Hiring a Food Photographer- A How To with Photographer Nick Ghattas
One of my most popular services is monthly Social Media Management. Being a social media manager differs greatly then being a content creator. Rather than shooting photos and creating graphics, my role becomes managing provided visuals, writing copy, creating shot lists, (more on that below!), researching hashtags, watching out for trolls and providing client support. I organize it all in giant spreadsheets strategically for my client to review. From there, I either do the posting and monitoring myself or hand it to the client for them to post.
During the onboarding process for this service, I will usually recommend to the client that they source commercial photography for their business. These images can then be dropped into an app like Canva, or sent along to your graphic designer to create the perfect visuals for your social media feeds. While the idea of yet another expense is generally met with disdain from most small business owners, this is one other consultants and I generally insist upon. Why?
I use the analogy of online dating a lot when I explain how to attract customers via a culinary social media feed. Much like a tinder profile, it’s vital that the photos reflect the ‘best angles’ of your product. You want to create something that will stop the scrollers in their tracks. While some small business owners are naturally good at capturing these angles, the reality is the majority of us are not. And that’s okay- as entrepreneurs we wear so many hats that it’s hard for us to admit that we’re lacking skill in one area or another, or even that we simply just don’t have the time to set up a well lit visual of our product. Prettier pictures equals more stopping to look, which ultimately equals more sales.
I have always hired people whose strengths make up for my weaknesses, being firm in my realization that I simply cannot be good at absolutely everything. Some things are just better left to the experts. Food photography is usually one of these things.
I’ve known and have worked with Food and Wedding Photographer Nick Ghattas for a few years now, and his work is not only iconic and jaw dropping, it’s also incredibly well executed and achieves that “stop scrolling” effect I mentioned earlier in this post.
Nick and I thought it would be fun to do a joint post for you folks about how to shop for the right photographer for your business, and highlight why hiring a professional is so valuable.
So Nick, what are the benefits to hiring a photographer to highlight your culinary brand?
A good photographer can help produce impactful food images that can really get people's attention. We always try to remember especially with the world we’re now living in that “people eat with their eyes first.”
What should a business owner do to prepare for your visit?
Get a shot list ready of what you would like to shoot.
Plan to shoot on a day when the location is slow or closed.
Let the photographer know what the main use for the photos will be. It can really help with choosing the proper framing and orientation of the images. If you have designs, ads or menus you plan to use the images in, providing those in advance can also help.
Close off a portion of the location so your photographer has space to set up and work. We take up more space than you think.
Do not cook all the food in advance! Food tends to die on set fairly quickly and is better off being prepared as needed. Baked goods are the exception.
How does a business owner pinpoint what kind of shots or look they're after?
Take a look around online and save some images you really like. We also always ask our clients to pick their favourite images from our portfolio so we can get a better idea of the look and feel they’re wanting. This is something your photographer should be able to help you with in advance of the shoot. Every shoot we work on has a style, look or theme that has been decided prior to shoot day.
The more creative freedom you give your photographer, the better the images tend to turn out!
Who owns the images after the shoot is completed? Do you recommend any kind of releases or things like that?
By default, unless otherwise stated in the contract, the photographer owns any image they shoot. Most photographers prefer to keep their copyright, but for an extra fee may agree to sell the rights to the images.
Personally, we grant exclusive rights to any client we shoot with. It would be really bad business to license the image(s) to a competing local business. Some photographers may give you an exclusive license for your country and potentially license the images elsewhere. If this is the case, they may reduce the licensing fees you’d pay saving you some money...as long as you don’t mind your photo being on a billboard in Sweden lol.
When costing out photographers what is the range? Is more expensive better?
This really varies city by city. I shoot in both Ottawa and Toronto and the budgets and rates differ greatly between the two cities. Generally a good/experienced photographer will be more expensive v.s. someone new to the industry. What you’re really looking for is consistency in their work regardless of experience or price. It’s not hard to take one good photo, but can they do it 10, 15, 20 times in one day? Can they handle all different types of food you're asking them to shoot?
