When most people think about food photography they automatically think big corporations. Big corporations have a budget to hire a team of stylists, location, photographer, and people to determine the goal of the photo.

Nobody thinks of the smaller restaurant that isn't owned by a big chain that needs to advertise as well. I do food photography for those restaurants. There isn't a team of people all fussing over the one burger that has to look just right.

My typical setup is usually less than ideal. The restaurant is open and serving customers so I have to be virtually invisible. Due to the restaurant wanting me out of the way so they can seat more customers, I usually have 30 minutes to nail the lighting and composition on at least 20 dishes. 

This means I get less than a minute with each dish before they take it away. This means I have to be at the top of my game for EVERY session. There is no do over. 

The difference between the corporations and small restaurants, I get to sample the food. Makes for a nice reward. :-) Especially considering they don't use shoe polish or glue to make food look better... Oh you didn't know? Check these food tricks.