Your food is the main draw of your restaurant, but how can you show off what you have to offer before customers come in?

1. 5 Tips for Food Photography
Your food is the main draw of your restaurant, but how can you show off
what you have to offer before customers come in? The key is mastering
food photography. It naturally helps marketing when you splash them
across your website and social media to show off your best dishes.
Food photography also helps push items on the menu. Does one particular
breakfast dish do worse than the others? Add a mouth-watering photo
next to the description and sales for it will grow by themselves. Give
customers a taste before they order with great photos.
It can cost a lot to hire a professional. Instead, your restaurant can handle
taking pictures itself with these 5 tips:
The Key to Great Food Photography
The pictures you use to portray your restaurant and its dishes affect your
brand association in customers’ minds. Therefore, it’s extremely important
to cast your business in a good light—metaphorically and literally.
1. Setting
Your backdrop and general surroundings affect picture quality. Use natural
lighting to avoid glare, but also avoid direct sunlight that can cause bright
spots and distract from the subject. Don’t use flash and take it during the
daytime so the dish looks appealing from all angles. Take a few pictures
and experiment with location and lighting to see what works best.
2. Add Oil

2. You know your ingredients are fresh and delicious, but sometimes the
transition to 2D can make food appear dry. Add oil or water to freshen up
the view and highlight the most appetizing parts of the meal. When you
get it just right, the food should sell itself.
3. Clean Surroundings
Crumbs and messes can distract from the main point of the photo. That
will draw the eye away and make the photo look unprofessional. Be careful
when handling and plating the food; some food photographers use
tweezers to get it just right.
Background matters too. Choose a plain, non-distracting backdrop that
emphasizes the dish. You can also incorporate certain aspects of your
décor or general atmosphere to give viewers a feel for what dining with
you would be like. For example, if you want to emphasize your patio
seating, take pictures outside.
4. Garnish
Considering the importance of plating, you can make any dish pop by
adding something extra on top. Experiment with various garnishes to see
what looks best on camera. Garnish can be the perfect addition on top to
make a picture go from good to great.
5. General Picture-Taking
There are certain photography “rules” that will bring your food
photography to the next level. For example, the depth of field determines
how much is actually in focus, so use it to highlight focal points of the
picture like particularly tasty-looking garnishes.

3. Also consider the rule of thirds, which determines that food is more
appealing when it’s not placed in the dead center. Instead, imagine
splitting the photo into three rows and three columns. It should fall into
one of those “thirds” to most effectively draw attention.
Your Food Photography
Now you know how to sell your dishes through great pictures on your
website, social media and menu. They’ll generate engagement, interest,
and ultimately more profit as guests are drawn to add more to their carts.
Next, make sure your customer service is as strong as your food
photography skills when you upgrade your Point of Sale system.