Why your hamburger doesn't look like the one on the menu board.
I hear it all the time. When people find out I'm a Food Photographer and Director - they will often say, "why doesn't my hamburger look like the one on the menu?" My short answer is, give me a $1,000 and I'll make sure you get one just like that! But the more detailed answer is, of course your sandwich doesn't look like the one on the menu because when you are eating it, you not only see it - you smell it, you touch it, and you taste it. I have to communicate that entire experience (and the emotions you feel while eating it), using just your eyes. I also need to make sure you know what ingredients are included. Even though the onions might normally be buried in the middle of the bun when it is served, I make sure to place one or two near the edge so you will notice them. If you don't like onions, you'll know before you order.
So although your burger doesn't look exactly like that one you see on the menu, I would argue that the overall experience should be the same. In other words - looking at my images on a menu should match the way you feel when you actually eat your meal.
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Food/Beverages/Packaging/Special Event Photographer
5 年and to add, as a food stylist, I have hours to prepare each ingredient and build the final product.? The poor cook has about 30 seconds to assemble and serve the burger.? We stay true to all the ingredients.
Artist
5 年Well said!
Product Marketing Manager | Advocate for 3D Innovation and Creative Storytelling
5 年Very good points indeed! - and to your point the ability to present what you have to work with in the best light and best photographically, really shows off how much of a technician you and your team or stylists can be. The part where a lot of people find disturbing is often the undoubtedly amount of retouching and manipulation involved with some things. On a higher-end note; from much experience, it’s almost a crime to heavily retouch food photography other than some basic processing, but I see and I have also participated in being the retoucher to push things to extremes with filling containers with more product, scaling ingredients, extreme color manipulations, removing or adding seeds blemishes, etc.. much much more. I would say this is all due to less of a direction to convey an “experience” but more of “make my product look perfect to sell it”. But on a food photography note minus the extreme retouching I would completely agree. Great stuff!
Professional communicator dedicated to connection and culture. Thought Partner | Strategist | Content Creator | Project Manager
5 年Great post. Always enjoyed working with you back in the day.
Associate Director of SEO | (human)x
5 年Great read, Teri! I loved your point about experience. I'd be interested to hear your thoughts around the marketing push for authenticity and how you think it will affect the food stylists and photographers in our industry. Thanks!