We provide Food Photography for many different companies. International Brands, local and chain restaurants, private chefs, you name it. Our photography and video is used for website, social media content, Menus, packaging, supermarket POS and Touch screen ordering. Our clients come to us because they know they are going to get great marketing assets, but more importantly, their food is going to look fresh and appetising.

Any good food photographer will take your brief, digest it (excuse the pun!) and then advise as how best to proceed.  Things to consider could be; selecting the right food stylist, getting involved with background production or sourcing, logistics (when will the food arrive and where will it get stored), and quoting of course!

Food photography has a bit of a reputation! Everyone has heard the stories of hairspray holding things together, glue in the cereal bowl and cheese made out of sponge! In some cases quirky tricks of the trade are used, but never in a dishonest way. Remember we are trying to beautifully represent a real-life 3D object into a 2D picture. Sometimes propping up a bun, or gluing something in place is necessary, however our approach is very organic.

Customers are very savvy and don’t want to be lied to, and as such most clients go into a shoot wanting to use their food just as it is. Nobody wants disappointment and complaints later. We have clients that run our shots past their legal teams before signing the shots off, and others that will only allow their food to be cooked in the way it is in their restaurants. i.e. if something is oven cooked they won’t allow it to be fried for photography. People want authentic, and we always try to facilitate that. We are happy working directly or through creative directors, art directors, designer, marketing manager etc.

We have provided Food Photography in Bournemouth for some of the following brands; Pukka Pies, Sainsbury’s, Pizza Express, Tim Hortons, Harry Ramsden’s, Herbalife, Kenwood, Smint, Mentos, Walker Agency, and more

Food photography runs a wide gamut. You can shoot in an editorial style, or with a polished commercial look. Editorial Food Photography is the type of photography you would expect to see in a recipe book, or on a food magazine. Stylistically you might think of window lighting, with lovely soft shadows. Possibly a narrow depth of field and some organic surfaces and props. Shots for packaging and advertising tend to look more typically commercial, evenly lit with bolder colours. We often think of an editorial photograph as a finished image, and a commercial photograph more like an asset, made with other uses in mind. Often these shots go to designers who add copy, graphics, re-crop for different print and web uses.

There are no hard or fast rules for a food photographer. There may well be crossover in the two styles . Primarily the shots need to be on brand and the food needs to look fresh. Everything around that is up for grabs – as a production team we can make our lighting dramatic, we can find textured backgrounds,  or quirky plates. As a team we relish the opportunity to be creative to make something new for our clients.

We are comfortable shooting food however we are asked to by the marketing manger or art director. We just like to add a bit of oomph! That means great lighting, accurate colours, high resolution and excellent composition. Everything that leaves our studio get’s critiqued and will be on brief.

Logistics are very important. We can shoot food in our studio or on location. There are pros and cons for both. Our kitchen is fully equipped, and if we don’t have something you need we can hire it in. The studio shutter door is located right next to our kitchen so delivery of food or equipment is super easy. We have two ovens, gas and electric hobs, blender, frier and a large kitchen island for your food stylist to make their magic happen. There are also chest freezers and fridges that can be ready for your food shoot.

Our Bournemouth studio gives us tonnes of flexibility. You’ll no doubt be prepared for you shoot, but sometimes you need options! We store backgrounds and props in our space because it’s invaluable to be able to put your hands on a small missing prop, or look at a different background option. We have various tiles, hard woods, fabrics, and of course MDF flats which we can paint any colour you like! Our prop store is full of pots, plates, knives and forks, napkins and coasters, just in case we need a little extra.

Sometimes shooting on Location is the best route forward. Specialist kitchen facilities and using a restaurant as the background for the shoot, are just a few reasons a shoot might be better on location. No problem we can load up a car or van and bring our studio to you. This can offer reality, extra brand cues and probably more quantity in terms of ingredients and resources to use. We just need enough sapce!

Styling is key. We regularly work with amazing food stylists. Many of our contacts have different specialities, some are very technical and others very instinctive with colours and textures. Some shoots require food and prop stylists, or assistants to prep food components before it makes it to set.  Good stylists are worth their weight in gold and will help make a shoot go smoothly. It’s all in the prep, if they know what they have to prepare and what the perfect colour, consistency, shape looks like to you then we can crack on with cameras and lighting with full confidence in what is coming our of the kitchen.

A food shoot will also massively benefit from strong art direction. If one person has a clear idea of the overall look and feel that we’re aiming for it makes our job as the photographer a breeze, and as such the photography will be better for it. The food should almost always win, but a great concept will elevate your offering.

Propping food usually works with a less is more approach – which of course very much depends on the art direction. The food is usually the star of the show though. A brand’s audience can be a good guide of what to prop a shot with. Sometimes we have to find a balance between a scene looking realistic, and being aspirational. Retro props can make a shot lean one way, and may not be right for your audience, or may age an image quicker. We hold some props here (listed above), for these reasons we generally hold slightly more generic items.

We have surfaces, we can make or source new ones. Order anything you like so long as it’s big enough. You may wish to shoot on location to feature your restaurant style in the shoot. It’s common to use the tables you have spec’d in your restaurants to make the shots feel real and authentic. Maybe your have a nice wooden bar, or specific plates that set the tone for you food. Visually we can really help in this department, we will have opinions on the right look and feel for the shots, and backgrounds are a big, and often overlooked aspect. A mismatched background can let a shot down, the right colour or texture can enhance your dish. We think a good food photographer should have some options at hand, just in case!