Take a quick browse through your news feed. I’ll bet within the first minute you would have already run into several photos and videos of food. More and more people are sharing photos, not only of their fancy gourmet meals on a special night out, but home cooked meals, recipes and inventions. In fact, there are over 300 million food photos on Instagram, second only to Selfies! This is not a new trend by any stretch of the imagination. Restaurateurs find themselves in a particularly sticky situation. On the one hand, photos of their dishes on social media are a huge driver for word of mouth referrals but on the other hand when you have so many flashes going off in the dining room that you think a thunderstorm is brewing inside the restaurant, it starts to have a negative impact on the dining experience. So much so that many restaurants have resorted to banning photography all together.
More recently though, people are venting their frustrations online with foodstagramers. And it’s not because your fuzzy photo of last night’s spaghetti and meatballs doesn’t look delicious. One thing has to be said for the sheer volume of it all. Not to mention the typical stereotype about social media in general. A place where people share what their cat had for dinner. But when you dig down, those aren’t really the reason. So, without further ado, we are here to help you fellow foodies. Here are the top 5 common courtesies that you need to follow to have proper food photo etiquette and so you won’t get dirty looks from across the dining hall:
1- Stick to your own dish
Few things are more annoying than having hot fresh food on your table after waiting on it for 15 plus minutes than being told you can’t dig in because someone wants to snap a picture of it.
2- Make it quick
As this hilarious video from sketch comedy group BETCH brilliantly shows. It’s just a food photo, it’s not a shoot for vogue magazine. If it’s taking you more than 30 seconds to snap your favorite Kodak moment with your culinary masterpiece, you’re doing it wrong.
3- Snap it and move on
We’re all for snapping a great photo. In fact we encourage it. But don’t let that be the reason that you waste your whole night on social media instead of enjoying your night out with your friends or loved ones.
4- Not just the food
People matter too. Just like you want to savor the memory of that delicious food you’re about to devour. Be sure to also include some snaps of the people who made it all the more special.
5- don’t kill the romance
If you’re out on a romantic date. Don’t kill it by focusing your energy on the perfect shot and ignore the lucky guy or gal who’s trying to ignite a romantic spark. Otherwise they may be tempted to take their revenge like this guy did.
Now time for a good old venting session. tell us about your biggest pet peeve when it comes to food photography in the comments below.
Peter Francis
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Love #4: the food is about the people enjoying it! It is very tempting to take just the photo, however, as the presentation is ‘perfect.’
To me, when it comes to food photography, the most pet peeve moment, when you have it in rush and kill the roamantic time and the appetite.
I always take pics of food that has a beautiful presentation. It’s really part of the charm of eating high end. Eating a piece of art:)
I’m glad food photography has become a thing! Some pictures are just mouth watering lol!