Food photography in tough economic times

Starting a food photography business is hard enough but in a tough economy, it can be even harder. The main reason for this is because when markets are tight there are very few opportunities and a lot of competition. This is why it’s crucial for photographers to sharpen their business skills and definitely look ahead. In order to stand a chance in today’s market, you need to work your cash and business projections and know your bottom line down to the penny – how much money you need to put into the business, how much you will need to charge to meet your operating costs and, hopefully, what you need to do to realize a profit.

Market research

Starting a new food photography business when the economy is on the downturn takes vision and imagination. Marketing is super important in getting ahead of the game and your competitors. First you need to decide what you are going to sell (stock, advertising material, editorial work), who are your targeted customers, how will you price your photography services, and what is your plan for promoting your business?

As a new kid on a block, you must stay local for a while and operate within small geographical area (town, city). Don’t try selling and advertising nationwide. First, it’s not doable, secondly it will cost you a fortune and on top of that no one will take you seriously. You stand a better chance of succeeding by thinking what can you do locally. Slice and dice your potential customer base to come up with smaller segments to market more strategically, like bakeries and restaurants. For example, if you offer a food photography services geared toward restaurants, you could narrow it to target recently established businesses within a specific area of the city.

Stay competitive

Not to be too sneaky but like in every business you have to keep a close eye on the competition. Learn what other photographers are doing and what marketing techniques they’re using to promote their business. Are they tweaking the service or adding any additional offers? Lowering the price? Maybe you should consider adjusting your pricing structure to match the market demand. As a new business owner in tough economic times, you need to price your services according to ongoing rates and in some cases go a bit lower than your competitors … just enough to differentiate yourself and gain market share.

Network yourself

When economy is not doing so well, you need to connect with other people in your community who can refer customers and help build your business. Don’t know where to start? Find a local business networking group or contact your chamber of commerce. Look into joining a professional association – either a local one where you can meet people in person or even an online group – to tap into others’ ideas. Use Facebook, Twitter and other social media to promote your services … we all know today this is in fact the norm for any new business.

Lower your operating cost

A gloomy economy can actually disguise some great ways to save money. You should follow some rules to lower your start-up costs:

• Renting vs. buying photography equipment should be first on your list. Try to rent lenses for the fraction of the cost you’ll face when buying them brand new. Sometimes you will need a specialty tool like tilt-shift lens. Instead of buying it brand new for $1100 you can rent it for as low as $30 a day.
• Buying supplies from businesses that are closing or need to reduce inventory, particularly for big-ticket items like lighting equipment, stands & tripods , lenses etc.
• Bartering with other business owners. Look for business alliance possibilities and suggest offsetting costs by trading products or services.

Little video snapshot

A few months ago, I made this short video and I totally forgot about. Anyway, this is really a cool way to advertise and promote your work. It’s pretty inexpensive and it does make a long lasting impression. I used Photodex Proshow Producer which is super easy to use and packed with awesome features and options (I’m not affiliated with the company in any shape or form ).

Food Photography Tips – Episode II

Be careful with white balance
Different lights have different temperatures. Make sure your camera white balance is set properly (AUTO or whatever light you’re using). This is especially important if you’re shooting in JPEG mode.

Morning coffee from Senicphoto on Vimeo.

Tripod
When shooting in low light conditions (limited natural light) the tripod is almost a must to have. If you have a remote shutter this can further ease your workflow.

Using flash or strobes
This is commonly used lighting method. When utilizing one light source the subject might appear too dark on its opposite side. In this case use either second source or light bouncers. To avoid hard shadows, it’s always a good idea to diffuse it with either greaseproof paper or purpose made diffuser. Don’t forget, hard shadows are the enemy of the food photographer.

Different angles
Try to shoot same subject from at least 2 or 3 different angles. This will give you an idea how subject can be presented to your audience. You can try at least two main angles … shoot on a level with the food and looking down on it. Later on in post processing, you can “spice things up” further by cropping and rotating the subject.

Use white plates
White plates are ideal for food photography. It will give you a nice transition but at the same time food will stand out as the main focus.

Steak from Senicphoto on Vimeo.

Remove unnecessary items
Fewer items you incorporate in a shot, easier will be to showcase your main subject … food. I always prefer simple compositions over overcrowded dining table. Try stirring viewers to focus on food.

Use fresh herbs to add a color and complexity
Food is not always super vibrant and contrasty. A splash color can really make an image come alive. This is the time I use fresh herbs like mint, cilantro, rosemary etc.

Cropping
Make your food plate a main focal point. Crop it and rotate it as much as you want as long as 70% of image is actually reserved for food.

