Going on a shoot for a community kitchen. Any advice?

[TriggerLoft]

In my city, I volunteer at a community kitchen which prepares and serves food for the homeless. Recently, I was asked to do some photography of the kitchen at work which may include photos of the workers preparing food, serving food and perhaps even some food photography. I've never really "worked" for someone or an organization in the past so I'm not very sure what I should do. Do you guys have any tips before I go for the shoot tomorrow morning?

 

[photo1x1.com]

Do you have a speedlight flash? I guess it is going to be rather dark in the kitchen (photography wise). Bouncing a speedlight at the ceiling (maybe with a (DIY) flash fill card to get some more light in front) usually does a rather easy job especially in tight spaces.
For food photography: backlight is your big friend. Try to get some light from the back and every food shot will look much better with the juicy part of the meal reflecting the light into the camera.

 

[tirediron]

If you have, or can borrow a speedlight, that will help hugely. I assume this is for marketing purposes, so make sure you (or someone) have things covered off from that point of view. The important thing is to be friendly and open. I suspect many of your customers, like homeless everywhere are private people, and may not be comfortable with being photographed. Ask permission before shooting individuals or small groups, and have signs posted at the entrance indicating that you will be photographing them (as well as stating 'why'), and it probably wouldn't hurt to have a few releases made up as well. The last thing you want is to get a great shot that you can't use because the paperwork wasn't done!

 

[snowbear]

Small details, like making sure everything in view is clean, as in health regulations.

 

[Derrel]

If you're not used to speedlight shooting, or are using a borrowed one, make sure you have adequate battery power. Secondly, if you have to bounce the flash off of a ceiling, keep in mind the "shooting distance" for bounce flash is flash-to-ceiling and then ceiling-to-subject, so...flash power will be reduced 1 to 2 full stops versus direct flash, so elevating the ISO level to 400, or 500, or 640, makes bounced flash work best, especially if powering the flash of of AA batteries. Also, the higher-ISO level makes background areas "brighter" than when the ISO level is left at 100. Higher ISO levels effectively make the flash and background exposures look "closer"....which can be good, or bad, depending. These days, many people dislike the old "black background, foreground lighted with flash look", so keep that in mind, and do not be afraid to slow the shutter speeds down to 1/30, or 1/15, if you want the backgrounds to be lighted,and not dark.