Beverage and spirits
Packshot, serve, bar atmosphere. Glass, label and ice are three separate problems, and none of them is solved in post. For a packshot, bottles can also be shipped to the studio, no travel needed.
Food and spirits photographer in Paris
I photograph what people eat and what they drink, for spirits brands, agencies, hotels and fine-dining restaurants. Since 2016, from a single bottle packshot to a full campaign. I work in Paris, where five of my productions took place, from a base in Marseille.
The problem is almost never aesthetic. It is format, volume and rights.
Most of the brands and venues I work with do not need prettier pictures. They have an image bank that cannot carry the load: horizontal crops when half the distribution is vertical, dishes shot under service lighting, a licence that expires exactly when the campaign starts to work.
So the work starts before the light, with knowing where these images will live, for how long, and on which channels. That answer sets the number of frames, the output ratios, the crew and the budget.
Three territories
Food photographer in ParisHotel photographer in ParisRestaurant photographer in ParisHospitality photographyBeverage and spirits photographyFood photography
Hospitality and interiors
A hotel shoot feeds three image banks that follow different rules: the website and the OTAs, the press, social. Scoping them separately is what stops you paying twice for the same travel day.
Restaurants and fine dining
A menu is photographed with the service, not against it: a protocol agreed with the chef beforehand, a workstation out of the pass, and a running order for the dishes decided in advance.
Photography
Hospitality, food, beverage and spirits, cocktails, events. Each territory opens right here; the full gallery sits alongside.
Rooms, restaurants, rooftops and breakfast service. One shoot feeds three image banks: the website and booking platforms, the press, social.
Plated service, products and menus. Photographed at the kitchen’s tempo, with a running order agreed with the chef before the day itself.
Packshots and lifestyle. The label wants flat light, the glass wants incident, and the two contradict each other inside one frame.
The serve, the bar, the ice. A clock enters the frame: ice clouds within minutes and condensation cannot be re-run.
Launches, brand activations and parties. Event coverage happens once: the light drops, service moves on, and nothing can be re-staged the next day.
Projects
Each project gives the brief, the real constraint, the deliverables and the exact scope of the licence granted.
How it actually runs
Operational commitments you can check, rather than promises about results.
24 h
Working hours, with either a costed proposal or the questions still missing to write one.
5 d
Selection gallery sent within five working days of the shoot.
10 d
Retouched files delivered in 16:9, 4:5, 1:1 and 9:16 from the same capture.
25 to 40
Twelve to eighteen on a day shot during a live service, which is normal.
What clients say
Reviews published on Ahoueke Hilaire’s Google listing, reproduced here word for word.
J’ai eu l’occasion de collaborer avec Hilaire sur plusieurs projets différents et j’ai particulièrement apprécié son approche du métier. Au-delà de la qualité technique des photos, il sait réellement comprendre un plat, mettre en valeur les détails et retranscrire l’intention, l’humain. Les échanges sont simples, professionnels et agréables, avec une vraie capacité à s’adapter aux contraintes d’une cuisine professionnelle. Un travail précis, créatif et toujours réalisé avec beaucoup de sérieux. Je le recommande vivement pour tout projet de photographie culinaire.
Nous cherchions un photographe capable de shooter à la fois nos chambres, notre spa et la carte du restaurant sur trois jours, sans mobiliser une équipe entière. Hilaire est arrivé seul, a travaillé en lumière naturelle le matin et au flash pour les ambiances du soir, et nous a livré 180 images retouchées en dix jours. Nous les utilisons depuis sur notre site, nos réseaux et nos supports de vente
« Nous avions besoin de packshots et de visuels d'ambiance cocktail pour un lancement national. Hilaire a construit les recettes visuelles avec notre ambassadeur, géré les fonds, les glaçons, la condensation, tout ce qui fait qu'un cocktail tient à l'image. Les visuels sont partis en PLV et en digital sans retouche supplémentaire. »
Je recommande fortement Hilaire. Nous avions un enjeu de cohérence : cinq adresses, cinq styles photo différents. Hilaire a proposé une direction visuelle unique et l'a tenue d'un établissement à l'autre. Il comprend vite les contraintes d'un groupe, il est autonome sur place et il ne perturbe pas l'exploitation.
Nous souhaitions des Reels de préparation, pas seulement des photos. Hilaire filme et photographie sur la même session, ce qui nous évite de bloquer le bar deux fois. Les vidéos de verse au ralenti tournent encore un an après et on grandement contribué à la visibilité de l’établissement! Un prestataire fiable auquel nous ferons de nouveau appel sans la moindre reserve!
Nous sommes une petite affaire, on ne pouvait pas se permettre une production. Hilaire a proposé une demi-journée avec une sélection resserrée, au prix annoncé, sans extras surprises. C'était exactement le bon format pour nous.
J'ai été client d'Hilaire pour de la photographie culinaire, son talent et sa passion ont rendu grâce à nos plats ! Un véritable professionnel avec qui j'ai hâte de travailler à nouveau
Je recommande vivement! Hilaire est professionnel, disponible et à l’écoute. Il a su s’adapter à notre projet, budget et a fourni un travail irréprochable! 5*
Journal
Notes from the trade: how a session is prepared, what a constraint imposes, what decides a result.
Preparing a restaurant photo shoot
Choose the tableware beforehand, not during: the images will be seen as a series, and a series holds together through repetition.
Photographing a cocktail: ice sets the schedule
The final glass comes last. Frame, light and height are set on a stand-in.
Photographing a restaurant during service
During service the kitchen does not work for the camera. That is the condition of the exercise, not an obstacle.
Frequently asked
How is a quote put together?
- Two separate logics, better kept apart. A restaurant or a hotel buys an image bank: what counts is the number of dishes, the styling and the licence duration. A brand buys a production: crew, art direction, rental, post and usage rights are costed line by line. Either way the quote comes after a conversation, never before: a figure quoted without knowing the intended usage means nothing.
How many images come out of one shoot day?
- Between 25 and 40 finished frames for a studio day on dishes prepared for camera. Between 12 and 18 for a day shot during a real service, because the tempo no longer belongs to the photographer. Those are retouched, delivered images, not a folder of raw files.
What does usage and licensing mean in practice?
- A photograph is not sold, it is licensed for a defined use, duration and territory. That scope, written into the quote, explains most of the budget spread in this trade.
Do I need a food stylist?
- For a shoot inside a venue, no: the chef and the brigade plate their own food better than anyone. For a brand production, almost always: holding an identical plating across forty frames is a full-time craft, and it is quoted separately.
Do you travel, and is travel billed?
- Yes, and travel is not billed for Marseille, the French Riviera and Paris: transport and accommodation are included. The base is Marseille, which puts Aix, Cassis, Toulon, Saint-Tropez, Cannes, Nice and Monaco within a single day, and Paris three hours away by train.
Something in the pipeline?
The brief form takes three minutes and asks the questions that matter: where the images will live, for how long, and on which channels. That is what makes it possible to answer with a real number instead of a polite range.