Why food photography for restaurants is no longer optional
Last spring a chef from Klagenfurt sent us his Instagram and half-jokingly asked why the food in his kitchen looks better than on screen. The reason was ceiling lights, a phone camera and thirty seconds between courses - the dishes themselves were excellent, we tried them.
We have been hearing similar stories for a couple of years - from coffee shops on Alter Platz to family-run Gasthäuser by the Wörthersee. The kitchen is good, the dining room has atmosphere, but on Instagram it somehow falls flat. In most cases one shoot day is enough to fix it.
Why we prefer to shoot outside service hours
Live shooting works well for atmosphere. But when it comes to the dishes themselves, it is better to have a couple of quiet hours before opening - no guests in the dining room and no time pressure.
At Giovanni Restaurant im Hotel Dermuth we were given 4 hours before dinner service. The chef worked according to our plan - which dish at which minute - and we set the lights once and did not touch them again. We shot both photos and video in a single session. The evening service was not affected at all, and the kitchen did not have to split between guests and a camera.
When live shooting works better
Sometimes it is the opposite. At a dinner with a Michelin-starred chef at La Bottega there was nothing to stage - what we needed was guest reactions, movement in the room and the dishes at the exact moment of service. The videographer and I moved through the room in parallel: I shot the plates two or three seconds before they left the kitchen, the videographer captured close-ups of faces and the overall atmosphere. Shoots like these produce material you cannot recreate in a staged setup.
Photo and video in one day
Many agencies split photo and video into two shoot days. That does not work for us - too much duplicated effort. Assembling the team twice, coordinating with the kitchen twice, setting up lights twice, and then the colour on Reels still does not match the colour in the feed because you shot in different sessions under different lighting.
With us the photographer and videographer work on the same set in parallel. By the end of the day the restaurant has hero shots for the menu, vertical clips for Reels and TikTok, behind-the-scenes footage and close-ups for Stories - usually enough for a month of content.
Why your feed needs to look like one coherent whole
When photos, Reels and Stories are shot at different times by different people, you can tell from the first swipe: colours jump, the tone of the dishes shifts from cool to yellow, plating is shown from inconsistent angles. A follower will not articulate what is wrong, but they will scroll past faster.
When we handle the shoot from the start, the palette and lighting are locked in advance, and every frame follows the same logic from the first plate to the last. A month later a follower still recognises your account in their feed - even if they do not remember whose it is.
If you want, we can also take over ongoing management: planning shoots around the seasonal menu, structuring posts and handling publishing.
What to do before the shoot
The calmer the kitchen during the shoot, the better the result. The most convenient window is 2-4 hours before opening or the gap between lunch and dinner service - almost any plan fits into that. If you have to give up a service slot for the shoot, it usually pays for itself many times over.
Before the shoot it helps to put together a list: which signature dishes to photograph, which drinks, whether you need shots of the chef and team, whether the interior matters. If you want, we can build this list together - we have ready-made templates for coffee shops, restaurants and wine bars that make it easy to create a timeline.
If you want your restaurant to look as good on screen as it does on the plate - write to us. We will come to see the space, try a couple of dishes and tell you honestly whether it makes sense to shoot now or wait for the next seasonal menu.
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In 3-4 hours before service - up to 12 dishes from two or three angles plus drinks and interior. A full day covers 20-22 dishes. It is easier to shoot the core menu items and add seasonal updates once a quarter.
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The full package with retouching and video editing - 5-7 working days. If there is a specific deadline (opening, menu change), we adjust accordingly.
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In the restaurant. Food looks more convincing where it is actually served - with your tableware, your table, your window light. Studio food shoots make sense for packaging or advertising, but for a restaurant menu and social media - on location works better.
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One 3-4 hour shoot usually covers 4-6 weeks: photos for the feed, vertical clips for Reels, close-ups for Stories, shots with the team. Posting 3-4 times a week, the content lasts about six weeks.
