
give you the quality of light you are looking for.
Lighting is one of the most crucial aspects of
photography, and you don't want to be struggling
with your lighting on a shoot when the clock is
ticking and the client or chef is standing over your
shoulder. 

04 | RESTAURANT PHOTOGRAPHY
DISCUSS THE FOOD STYLING               
              
When negotiating the contract, you should make it clear to the client that you are not a
food stylist and therefore not responsible for the look of the food. Food styling is a
different occupation that requires a separate skill set from photography and should be
treated as such. I even have a clause in my contract stating this. Many clients need to be
educated on how the food styling component works.

Hopefully, the chef is good at plating and the food will look great. However, styling food
for a customer is different than styling food for the camera. I find that chefs in higher
end restaurants tend to be better at this. I advise clients that they need to make sure
their chef is up to the task, otherwise they should be advised to hire a food stylist to
work with him or her.

However, a food stylist can be quite a big expense in an already tight budget. In the case
that a client refuses to hire one, they should know that the look of the food on the plate
ultimately falls on them. You can do your best to make the food look attractive to the
camera, but ultimately the food styling is not your responsibility.

BRING A FOOD STYLING KIT & SOME PROPS & LINENS

Although you won't be plating and styling the food, you still should bring along a basic
food styling kit that includes items such as tweezers, cotton swabs, and small brushes to
help you tame errant garnishes or clean unwanted crumbs and drips from the plate. 

You may not be in the kitchen constructing a burger, but there are details you can and
should take care of in order to get the best shot, and also to prevent spending too much
time in post-processing after the shoot.

I also always bring a stack of linens in various shapes, sizes, and colours, and some of my
own dishes and cutlery. Sometimes clients will want their tables, cutlery and dishes shot
as it will be experienced by the patrons, and others will have a branding direction in mind
that requires creating a specific look or ambience. 

Keep in mind as well, that large dishes will appear much larger in the  images and can end
up overpowering the food. Discuss this with the client. I often shoot on salad plates.

RESTAURANT PHOTOGRAPHY | 05
USE A TRIPOD

If you are a beginner and shoot only in natural light, be aware that most restaurants are
too dark for food photography. You will need to be by a window and will definitely need
a tripod so you can decrease your shutter speed and make a longer exposure. This will
not work for photographing people however, as they will be blurry with a long
exposure. This can be used as a creative effect, of course, but make sure this is
something your client actually wants. 

SHOOT HORIZONTALLY FOR WEB IMAGES

Have a conversation about how the images should be shot. Most restaurants only
require images for their website. Interactive web design requires that images be
shot horizontally for the best effect.

If the client will be printing some of the images on a menu, this may require a
vertical format. Be sure to discus with the client what orientation would be best.
Make note that if they want both, it can take you up to twice as long to shoot the
images, as you will not only have to adjust your camera but recompose the
composition. It's not just a matter of changing the orientation of your camera!

RESTAURANT PHOTOGRAPHY | 06
SHOOT TETHERED

I always hook up my camera to a laptop so the client

can view the images in Lightroom or Capture One.
Shooting tethered allows you to see a larger, more
accurate rendition of your shot than the screen on
the back of your camera. 

It can be hard to tell if your image is properly

exposed on the LCD screen, as it is not that accurate
and you might miss some details. Always check your
histogram to ensure you have the proper exposure,
whether you are looking at the image in back of the
camera or in your tethering software.

WORK WITH THE CLIENT

Food photography needs to be a collaborative

process, sometimes involving a whole team of
people. Ultimately, you want to produce good
work that makes the client happy. For this, the
client needs to be involved in the process. They
must be at the shoot providing creative direction
and approving the images that are captured, so
they can’t come back and tell you they don’t like
them.

I never start a shoot without some sort of

representative of the company present. I have a
clause in my contract stating this. Your client
may be very busy and feels they can trust you to
deliver what they want but don't allow this. It
can lead to a big headache for you if they end up
not liking the shots for whatever reason.  

07 | RESTAURANT PHOTOGRAPHY
COLLABORATE WITH THE CHEF I always involve the chef in the process as
much as I can. When I make an
appointment to scout the location, I
mention that I would like to meet the chef .
Chefs are very busy; I try not to take too
much of their time, but I find it invaluable
to make them feel like an important part of
the process--which they are! The shoots
that end up being the easiest and most fun
are the ones where the chef is enthusiastic
about working with you and making the
food look its best for its moment in the
spotlight.

