Guides
How to photograph the things people make, trade by trade — and how to get more out of the tool.
Artisan food producers
Meeting retailer image specifications
The buyer says yes, then sends a PDF asking for 2,000 pixels square on pure white with a ten per cent margin. That is a different photograph from the one on your website.
August 16, 2026 · 4 minute read
Artisan food producers
What you must never change on a food label
Allergens, weight, batch codes and origin are not design elements. They are legal text, and an image that alters them is a compliance problem.
August 15, 2026 · 3 minute read
Artisan food producers
Photographing jars and dark bottles
Olive oil in dark glass, honey in a jar, vinegar in a bottle: three products that all photograph as a black shape unless you light them from behind.
August 14, 2026 · 4 minute read
Meal prep and ghost kitchens
Working in a stainless steel room
Every surface reflects, every light is overhead, and there is not one square metre in the building that looks like anywhere a person would eat.
August 13, 2026 · 4 minute read
Meal prep and ghost kitchens
Photographing portions honestly
The most common one-star review in delivery is not about taste. It is that the box contained less than the photograph promised.
August 12, 2026 · 4 minute read
Meal prep and ghost kitchens
Selling food when there is no dining room
A restaurant has a frontage, a smell and a room full of people eating. A delivery-only kitchen has a grid of thumbnails and nothing else.
August 12, 2026 · 4 minute read
Cocktail bars
A week of content from one service
Bars are expected to post constantly and staffed by people working nights. The only sustainable answer is to capture in bulk and publish slowly.
August 11, 2026 · 3 minute read
Cocktail bars
Ice, condensation and garnish: the details that date a photo
A clear block of ice, a cold glass beading with condensation and a fresh twist are the three things that say this drink was made properly.
August 10, 2026 · 4 minute read
Cocktail bars
Shooting a dark bar without a flash
The room is lit at the level people want to drink in. Your phone wants a hundred times more light, and the flash destroys everything the room was built for.
August 9, 2026 · 4 minute read
Bakeries and patisseries
Showing lamination and crumb
Two croissants, one laminated over three days and one from a frozen box, look identical from the front. From the side they do not.
August 8, 2026 · 3 minute read
Bakeries and patisseries
Photographing decorated cakes that leave in an hour
Every celebration cake you make is one of a kind, it is collected the same day, and if you did not photograph it, it never existed.
August 8, 2026 · 4 minute read
Bakeries and patisseries
Photographing bread before sunrise
The loaves come out at four in the morning and the shop opens at seven. There is no daylight in that window, and the bakery lights are the wrong colour.
August 7, 2026 · 4 minute read