Food Styling for Food Photographers

As a food photographer, you can almost count on being in situation where you got to improvise, prepare and do things food stylists do. I got to say it can be quite tricky styling the food in front of the customer … not to mention time is going to be your biggest enemy.  I would highly recommend you get yourself familiar with some basic styling skills … it will be beneficial and helpful on the long run.  I’m not saying food photographers can outperform food styling professionals but sometimes knowing few tricks could save you a lot of time and money.

Use paper
Most of the food you will be photographing will be placed on a plate and believe it or not, only top portion of that will be the actual subject. Lining plates with parchment or baking paper helps to add a fulfillment effect.

Less is more
While it may seem “full to the top” plate is the best way to go, an overcrowded dish can look less appetizing than a small portion. This could be an ideal opportunity to showcase a beautiful dishware and appealing surrounding elements.

Let it look natural
Capturing that perfect look sometimes means getting a bit messy. Instead of having everything perfectly symmetrical and clean it really helps to add movement and life to your photographs. If your baked chicken is a bit burned and the dish is not looking brand new … let it be. Most of the time food photos will look much better when presented in their real light.

Basic tools

• Q tips – ideal for cleaning rims and insides of plates/bowls
• Small scissors
• Set of basic plastic handled paint brushes (with wood handled brushes, the paint on the handles tends to chip off which can happen in your food)
• Tweezers (for poking and pulling – think of them as skinnier fingers)
• Clear oil like vegetable or canola for making food glisten
• Small squeeze bottles for applying sauce or drizzles

Fake ice cubes

Fake ice cubes are highly demanded in photography and even in film production, because real ice melts quickly and is difficult to work with. Some production companies sell fake ice cubes but they are not cheap, often costing up to 30$ for a single cube. Fake ice is very handy to use and it doesn’t melt under the hot photography lights, so by using it you can really simplify your work.

Glycerin
Photographers utilize glycerin to decorate their food subject with beautiful details and to make these details more outstanding, prominent and natural. In general, glycerin is sprayed using small bottles and you can find all these at your local pharmacy store. I tend to use it for photographing fruits and drinks because glycerin is a great tool for achieving “droplets effect”.

Building your online portfolio

As a young photographer, my main selling tool was a photo book, hand full of references and large amount of hope. The “online” presence was a new thing and not so many of us had a website … sounds crazy but that’s the truth. A lot of things changed since mid 90’s. On today’s market, consider it as a necessity … you got to have an online portfolio. Many colleagues of mine run their own websites, business blogs, Facebook pages and whatnot. The cyber presence is one of the most commonly used sales tool and it looks like it will stay like that for a while. If you’re new in photography business, I would recommend something simple and inexpensive. Before you choose where to host and how to build your website, I would suggest you follow some basic steps:

1) Keep it simple
Make your food photos a main star of the show. Don’t get caught adding unnecessary features and elements people generally don’t like to see on the website. In my opinion, choosing the content over the design is always a right choice and that’s why your visitors will come back for more.

2) Design matters
Your website should look clean, easy to navigate and free of any advertising elements. You got to make sure all links are working properly, navigation is intuitive and easy to follow.

3) Showcase only your best work
The saying “your portfolio is only as good as your worst image” is quite true. Take your time and pick the best shots … don’t forget people will judge you based on what you have decided to present. When comes down to number of photos you’re exhibiting, I prefer staying in the range of 20-30 photos per section. Less than this could leave a visitor with “I was expecting a bit more” feeling. On the other hand, don’t overwhelm your audience with tons of photos that could take a long time to browse through … find a middle ground.

4) Little note about yourself
Well, this is quite important. As a part of any online portfolio you got to include a few words about yourself and what you do. Don’t get caught in boring cliché about what kind of equipment you use, how amazing your work is and how you can accommodate every single requirement. The potential client already saw tons of these so be yourself and try to make as interesting as possible. You might include some testimonials but don’t go overboard with this either. Customer feedback (if you have it) should be short and right to the point … after all no one wants to spend 10 minutes reading what other people say about you.

5) Pick the right hosting
This in fact shouldn’t be a big problem. There are so many hosting providers out there, picking the one that will fit your need and the budget isn’t going to be an issue. As far as I tell, there are many providers out there that offer turnkey solution. You can host the site with someone who provides not only design option but also some sort of advertising incentives, email hosting and whatnot. Some of the sites I would consider for hosting my online portfolio are:

Carbonmade (Free)

Photoshelter

Livebooks

Pixpa

Zenfolio

Smugmug

The day after – Post Processing

All right, you have successfully completed that photo session and you walked away with hundreds of photos that somehow need to be presented to your client as a final product. I’m sure the customer won’t be interested in keeping all of them although it could be requested. Many of them will be retakes, duplicates or simply non-usable from quality perspective. The next step is to ask your client to make selection and mark those photos they want to keep. This process could take some time and I would highly recommend you leave the decision to them … let the client choose what they feel is worth trading their money for. In terms of numbers this can vary. Determining the scope of work before the actual session will always prove to be a right step in your sales process. It might sound impossible, but you should have a rough idea what your client is expecting and how many photos they might need.

