California
Restaurant and food photography · Los Angeles
In short
Restaurant and food photography in Los Angeles starts at $650: 3 hours on location with a photographer who works in Los Angeles, and 30 edited photos delivered to a private gallery within 5 business days.
Why choose Restaurant and food photography in Los Angeles?
Food photography in Los Angeles is a three-hour shoot in your restaurant between services that delivers 30 retouched images of dishes, drinks, the room and details, priced from $650. Los Angeles diners choose a restaurant from a phone before they ever see the door, so the delivery-app tile and the reservation page usually matter more than the printed menu. A taco counter in Boyle Heights, a tasting menu in West Hollywood and a Koreatown barbecue room need very different light, which is why the session is planned around the room as well as the plates. The window between lunch and dinner, roughly 3pm to 5pm in most kitchens, is when the line can plate for the camera without slowing a service.
Worth knowing about Los Angeles
Los Angeles County Department of Public Health requires a restaurant’s letter grade or score card to stay posted where patrons can clearly see it until the next routine inspection, in every city that adopted the County grading ordinance. A Los Angeles restaurant’s entrance photographs are therefore composed with the card in its required place rather than taking it down for the shoot, and an A card is often worth including.
What does the session in Los Angeles look like?
- The pass and the line
- Hands, flame and plating in progress, shot during the afternoon break when the cooks have room to repeat a move.
- A window table in the dining room
- Side light for hero dishes, the frames that become the delivery-app tile and the reservation-page header.
- The entrance and the patio
- The exterior and outdoor seating for map listings, composed with the County grade card where it must stay posted.
What does restaurant and food photography in Los Angeles include?
- 30 retouched photographs
- Three hours on site, between services
- Dishes, drinks, room and detail frames
- Crops sized for delivery platforms, menus and social
- Private gallery within 5 business days
- Commercial licence for your own marketing
FAQ — Restaurant and food photography in Los Angeles
Can we take down our health grade card for Los Angeles restaurant photos?
No. The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health requires the letter grade or score card to remain posted, clearly visible to patrons, until the next routine inspection issues a new one. A Los Angeles food photography session composes the entrance shots around the card in its required place, and an A grade is frequently left in frame on purpose.
When is the best time to photograph a Los Angeles restaurant?
Between lunch and dinner service, usually from about 3pm, for most Los Angeles restaurants. The kitchen can plate dishes for the camera without holding up tickets, and the dining room is empty for room shots. The three-hour session ends before the first dinner seating, and the 30 retouched images are delivered within five business days.