Top 5 Reasons to Hire a Food Photographer
Marketing is quite different than it was a few short years ago. Let’s be honest; we’re in a period of internet advertising and eateries are feeling the pinch with regards to competing against their rivals.
When selecting a restaurant, it’s practically standard for a potential diner to check an eatery’s online presence prior to booking a reservation.
So, for what reason is it essential to use expert food photography for your food and restaurant business?
Read on to find out ….
First Up (and the most important): Their Specialised Expertise
Professional Food Photographers are experts in composition and lighting. They’ve had the opportunity to sharpen their expertise, understand what angles are best and how to keep the lighting interesting for each dish. That is to say, what’s worse than seeing your number one dish looking dull due to terrible lighting or photographed straight down on every shot so you can’t see the detail and intricate work put into every component of the dish.
I’ve lost count of the number of times I have had owners tell me that they don’t need to hire a professional photographer and that one of their kitchen staff can take an adequate shot with their phone. Great! If that’s the standard being set – can I come work in the kitchen? I can make an adequate risotto!
By hiring a professional food photographer you will have the job done correctly and with stunning results that you are proud to show off time and time again.
Secondly, hire a food photographer who specialises in the industry – food.
Food is hugely different from architecture, fashion or landscapes – photographers who shoot food exclusively know the technique to get the lighting and angles just right to tell the story of your dish.
Number 2: For Use in Online Media + Local area
With amazing advertising and social tools like Instagram and Facebook, pretty much anybody has the ability to impart the previous evening’s glorious dinner to their friends. Along these lines in a flash, you get tagged and free exposure! Amazing!
Those same individuals that are sharing are likewise perusing hashtags and profiles to find out where to get the best Avocado Toast for Saturday brunch, or the best whole Sea Bass to share with their friends on a Friday. Utilise this for your potential benefit!
Having a brand identity is important – maintaining a consistency throughout all of your food shots is just not possible with different people shooting it with their phone from their seat. It certainly works for social media if there are enough – but social media images are forgotten in 2 seconds. A quick swipe and you’re gone.
And you wouldn’t put social media images on your main marketing face – your website. This is where the consistency from a professional food photographer has its advantages.
Number 3: To Stand Apart from Your Competition
120,000. That is roughly the number of restaurants, cafes, pubs and takeaways in the United Kingdom – 120,000!
So how, in this huge industry, can your eatery or culinary business stand apart from this huge competition?
By using proficient photography for your business, you’re expanding the chances by pulling in more attention.
Simply remember that it’s the remarkable photos from a professional food photographer that make your mouth water. The normal mobile phone toting diner may take a good food photograph of your dish … however there are ‘good’ food photographs all over social media and those same diners are taking images of your competitors food as well.
Stand apart with first class images from a food photographer.
Number 4: Professional Photographers know what to Capture
Of course, it’s not just about the final plate. In any case, what might be said about the wide range of various subtleties that your potential diner would experience? The seats, the new bistro tables you just purchased, the linens that you sourced from a nearby company. Every one of these details also helps to drive in the client and portray a picture of elegance, comfort and professionalism.
Same thing with the chef and other staff. Who works there? Who is making their food? Do you go to the fresh markets once every week or daily? How is the environment? These are the sort of things that photography professionals know about when preparing an image list to tell your full story.
Number 5: Styling Food and Plating for the Camera
It’s true that chefs are talented and artistic when it comes to plating up their creations – viewing a beautiful plate in a fine dining restaurant can be distracting enough to not want to damage the art by digging in with a fork.
Chefs plate up for the customer, for the visual appeal and to give the customer a story with tastes and textures.
This doesn’t work for the camera. The shot of the dish will come from one angle and will be two dimensional. A food photographer will be able to work with the chef on how to plate up for the camera. How to show a visual stunning plate that shows all of the components that tell the story, in a single frame, is down to the photographer’s skill.
You want the sauce to look silky, but don’t want the cutlery to look too shiny? We can do that.
Number 6 (I know I said 5 so this is a bonus): Professional Equipment
I’m going to expand on this in a future blog post, How to Find the Right Food Photographer, for now, just to cover what you need to consider when deciding on hiring a professional photographer for food.
A photographer that specialises in food has all sorts of tools to use. Yes, the lighting and the lenses suitable for different angles, the camera bodies, the backgrounds, props even. Even the tweezers to move that one stray sesame seed into position.
The software to retouch and edit the images back in their office. The backup systems to ensure your images are always available for you.
High quality photography is critical to getting people into your establishment or to buy your product regardless of whether it’s a pub, café, restaurant, hotel or a food and beverage product. Social Media is so critical to businesses. Website imagery is critical to businesses. To get those images for your professionally cooked dish to strand out you’re going to need professional photos.
Work with John Fyn Photography
My goal is to represent your food, your creations and your dishes working with you to enhance the presentation of these and therefore creating feelings of appetite at first sight to your customers.
I normally cover Greater London and South-East England for commissioned work - if you’re further away don’t worry, we can work something out. I also shoot food products in my home studio, if you prefer, these can be sent directly to me.
Contact me now to have a chat about your requirements ...