I always pick at least 100-200 photos and post them on my website. One thing for sure, you’ve got to have a password protected area on your site where only authorized customer have access to. These proofs in general can remain there for a while but eventually you will remove them making space for your other stuff. I found this workflow pretty good and trouble-free … I hope my clients share the same impression.

In general, 99% of all photos you take need some sort of post processing and fine tuning. How many files you’ll be working on and how much time you’ll spend in Photoshop is directly related to your experience and quality of shooting. Taking those pictures is half the battle. What you do in post processing is almost as important as nailing the shot in the first place. If your photos look amazing right out of camera, you’re really lucky … post processing might be quite easy. From my experience, food photographs always require heavy processing and you will rarely walk away with just a little bit of touch ups. Depending on complexity, you will probably edit and work on each individual file. I have one suggestion. Once you pick the “keepers”, try to automate the process as much as you can. I can share what I do but again you might find it awkward:

1. Considering I use Canon equipment and shoot RAW format, my first step is editing files in Canon Photo Professional (this step is for basic analysis only).
2. Using the Adobe Lightroom I process images in batches for common things like resizing, color temperature and white balance adjustments (I start with RAW files).
3. Final processing step takes place in Adobe Photoshop. In here, I basically do everything that needs to be done. Unfortunately, it’s the most time consuming piece. The final result must comply with given requirements. I’m not gonna go into technical details because it’s way too complex … I will cover this topic in some future post.

Many will ask how much you charge for post processing. There are two ways of doing it. If your original quote includes post processing time it can be pretty straight forward. The challenge here is knowing how much work lies ahead of you … the client can always change their mind or requirements but expect the same fixed cost. The agreement has its good and bad side. Your customers will likely prefer to deal with only one fixed cost. On the other hand, you might leave post processing as a separate project and submit the quote after your photoshoot is completed. Don’t forget one thing, the client always have an option of hiring a third party company/individual to do this job. If they decide to do so, don’t take it personally … after all, it’s the budget that dictates and drives their decision. When it comes to hourly rate, I think charging anywhere between $100 and $150 per hour will be just fine. Before you rush in and offer your services, you got to make sure you know what you’re doing. Don’t expect your client to pay for your lack of knowledge, expertize and slow turnaround time. Proficiency and timely execution is a key … after all, you got to be frank about your computer skills and position yourself in this role accordingly.

How much do food photographers get paid?

I don’t think I can give you a straight answer on this one and I believe no one can. What I can do is to tell you what goes into price “build-up” and how different project aspects can drive the cost/charge up or down. Before you commit to anything, you got to determine the scope of work with your client. This is the key point and I would suggest you don’t skip it because it might bite you badly at the end. Understanding what your customer want, need and expects is the most important thing. You got to understand these requirements and build a solution around it.

I always prefer meeting with the client days maybe weeks before the actual photo-shoot. This is the time when I discuss all details surrounding my future engagement. In many cases clients are not aware of complexity that goes into the “final product” therefore you have to explain this process to them. There are areas you need to explore with your client so the good thing will be to check if you need to provide any of these:

• Food Stylist
• Prop Stylist
• Photo Assistant

Based on the requirements, you might need help from food/prop stylist or a second shooter (assistant). Their rates could vary so make sure you know what you dealing with (hourly or daily rates). Just a reminder, client is paying you and you have to include their “cut” in the final quote. Now, when comes down to rates, I tend to charge by the day or half day. You might choose to go with hourly rate and nothing is wrong with that … when I was new in this role I was doing the same thing. It really depends how many items you need to shoot and how complex the gig really is. You could be working on a project where vast majority of time will be spent on preparation, food styling and other details. You part might only take 3 hours out of entire day in the studio.

Never less, if you’re new on the market your rates should reflect the level of expertise and knowledge you bring to the table. Don’t be reluctant to charge a fair and reasonable rate as long as you provide a service that client wants and they’re happy with. I have one piece of advice for novices … be careful when quoting jobs because you have to know what the outgoing (hourly) rate is for a food photographer in your area. Quoting too much can be a turn off as much as low balling. To put things in perspective, when I started, the average hourly rate food photographers in my city was between $120 to $250. Shooting without assistant or food/prop stylist, I was on the lower end of that range but aware that next project could be easily go 10% – 20% higher. In today’s economy, you got to adjust  to market demand and always create a lot maneuvering space.

Unfortunately, there is no formula you can use to calculate your rate. Make sure you include all your costs and expenses first (plus profitable margin) before submitting an offer. Anyway, adjustment is always an option therefore it might take some time to balance things out.