Spring 2018

Spring 2018 • PENNSYLVANIA RESTAURANT & LODGING matters •  15 1 Lighting When showing off your entrees, the last thing you want is a pale, washed-out image of your pièce de résistance. Avoid using flash and harsh overhead lights. Instead, snap photos near a window or softer light source for a more natural-looking appearance. 2 Create action with simple kitchen props Like fashion, food lends itself to accessories! Place chopsticks by sushi, or a spoon resting in a bowl of soup. Add a piece of silverware to a plated dish. Enhance the drama of a wine glass by showing the wine cork and bottle, or add flair to a mixed drink by placing ice cubes and splashes of water around the serving glass. 3 Add texture When photographing food with a “mushy” texture (such as soup, stew, or ice cream), add a garnish that contrasts in color and texture from the dish to add more defined dimension to the photo. Bright berries are a great accent for ice cream and sorbet, while rich green garnishes like parsley add dimension to soup. 4 Filter images with easy-to- use apps A little filtering goes a long way to enhance the quality of your images. Applications like VSCO and Camera Plus are a great platform for edits like cropping and modifying color. PicFrame and A Beautiful Mess allow you to add frames and clip art, while Whitagram adds a crisp white outline to photos. Pic Stitch and Diptic allow you to create collage-type pictures. 5 Branch out Don’t just show off your menu items! Snap a warm, inviting image of your restaurant’s interior. Capture photos of your staff working, or guests enjoying their food (with their permission, of course). Please note—if you show staff, make sure they’re practicing food-safe procedures (such as wearing gloves) to avoid negative feedback for unsafe food handling captured via image. 6 Stick to the rule of thirds Break away from front-and-center pics and use the rule of thirds to create intriguing images. As shown in the diagram at left, imagine your photo being broken down into thirds (both horizontally and vertically), so that you have nine total parts. Place points of interest at intersection points (shown in red) for a more balanced image—for example, the steaming mug of coffee shown at left. Source: Webstaurantstore.com Fool-Proof Food Photo Tips With food competing with pets and ourselves as the most photographed subject on Instagram, restaurants would be foolish to ignore the free marketing. Check out these six fool-proof tips from Webstraurantstore.com to up your Instagram game: 1 2 3 4 5 6 “...18- to 35-year-olds spend five whole days a year browsing food images on Instagram...” –Zizzi, UK pizza chain