08| RESTAURANT PHOTOGRAPHY
the business side.

CONTRACTS

You should always have the client sign a contract outlining the terms of your
agreement with them. It can be a standard contract that you tweak to suit the
requirements of each individual job, but essentially it should outline the date
you are shooting, how many images you are shooting, what the agreed upon
fee will be, and what each party is responsible for. Contracts should protect
not only you as the photographer, but your client as well.

What is the client getting in this scenario? A commitment to punctuality and

files delivered in a certain time frame are a couple of examples. 

RESTAURANT PHOTOGRAPHY | 09

CONTRACTS CONTINUED...

Many photographers require a 30-50 percent non-refundable deposit up front

and this is also agreed to in the contract. This prevents the photographer from
losing out on other potential work that could have been scheduled on the agreed
to date. It also commitsthe client to choosing you as their photographer and
taking you seriously.

If you have a client that potentially will need images on a regular basis, you
might want to offer them a discount. For example, 10% off their next three shoots
if they sign a contract committing to work with you. 

For ideas of what to put in your contract, peruse some samples online.
Eventually you should consult a lawyer to refine what needs to be covered in the
document. Use a professional document signature service like Hello Sign, or a
CRM that has this component. I use Dubsado to manage my client list and send
out various contracts and agreements with my branding so that I may appear as
professional as possible.  

LIABILITY INSURANCE

Before you set foot in the restaurant with your camera, you should make sure you have
liability insurance. Many restaurants don’t realize this, but bigger clients will often ask
you for your insurance, as you can be a huge liability. If someone trips over an extension
or tethering cord and decides to sue the restaurant, you will be included in that lawsuit.

Do I need to say where that will lead? Also, if you have employees working with you, such
as a photographer’s assistant, you should also have worker’s compensation insurance for
them. Shop around for the best insurance for you, and read the fine print carefully. You
need insurance that is very specific to the photography industry to make sure you are
covered in the types of situations you will be faced with.    

RESTAURANT PHOTOGRAPHY  |  10
EQUIPMENT INSURANCE

You should also insure your equipment against

fire, flood, and theft, as well as other damage. No
matter how careful you are with your gear,
accidents do and will happen. 

That being said, the thing to remember about any

type of insurance is that your premium will go up
if you make a claim. Claims should be reserved for
large expenses such as a broken lens or stolen
camera body. It makes no sense to pay much
higher premiums over several years for a two
hundred dollar claim. 

BUSINESS LICENSE

You will also need to research if you need to

get a business license to operate in the city in
which you work. The answer will most likely
be yes. Different cities have different rules
about home-based businesses. Look into
yours. The cost is usually minimal. 

11 | RESTAURANT PHOTOGRAPHY
USER AGREEMENTS

Once you are ready to hand over the images to the client, have them sign a user
agreement. In a nutshell, a user agreement specifies how the client can use the images
and for how long.

When you shoot for a client, you retain the copyright to those images. They belong to
you, not the client. Your client is simply licensing them—basically "borrowing" them for
a specific time frame.

Some clients are under the impression that once they pay for the images, they belong to
them and they are able to use them however they see fit, but you need to educate them
on copyright to avoid any issues or bad feeling that could possibly to arise. 

Hopefully this has given you an idea of the business side of shooting in a restaurant!

Taking these points into consideration as you venture into the world of restaurant
photography will go a long way in branding you as a professional and help protect you in
the event something goes wrong.  

If you have any questions, please email me at info@gastrostoria.com

Add a little bit of body text

about me.

I am a food & lifestyle photographer based in Vancouver, BC. I shoot for a variety
of restaurants, as well as commercial clients such as food producers, magazines, and
cookbook publishers. My images may be licensed through OFFset by Shutterstock.

RESTAURANT PHOTOGRAPHY | 13

disclaimer.
I am not an attorney and cannot advise on legal issues. The material contained
within this document is my opinion and experience. Please consultant a lawyer
and accountant for legal and financial advice on conducting your food photography
business.

Text & Image Copyright 2018 Darina Kopcok Photography