Food photography gigs?

6 years 5 months ago #551785 by KenMan
Have any of you tried speaking to restaurants around you to photograph their dishes for dating their online menus?  

Let me know how that worked out for you.  Did you call them or did you go into each restaurant to pitch them?


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6 years 5 months ago #553116 by Vespista
Food photography can be difficult to get into.
This is what I do and its taken me years to establish a good, loyal customer base.
Unfortunately, the best way is by word-of-mouth but to get started I would advise selecting 20 of your best shots, then select the best half of those, then imagine you were the client and pick 5 of those that you think would appeal.
Print them or have them printed 10 x 8 and mount them well, (never present from a screen) and make an appointment to see your target restaurant. Make sure you are talking to the decision maker and offer to do a trial first shoot for free.
Let us know how you get on,
Neil.


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6 years 5 months ago #553152 by Kelly Lambert
I have a friend who  has been shooting food and menu's for nearly 20 years.  She has mentioned over and over it's an up and down side of the business.  

Nikon D700: 50mm, 14-24mm, 85mm, 105mm 70-200mm, 150-500mm (Sigma), SB-900
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6 years 5 months ago #553289 by garyrhook

Vespista wrote: Food photography can be difficult to get into.
This is what I do and its taken me years to establish a good, loyal customer base.
Unfortunately, the best way is by word-of-mouth but to get started I would advise selecting 20 of your best shots, then select the best half of those, then imagine you were the client and pick 5 of those that you think would appeal.
Print them or have them printed 10 x 8 and mount them well, (never present from a screen) and make an appointment to see your target restaurant. Make sure you are talking to the decision maker and offer to do a trial first shoot for free.
Let us know how you get on,
Neil.


Never work for free if you are attempting to drum up work. Only if you don't care if you never get the gig, and you are going to get something of value out of the engagement.

At best, do the shoot and let them decide afterwards if they want to pay you to keep the images. Otherwise, you walk away and they get nothing. No harm, no foul.

You could look into putting together a trade magazine and have several copies printed so you can give them away. Blurb does magazines, for example. Probably more complex than just showing high quality prints of your best work.


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6 years 5 months ago #553302 by Vespista
Yes, good points. Thanks Gary.
Investment in advertising and promotion is a difficult one, isn't it?
Happy shooting,
N.


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