My First Job.

I never imagined that nine months after I bought my starter DSLR, I would secure my first restaurant shoot.

But that is exactly what happened. A local Thai restaurant, Little Thai Café, which serves really authentic food reached out to me via Instagram in November 2021 to see if I would be interested in shooting dishes for the new menu, Just Eat & social media. I love Thai food. Ever since I visited South East Asia I was completely hooked on this beautifully fragrant, spicy, aromatic, sweet, salty cuisine.

So this was a dream come true, an actual commercial job, in a restaurant with a budget.

After the initial buzz though, came the self doubt - can I actually do this? And it turned out, yes, yes I could!

People do say timing is everything, and that very week, Kimberly (The Little Plantation) whose newsletter I had signed up to receive following the completion of her e-course, sent a link to a blog with a checklist for capturing restaurant photography. Meant to be.

A lot of the same principles apply when meeting a new client, whether that be in communications or photography. Doing your research, taking a brief, idea generation, checking back with the client on deliverables, excellent service delivery.

I arranged a recce with Nicky, the owner of the restaurant, ahead of the shoot to get a feel for where I would be shooting. I shoot exclusively with natural light so it was so important to see the source of natural light, if there were any overhead lights that would need to be switched off, and the position of the windows in relation to where I would set up for the pics. Following the meeting I developed a mood board and familiarised myself with the menu we would shoot a week later (my favourite sort of bedtime reading).

A week later, I packed the car up with everything I could possibly need, “you’d rather be looking at something, than looking for it” - a motto I live by. It was such a brilliant experience, Nicky literally couldn’t have been more prepared. During the recce we had chatted through food props - herbs, spices, vegetables, dipping sauces & everything was there - I felt like I had been transported back to the amazing food market I had visited some ten years ago in Chiang Mai.

Once we got started we got into a real rhythm, Nicky in the kitchen, and Nicola in the window, just like an interactive window display! I did get a couple of funny looks. We started, as you do, with starters, then onto curries, stir fries & noodles, side dishes, desserts. I was quite literally living my dream, capturing images & food styling, matching the dishes with the component ingredients to bring the shots to life.

We managed to get through the whole menu, and none of the beautiful food went to waste. Nicky made sure her neighbours in the local shops and restaurants were well fed.

Once home, it was time to whittle down the images, edit (I use Lightroom Classic) and send through to the client. Working when I could in the evening I got all the edits delivered in just over a week, with super client feedback. I think the best bit was a few weeks later when I saw all my images on the website & Just Eat - such a buzz to see your hard work come to life.

And just like that my hobby had just changed gear.

I’ve included a selection of my favourite images from the day. Be warned you may want to order a Thai takeaway!