How to Hire a Food Photographer - A Conversation with Our Latina Lens

After a week-long feature on Our Latina Lens, founder Mónika Aldarondo Lugo and I teamed up to speak on Instagram Live about how to hire a food photographer for her “How to Hire a ______ Photographer” series.

Being a Bay Area food photographer is kind of amazing. In San Francisco and Oakland, the top chefs of the world come to work and eat, creating incredible restaurants that all need food and drink photography. Also in the area, from the Golden Gate to Silicon Valley, and down to the South Bay Wine Country, there is always a need for quality food photography.

Take a look at the Live here and read on for my thoughts on hiring a Bay Area Food Photographer

What does a food photographer offer?

Much like there is a skillset to photograph cars professionally, weddings, and high fashion, a food photographer focuses on details that make food “drool-worthy” or my favorite, “fuuuuu [insert drool emoji]”. And the right photographer for your business will offer assets—imagery that speaks to your clients, and gets them to come dine in your establishment or purchase your product.

How can they support your business?

Once you find the photographer that is right for you they can help you grow your business, plain and simple. The particular kind of food photography I provide is one that tells a story. It appeals to emotions with light, shadow, color and ambiance in addition to the food itself. An investment in this type of imagery will be the first impression of your business. It will also convert a passive viewer of content into a customer that responds to how that image makes them feel.

Restaurants are not an easy business, nor are they cheap to run. However, the investment in imagery adds to the bottom line by converting those customers who are looking online for a place to eat or a brand of probiotic drink. It builds trust and credibility, and overall, you eat with your eyes first, right? The imagery guides my choice to whether to pick up your brand of salsa or another. Your restaurant or another. The choice is already made before I even make my purchase or have been presented a menu.

How do you find a food photographer? In the Bay Area if you are looking for a food photographer you have a vast network of colleagues in the industry you’re in. If not, find one, its VITAL. Ask your colleagues if they were happy with the images and experience. If you still need more info or different options, good old google, or hashtags on social media will do the trick. I always have #bayareafoodphotographer in my posts. If you need someone super local, or want to support your neighborhood artists, you can try your city. San Jose restaurant photography for example, or San Francisco food photographer.

How do you find a photographer that is right for you? Once you decide “Yes, this is is an investment I am making in my business", determine your needs, and then your budget. Your needs can be simple product photos on a white background, or they can be a series of photos for your food truck all the way to a full restaurant photoshoot. You may need several images for web and social in different sizes or you may need a few basic images.

Anytime you request info on custom photography, always come prepared with your budget—the amount you currently have to invest. Commercial photography is expensive. Its custom. Tailored to suit YOUR business in every way. It’s telling your story. But it also requires the time and creativity of several people at times, and not just the photographer. But as we have already touched on, its sole purpose is to grow your business. So when you find one, get on a call with them, Zoom or phone, and tell them what you need. Once the scope of work is outlined, then I can tell you how much that will be. But finding the right photographer for your business will ultimately be someone who you feel can tell your story to convert those perusing a new restaurant for their dinner date into a new customer.

I have a Smartphone, I have apps, why should I hire a professional? A beautiful quote—Oli Sansom, “we don’t get paid to take photos, we get paid to pay attention.” Meaning yes, anyone can take a photo. A good one even. But photographers are paid to notice light, shadow, ambiance, framing, exposing correctly and apply that to taking the best photos every time. I’ve put years into this. And for reals, a customer will know the difference. Which puts us right back at the top…

…you eat with your eyes first, then you make the purchase, and become a long term customer when it all aligns.