A food shoot is planned around what the images must show: the dishes on a menu, the atmosphere of a restaurant, a packaged product or a recipe for a brand. Choose a photographer whose series look like the result you want, then agree with them on the list of dishes or products, the organisation, the styling, the formats and the uses.
Restaurant and menu, or a brand's products
The two needs are prepared differently.
Restaurant, menu and venue
For a restaurant, the images serve the menu, the website, booking or delivery platforms and social media. The shoot fits around the kitchen: dishes are plated by the team, between services or on a closing day, and photographed as soon as they come out. The dining room, the terrace and the team in the kitchen can complete the series.
Products and food brands
For a brand, the images serve an online shop, packaging, a product page at a retailer or a campaign. The product must be faithful, colours constant from one reference to the next, and the staging consistent with the brand. A food stylist and an equipped studio are often needed.
For a trade fair, a tasting or a launch party, see event photographers. For portraits of the chef or the team serving your employer brand, see corporate photographers.
Choosing a photographer by their series
Judge a photographer on series close to your need: restaurant dishes if you are redoing your menu, products if you are filling an online shop.
- Appetite appeal
- do textures, steam and shine stay natural?
- Fidelity
- do colours match the real dishes or products?
- Light
- does the result, natural or styled, match the image of your venue or brand?
- Consistency
- does a whole menu keep the same angle, background and treatment?
- Context
- have they worked in a kitchen during service, or in a studio with a stylist?
Preparing your shoot brief
The brief lets the photographer propose a realistic offer. It covers the list of dishes or products, service constraints, styling, formats and uses.
List of dishes or products
List each dish or reference, with what must appear: the dish alone, with sides, a top view, a detail. Plan duplicates for fragile dishes and someone who sends dishes out in the agreed order.
Service constraints and place
For a restaurant, choose a slot that does not disrupt service and check the space available near a light source. For a brand, say whether the shoot takes place in your kitchen, a studio or a hired space, and who prepares the products.
Styling and crew
State who chooses and who pays the food stylist, who supplies tableware, linen and props, and who prepares the dishes. Share your colours, your tableware and reference images you like.
Formats and retouching
State the formats expected: square for social media, landscape for the website, files for printing a menu or packaging, a retailer's templates. Specify the level of retouching, from simple colour balance to cut-outs.
Ask the quote to state: shooting time, place, number of dishes or references, views per dish, styling included or not, level of retouching, number of finished images, formats, delivery time and permitted uses.
Sample brief: a restaurant's new menu
It is a fictional example to adapt, not a client case or a standard package.
- Venue
- a bistro changing its seasonal menu.
- Uses
- the restaurant's website, a booking platform and social media.
- List
- eight dishes, two desserts and a cocktail, each as a top view and a three-quarter view.
- Organisation
- a Monday, the closing day, with the chef plating the dishes in the order of the list.
- Styling
- the restaurant's tableware and linen, without an outside stylist.
- Atmosphere
- a few images of the dining room and the chef in the kitchen if time allows.
- Retouching
- light and colour true to the dishes.
- Deliverables
- finished images in the website and social media formats. Number and timing to be stated in the quote.
If you add images during service or portraits of the team, list it as an extra request so offers can be compared on the same scope.
Rights and uses of the images
The photographer remains the author of the images. The permitted uses are those set out in the contract: a menu on your website does not have the same scope as packaging or a campaign. List the media, the users, such as a delivery platform or a retailer, the territory and the duration. The photographer can attach to the contract an assignment of rights that sets out the purposes, media, territory and duration: it is signed with the contract.
If customers or team members are recognisable, their agreement is needed to publish their image: Service Public explains image rights (in French).
Comparing offers and booking
The price of a food shoot varies with the number of dishes or references, the place, styling, retouching and rights. To compare two photographers, send them the same list.
Before booking, check:
- the list of dishes or references and the views per item;
- the slot, the place and who prepares the dishes;
- the styling, tableware and props included;
- the formats, level of retouching and delivery time;
- the media, users and duration of the rights.
Enter the city and date in the search, or browse the cities listed below. On a photographer's profile, look through their series and packages, at a fixed price or on quote, and send them a message to share your list. Then choose the package closest to your project, the date, time and place, and say who is billed: yourself, or "My business" so that the legal name and SIRET of the venue or brand appear on the contract and the invoice. Add your brief to the booking request message. If they accept, the photographer sends you a contract drawn up from the booking, which you sign online before they do. Graindevue does not use price as a ranking criterion.
Frequently asked questions
Do we need a food stylist?
It depends on the project. For a restaurant menu, the chef often plates the dishes; for brand products or a campaign, a food stylist is common. Ask the photographer whether they work with a stylist and whether that is part of the offer.
How many dishes can be photographed?
It depends on the number of views per dish, the preparation and the place. Send your list: the photographer will tell you what fits in the planned time.
Can the shoot take place in our kitchen?
Often yes, if there is a little space near a light source. Send photos of the place so the photographer can plan their setup.