Before
A conversation about usage, a shot list, a running order for the dishes, and the decision to shoot on site or in the studio. This is the stage people skip when they want to move fast, and it is the one that costs the most to skip.
Food photography
Photographing a dish is not about making it look good on a tethered screen. It is about producing an image bank that carries the load: enough frames, in the right ratios, with a licence long enough to pay the production back.
The problem is rarely aesthetic
Most venues that call a food photographer 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.
What an assignment covers
A food assignment always splits the same way, whatever the budget. What changes is the weight of each part.
During
The shoot itself, in worked natural light or on a full lighting setup depending on the room. On a studio day, twenty-five to forty finished frames; on a day shot during a live service, twelve to eighteen, because the tempo no longer belongs to the photographer.
After
Selection gallery within five working days, retouching, then delivery in 16:9, 4:5, 1:1 and 9:16 from the same capture, within ten days. Files ship with authorship metadata and licence terms embedded.
The three lights of a food day
A plate is not set up like a bottle, and a dining room is not set up like a plate. Across one day three approaches coexist, and the order they come in decides how long it takes.
Daylight first, where the room gets any. It gives texture, condensation, the sheen of fat catching the light, and it is the only light that looks like what you see while eating. It has one flaw, it moves: a series started at eleven and finished at three will not match unless it is held with a bounce and a flag.
Flash next, for what daylight cannot hold: the back of a room, a dish sent at nine in the evening, a product range that has to be rigorously identical from frame to frame. Working with flash on food does not mean flattening it, it means setting a single broad source and matching it to the temperature of the room so that nobody sees it is there.
And then the mix of both, which is the real case most of the time. That is where the difference is made between a series that looks like the house and a series that looks like a catalogue.
Output formats decide the framing, not the other way round
The question at brief stage is not how many images but where they will live. An image for a website is framed wide, with room for a headline. An image for social only exists in vertical. An image for a delivery or booking platform will be cropped square without anyone asking.
Framing once with all three in mind costs a few seconds per dish and saves discovering six months later that half the library does not hold on the channel that matters. So every image goes out horizontal, square and vertical, and that is not an option.
Duration matters as much as format. A licence that expires just as a campaign starts working is the most common and most expensive problem there is. The scope of the licence, its duration and its channels are written into the quote before the shoot.
The food stylist, and when one becomes essential
For a shoot inside a venue, the chef and the brigade plate their own food better than anyone: my job is to steer them on what the camera actually sees, which is never quite what the eye sees.
For a brand production it is the reverse. Holding an identical plating across forty frames, managing stand-ins, temperatures and foams that collapse, is a full-time craft. It is quoted separately, and the budget should allow for it from the first conversation.
Food photography
Dishes, products and menus. The full gallery also covers hospitality, beverage and cocktails.
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*
Frequently asked
Studio or on location?
- On location when the room is part of the message, and when the food comes out of a real brigade. In the studio when the image has to be repeatable, held identical across long series, or delivered without depending on the sky. Many projects do both, over two half days.
What does usage and licensing mean in practice?
- A photograph is not sold, it is licensed for a defined use, duration and territory. An image on a restaurant website for two years in France is not worth the same as the same image in out-of-home and on packaging for five years across Europe.
How many dishes fit into one day?
- Twenty-five to forty finished frames in the studio on dishes prepared for camera, twelve to eighteen on a day shot during a live service. Trying to hold forty dishes during service means getting forty average pictures.
Do you work with daylight or flash?
- Both, and usually within the same day. Daylight gives texture and looks like what you see while eating; flash takes over for the back of a room, an evening service dish, or a range that has to match exactly from frame to frame. What matters is that the source is never visible.
What are the lead times?
- The selection within five working days of the shoot, final delivery within ten. If a campaign deadline needs shorter, it is said at brief stage and organised.
Do you also deliver video?
- Yes, vertical formats and social content from the same shoot, which avoids paying twice for the same travel. It is decided at the shot-list stage: a frame lit for stills and a frame lit for motion are not the same frame.
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.