If you’re a fan of photography, you probably use cameras for all sorts of different aspects of your life. Whether that’s taking selfies with your smartphone, using some of the coolest home entryway devices on the market, or just investing in your own DSLR camera, photography is a fun way to show others how you view the world. One thing many people are doing these days is looking for ways to combine their passions and hobbies with a side-gig for some extra income. Photography is a great skill to have in this regard, and one niche that always needs better photographs is the restaurant industry!
Whether you’re taking photos of the chefs and waitstaff, the interior of a restaurant, or the food on the menu, there are a few different ways that you can leverage your love of photos and photography to make some extra money. Especially with so many people ordering food through mobile apps like GrubHub, Uber Eats, and DoorDash, pictures of a restaurant’s dishes are becoming more and more important in informing potential customers about what they’re considering ordering. Keep reading for three tips to help you take better food pics so that you can branch out into food photography in the best way possible.
1. Have a storage solution.
Before you start taking tons of photos, it’s a good idea to have a storage solution set up ahead of time. Whether you’re looking at Google Photos, OneDrive, Dropbox, or some other type of cloud storage option, the right photo storage can make a world of difference when it comes to organizing your pictures in different folders. Some cloud-based photo storage devices even come with smart home technology like your Alexa or Google Assistant smart speakers that allow you to automatically backup photos from your iPhone or computer into folders via Wi-Fi.
Obviously, not everyone has the same sorts of needs when it comes to photo storage, so not everyone is going to be looking for smart home devices that double as a handy and secure system for backing up photos. That being said, if you don’t want to create a Dropbox, OneDrive, or Google Photos account, having a cloud-based option that organizes and backs up photos from your PC or Macbook automatically on your Wi-Fi network could be a major game-changer.
2. Experiment with composition.
How you set up your camera and food is just as important as taking a high-resolution photo. As such, it’s always a good idea to have a little bit of fun and experiment with composition. Changing the background or playing with different angles doesn’t take any time at all and could result in some truly fantastic food pictures.
For example, you’re taking a photo of a plate of really spicy chicken wings featuring a new brand of hot sauce, it could be fun to snap a few pictures in front of the thermostat to get that feeling of heat that the food might give diners. Similarly, if you’re interested in playing up the size of something, a low-angle photograph could be a great way to alert viewers to the largesse of the dish.
3. Collaborate with the chef.
While you might think it’s a hassle, collaborating with the chef who prepared the dish is actually well worth the time and energy if you want to take better food photographs. The chef is going to know exactly what your photo needs to say about the dish, whether that’s accentuating the texture, color, or some other original quality about the menu item. Talking with them ahead of time ensures that you’re serving the client and really getting to the essence of the food you’re photographing, ultimately resulting in a much better photo.