My personal recommendation would be to rank your favourite photographers based on their portfolios and go from there. There should be some work in their portfolio that really speaks to you. If you see some image in their portfolio and think: my food would look great in that light or on that set, then they’re probably a better fit.
Maybe the photographer is a huge fan of your food/product and would be excited to work with you. In this case they may be willing to negotiate or throw in some extras.
What kind of packages / banks of images/ how many images are standard?
Our larger productions are quoted on a job by job basis as they can vary greatly in production costs (food stylist, props, studio costs etc.). To keep things simple for small businesses, we’ve developed a 1 day shoot package, which includes myself, an assistant and some of our in house props/surfaces. We also always give the option to have a food stylist on set.
Our shoot includes 10-15 unique stylized images. When shooting easier to style products (i.e. baked good) we may end up shooting closer to 20 images.
Each photographer will have their own rates and amounts of images delivered for a day of shooting. One thing to keep in mind is good images do take time to shoot. I think there’s a misconception that a good camera will take a good photo. What it really comes down to is the lighting, food styling and propping. A good camera with a nice lens is just a small part of the equation.
A good photographer should be able to work at a quick pace but still take the time to get great images.
What kind of questions should a business owner ask of a potential photographer?
Are you a Natural light photographer or do you use strobes/continuous lights? If they shoot with natural light, you’re restricted by the sun and may lose consistency in the images as lighting conditions change. That being said, natural window light images can look incredible. We sometimes use both. Overall though we rely on creating our own light as it’s usually a big part of the aesthetic of the shoot.
How long will it take for me to get the final images?
Will you be doing any retouching on the images (hopefully yes)?
Do you specialize in shooting food?
How long is a day of shooting? For example, ours is 10 hours total including setup & teardown.
Do you have an assistant? ( It can really speed things up.)
Do you have any references / who have you worked with before?
Do you have any experience in food and prop styling? Having a photographer that is hands on with both can really help create exciting images. I wouldn’t expect your photographer to style all the images from scratch, but they should be able prodive direction and work closely with you/your chef.
Can you provide a food stylist, and what would the added cost be?
Will we have a pre production call to go over the shot list and plan for the day?
Do you also shoot video/motion? For example, I now offer to light my sets with continuous light and can shoot both at the same time.
Are there products or food items that simply can't be shot beautifully? Do you have any stories for us about an experience you may have had with a tricky-to-shoot food item?
Yes Absolutely, but there is almost always a solution. Here’s where hiring a photographer who specializes in food can really help.
When food is difficult to shoot...it’s time to get creative. I just recently shot for a catering company (Les Flavoureux) and we had to shoot fried macaroni squares and mini pogos. They’re both very monochromatic and can be boring to look at on their own (but taste so damn good). We ended up levitating the pogo being dipped into maple ketchup and made an overhead art piece of the macaroni squares.
See images below.
Macaroni Squares. Image by Nick Ghattas Photography.
Suspended Pogo. By Nick Ghattas Photography.
Any other tips or tricks?
Hire the person you think is best for the job, not the cheapest option. The amount of times I’ve been contacted and told the last person didn’t do a good job and now we need to hire a real food photographer etc. You’re better off to do it once and to do it right.
Hire a photographer who specializes in food photographer v.s. someone who is just a professional photographer.
If you/your chef don’t have much experience styling for the camera it may be a good idea to ask about adding a food stylist to your shoot.
Ask your friends in the industry who they’ve used. Chances are you’ve seen the images and heard about how awesome they were to work with. Maybe even post in a few groups asking for recommendations etc. Spend a bit of time researching photographers, once you find a good one, it’s a relationship that can last for a very long time.
Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge with us today Nick, it's greatly appreciated.
You can find Nick on Instagram at @ghattasphoto Email him at ghattasphoto@gmail.com or see more of his breathtaking shots at www.nickghattas.com
Want me to manage your social media feeds or write copy? I have a few spots left for 2021 and currently onboarding. Email me for pricing and details.