So you own your own restaurant and want to give your customers a good reason to come in to your restaurant. You’ve set up your social media accounts and you have practiced good social media techniques, and now you think you’re ready to take it to the next level. Chances are, you can and should!
The first thing is to set up an Instagram account. This allows for an easily shareable medium that can be searched by millions of potential customers. Also, create a gallery on your Facebook page and website in order to showcase these photos. I’ll explain how to shoot great food photography, for cheap, for a camera first, then how to translate it in to your smartphone.
Great food photography:
You need a camera to take photos of your food. If you have a DSLR, great! If you don’t it is fine, you can get by with a point-and-shoot. One rule of food photography is to make it interesting. You either want the photo to be full of food (top), or to take more of a minimalist approach, and have more blank space so your food pops and stands out. (bottom)
Maximalism in Food Photography
Minimalism in food photography
Another tenant of photography is to follow the rule of thirds. Basically, this means breaking down the frame in to nine equal squares, and capturing the subject of your photo on the first or second vertical line. (see photo)
You want to line up your subject in the red pluses
This draws the attention to the thing caught up in the lines.
Another tip is to use natural light and have the color white balance set. This will make your photos look better, and allows for colors to appear more realistic. Also, if you are out of available light, use the flash on your camera, and the LED light on your phone for secondary lighting. This will take the harshness out of the camera flash and create some dramatic shadows.
The last tip of great food photography is angles. Don’t try to capture your food from head-on in every single photo. Take some photos from above, tilt the camera a bit, take some close up. Try to vary the angles, it will increase people’s interest because it will not be the same photo with different food.
For camera phones:
Camera phones have become progressively better for picture taking, and can lead to some awesome images. Here are a couple tips for your food photography is your are using your camera phone:
Turn the flash off, completely, and utilize natural light. Follow the rule of thirds. If you can, take a photo in the regular photo format, and the square, or 1×1 format. This will allow you to have the same photo, one ready for Internet publishing, and the other ready for Instagram posting. If you follow these simple instructions, you should be producing quality food pictures that will increase your Internet presence and drive buzz around your restaurant.
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