Restaurant Photography – We eat first with our eyes!!!

Everyone has seen it before, you walk up to a restaurant with dozens of pictures in front depicting the food and the beef is a deathly gray, the refried beans look old and crusty, and the vegetables look as if grandma had cooked them for several decades before blessing your plate with the vitamin-depleted mush. I am sure many brave patrons were forgiving of the poor quality pictures, but as a restaurateur, do you really want pictures of that quality representing your food?

Simply look to “Iron Chef” or other food competitions and you will realize that food presentation is as important as taste. Today food must be presented artistically and chefs go out of their way to “Out Picasso” the competition. The Internet has changed the game. As a restaurant owner you must expect that diners who have never eaten at your restaurant will visit your website before making a reservation. Your pictures will be your customer’s “first taste” of your cuisine.

Food photography and food styling are becoming extremely popular services sought out by restaurateurs, bar owners, wine makers, and others in the food and beverage industry. Jan Jongkol co-owner of Opal, one of Seattle’s newest and most popular restaurants explains that “Restaurant marketing has changed drastically… your photography, web site, and print advertising must be impeccable in order to attract increasingly more sophisticated diners”. Their web site, redesigned by restaurant marketing firm WeSprout Solutions, experienced a 650% gain in traffic in just one month and translated to 35% increase in reservations. Food photography was a key aspect in attracting new customers. “We can have the highest ranking site on the Internet, but the photography of our food is the final selling point” she explains.

However, when seeking a photographer food photos should not be your only concern. Restaurants require photographers with several skill sets. The ambiance and decor often help shape a visitors experience. Capturing romantic settings on film can be challenging and using a photographer experienced in architectural photography is important. In addition, photos of patrons, wait staff, chefs and others individuals may require a photo journalistic style.

How to choose a restaurant photographer
Here is a quick guide to choosing a photographer for your restaurant.

• Choose a photographer with a varied skill sets to best capture your restaurant’s “Visual Assets” including Food, Architectural, and Photo journalistic experience.
• Check out their galleries and look for consistency, style, and how many other restaurants use their service.
• Ask to speak with their clients. Great photographers will also have great business relationships. Speak with other restaurateurs who have used their services. This will help you avoid the “One-time Wonders”, those photographers who market their best shot ever, but can never replicate it.
• Beware of photographers who offer to come by and shoot your food or restaurant for what seems to be “free”. Likely, they will provide you with the photography and once you use their photography they will ask you for “Usage and copyright fees”. All too often I hear stories about restaurant owners who are taken to court for photography used in print advertising. The other costly side effect is that you will need to pay your web designer $50+/per hour to take down the photographs and post new ones. My best advice: Get your usage rights in writing!!!!
• Use a photographer that has professional lighting systems and equipment. Everyone owns a camera, but that does not mean they are professionals. The best equipment combined with the best skill sets usually will provide the best results.
• Ask for guarantees. Every photographer has bad days and sometimes pictures do not come out as well as they hoped. Work with photographers willing to re-shoot the food free of charge. Great photographers never want their poor images on the market and should be willing to guarantee their work.
• Lastly, work with a photographer who is willing to collaborate and incorporate your ideas. Ultimately, you need to be proud of every aspect of your marketing and if you do not have the pictures that convey your restaurant in the way in which you want, you will never be happy.

What should you pay for Restaurant Photography?
Well that is certainly the million dollar question and hopefully will not cost you as much. The first step is to know what you want to have photographed and then develop a coordination strategy. Some shots are best taken when the business is closed or when there are no customers. The last thing you want is to have strobe lights, extension cords, and tripods in the middle of your dining room at seven o’clock on a Friday night. Plan your photography shoots for before you open or just before you close. This will help maximize everyone’s time, keep your labor costs down, and most importantly have little to no impact on your customer’s dining experience. This will also reduce the likelihood that the photographer will have to return for other shots later.

Photographers generally offer hourly, half-day, and full-day rates. Their rate usually includes post-processing work needed to fine-tune the picture, but make sure you ask. The last thing you want is to hire a photographer for $150/hour and find that the post processing time was not included in the rate for the shoot times. Often post processing time will require more time than the shoot itself so be aware!

Generally speaking photographers will charge between $75 – $500 per hour. With the higher end of the scale, you start paying for the “Photographer’s Name” as much as their skill. Half-day rates will run between $300 – $2500 and full-day rates run $600 – $5,000. I know many of you just lost your appetite reading these rates, but the truth is that you will find many more photographers on the lower end of the scale. The other point to consider is that these images are the ones you will be using on your website, print advertising, email marketing, magazines, and more, so taking the low-cost route may be a lot more costly in the end. If you pay $2,000 for your website and $500/week for print advertising it is a good idea to use pictures that will induce “crave-ability”.

Always ask for a package pricing and inquire about any discounts for repeat business. For many restaurant’s the food changes with the season and because of this it is important to have photography that is up-to-date. Featuring a hearty beef stew during a summer heat wave will not convey the refreshing appeal of your cuisine. The photographer has a vested interest in repeat business too. The photography market is saturated, so finding and keeping good customers is also of high importance to the photographer.

Harley Lever
www.HarleysEye.com