Why hire a professional food photographer for your restaurant?

Posted by Teena Agnel on January 31st, 2020

Owning a restaurant and running it successfully is a big endeavor. Marketing plays a major role in the success of your restaurant. But, marketing today is a lot different than it was a decade ago. We are living in the age of online marketing and all businesses including restaurants are making use of it to stand ahead of their competitors. Food photography plays an important role if your restaurant does online food delivery. To use good food images on your restaurant's website you must hire a professional food photographer.

Qualities of a Professional Food Photographer

Although a type of photography, food photography is treated as a different form in the photography profession. A professional should have an artistic eye and have the ability to make the food look as aesthetically pleasing as possible. Here, we have listed a few qualities that a professional should have.

Technically Skilled

Professional food photographers acquire training in lighting and composition used especially to click food photographs. They very well know where to use natural light and where to click a picture under flash. They generally have experience in their profession. They know very well about the angles that will work well for a particular food shot. Moreover, they are very well aware of the lighting facts and how to make it interesting for every cuisine.

Food Stylist

Although a chef will prepare the food to look and taste good, it is the food stylist that will embellish and decorate the food item into a masterpiece, and make it ready to be clicked. Just as the chef prepares and plates a particular item for the restaurant guests, the food stylist likewise prepares and plates the food item for the “CAMERA”. The food stylist also makes use of different types of food ornamentations and props to make the food item look irresistible. The food photographers will either themselves have the styling skills or they will engage separate food stylists to work with them.

If you want to get control of your marketing message, then having a business website is a non-negotiable aspect. And for a successful online presence, having professional food photography is a prerequisite. Here, we shall discuss a few reasons why hiring a professional food photographer is important for online marketing of your restaurant.

Reasons to hire a professional food photographer for online marketing of your restaurant

Highlighting specific menu items

Your restaurant may be offering certain common items that people rush to restaurants for eating. These often include drinks or appetizers. These menu items can attract customers inviting them to set their foot in the door if they are strategically priced in your food menu.

Then your restaurant also offers certain specialty items that are the most profitable and delicious at the same time. It is very likely that you want the customers to set their eyes on those delectable dishes and make them want to taste them.

For the menu of your restaurant, you would want to highlight those delicacies in a scrumptious manner. This can be done by a perfect food photo that creates an imaginative aroma and taste of the particular dish that reaches the sense of taste through the eyes of the customer. While for your website, you can display the photographs of all the offerings in an organized way.

A professional food photographer has the knowledge and skill of highlighting the special menu items of your restaurant in a unique and outstanding way, giving a good reason to be hired. 

Search Engine Optimization

As we all know that SEO (or Search Engine Optimization) plays a crucial role in the marketing of your business. But often original photography is an element that is usually forgotten or unseen. Google ranks content with images that are original, which show up in Google image search, and those interested in knowing where a particular image originated from will for sure visit your website.

Studies suggest that only 10% of the content will stay in a person’s mind without an image. However, if it is combined with an image, then he/she will remember around 60% of it.

Using engaging textual content is undoubtedly important for your restaurant. But, pairing it up with some original images will bring in more customers. A professional food photographer will use less or no editing tools and will keep the food photo to be as original as possible, hence ranking good in search engines.

Getting in more customers

The main ambition of restaurants is to draw in as many customers as possible and keep this flow steady. But because it fluctuates every day, the execution of the growth and marketing strategies becomes tough.

If the food pictures on your website, blog or social media pages are enough enticing, then the customers would definitely want to visit your restaurant and find out for themselves. People might not even know about your restaurant until they come across your website. If they are attracted by your food photos then they may become your potential customers. Therefore, an online presence is a must in letting people know about you and establishing a good reputation. A professional food photographer is very well aware of the kind of food photography required for an effective online presence.

With a growing trend of visual marketing each passing day, as a restaurant owner, you must understand the importance of having good quality food pictures for online marketing of your restaurant. When you hire a professional food photographer for the job, you will for sure get high-quality food photos that you want to project out to your audience. The tempting food pictures will give a good idea about the kind of food they can expect to taste at your restaurant.

If you are looking for professional food photographer in Dubai for your restaurant, then you must hire Teena Agnel. She is among the top food photographers here and has an experience of over 4 years in this industry. Along with photography, she also offers the services of a food stylist that can help your food photography stand out. She also keeps herself updated with latest food photography trends.