Food Photography Question?

danial · Apr 2, 2014

There is a guy that owns a cafe/restaurant and he wants me to take some images for him.. I've never done food photography before but I said I can give it a go.. But he wants me to take the images just before they get served to the customer. And I said no that he has to cook the food and I'll take the images I said that I can't just get the photo that quick, I need to get the right composition and everything else he said he can't waste the food I said its not wasting the food if your going to end up with a good image that you can use and will last for a long time rather than a quick snapshop just before its served. Am I right with that ?

mmaria · Apr 2, 2014

if the conversation between the two of you looked like your writing here then I would say that neither of you is right.

he doesn't understand what it takes for a good food photograph.
you seem to don't understand how to approach this job.

I can't tell more because I don't know anything about your work. You could be a great photographer or not.

anyway, that's jmho

Designer · Apr 2, 2014

Somebody is going to be eating cold food.

danial · Apr 2, 2014

mmaria said:
if the conversation between the two of you looked like your writing here then I would say that neither of you is right.

he doesn't understand what it takes for a good food photograph.
you seem to don't understand how to approach this job.

I can't tell more because I don't know anything about your work. You could be a great photographer or not.

anyway, that's jmho

I didn't say it as blunt as that lol it was just the gist of it..

danial · Apr 2, 2014

mmaria said:
I can't tell more because I don't know anything about your work. You could be a great photographer or not.

anyway, that's jmho

I think my images are good I spend a lot of time getting things right and a lot more time in post.. But they usually turn out how I like them...

NjStacker22 · Apr 2, 2014

I completely agree. If he's not willing to "waste" some food for the photos I don't think I would do it. He wants to rush you to get your shot and ultimately, if they do not come out looking the way they should it's going to be your fault. You could always have him wrap the food up for you to take home so it's not being "wasted"

Steve5D · Apr 2, 2014

I wouldn't spend a lot of time on this gig.

There's no way to give the guy quality work if your subject is in transit to a hungry customer. You might get a good shot here or there, but those will be sporadic. It's simply not something which will happen with any measurable degree of consistency.

If this is a pro bono or barter gig, I'd just walk. You won't get acceptable results and, as Njstacker22 has mentioned, it will be all your fault. If this is a paying gig, the restaurant owner needs to understand that just as his cooks and servers get paid because they know how to do their job, so should you be paid because you know how to do yours.

If he's not going to allow you the latitude to do your job the way you know it needs to be done, then this will end badly. Remember, he came to you.

If he insists on the "take this photo before the meal is served" approach, I'd shake his hand, thank him for considering me for the job, and walk...

tirediron · Apr 2, 2014

Pretty much what Steve said; search YouTube; I can't remember which one, but one of the preeminent food photographers has posted a short 'behind the scenes' video of a hamburger shoot for McDonald's - I don't remember numbers, but there is one scene where you see an entire table covered in buns and such just to get ONE image of a hamburger. In short, the food that is used for advertising is NOT "wasted", it's part of the cost of doing business.

Steve5D · Apr 2, 2014

I would imagine that, if the guy charges, say, $10.00 for a sandwich, that he's looking at it as a loss of $10.00.

Instead, he needs to look at it as an advertising investment of the $2.00 it costs him to buy the ingredients of that sandwich...

danial · Apr 2, 2014

Steve5D said:
I would imagine that, if the guy charges, say, $10.00 for a sandwich, that he's looking at it as a loss of $10.00.

Instead, he needs to look at it as an advertising investment of the $2.00 it costs him to buy the ingredients of that sandwich...

Exactly, its 100% greed.. And prior to asking me to take the images he said that he asked a friend with a good quality camera on his phone to take some pictures but he didn't like them and obviously there not gonna be the same quality.

KmH · Apr 2, 2014

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Steve5D · Apr 2, 2014

danial said:
Exactly, its 100% greed.

No, it's not greed. It's simply a matter of him looking at it from the wrong budget.

He's a business man. Don't fault him for recognizing that he won't be able to sell a ten dollar sandwich. That's his business. That's how he earns a living. I don't know a single small business owner who isn't concerned about every last nickel coming in and going out. Calling it "greed" is remarkably short-sighted on your part.

Your job is to make him understand that it's worth the $2.00 investment. You won't ever be able to do that if you don't have an appreciation for the fact that a business owner needs to be mindful of everything, including his inability to sell a ten dollar sandwich. That sandwich represents $8.00 profit for him. That eight bucks goes to his overhead; paying employees, buying supplies and food, paying the electric bill, etc. That $8.00 profit helps him stay in business.

Dismissing it as greed suggests that you may not be the person to help him understand that it's not the loss of $8.00 but, rather, the investment of $2.00...

And prior to asking me to take the images he said that he asked a friend with a good quality camera on his phone to take some pictures but he didn't like them and obviously there not gonna be the same quality.

Um... So what?

That's absolutely meaningless, simply because it doesn't pertain to you at all. Don't be concerned with what someone else did. Do what you do. Let the restaurant owner worry about what somone else did...

Braineack · Apr 2, 2014

danial said:
Steve5D said:

I would imagine that, if the guy charges, say, $10.00 for a sandwich, that he's looking at it as a loss of $10.00.

Instead, he needs to look at it as an advertising investment of the $2.00 it costs him to buy the ingredients of that sandwich...

Click to expand...

Exactly, its 100% greed...

it's not greed. and there's nothing wrong with being greedy.

Scatterbrained · Apr 2, 2014

danial said:
Steve5D said:

I would imagine that, if the guy charges, say, $10.00 for a sandwich, that he's looking at it as a loss of $10.00.

Instead, he needs to look at it as an advertising investment of the $2.00 it costs him to buy the ingredients of that sandwich...

Click to expand...

Exactly, its 100% greed.. And prior to asking me to take the images he said that he asked a friend with a good quality camera on his phone to take some pictures but he didn't like them and obviously there not gonna be the same quality.

Greed is good.

People don't start businesses out of some altruistic impulse, they do it to make money. They make money by providing the best service/product they can, at a price their customers are willing to pay. That doesn't mean they don't care about their customers, if they didn't care, they wouldn't be in business very long.

Most people not involved with photography have no idea just what is actually involved with good photography. Rather than just dismiss him, it usually helps to explain exactly what goes into a proper food shoot, and what the benefits are. Your average small business owner is a "one man band" of sorts. They tend to know their specialty very well, but the ins and outs of advertising/marketing are often a mystery. To this guy, he thinks it's just a matter of having a good camera and taking the picture. This isn't any different than most peoples point of view. It's up to you to demonstrate the benefits, that's part of selling your service.

For example: If you were to bring your car into a dealership and they said you needed brakes, with an estimate of $250: you could easily point out that the Grease Monkey down the street will do it for $80. At this point a competent service writer would be able to explain to you exactly how the product and service offered at the Grease Monkey are inferior to what they offer, and exactly how that inferiority will effect you as a consumer. They don't expect you to get it right away; they expect to have to explain it. It's part of educating the consumer, and educating the consumer is often a prerequisite to making the sale.