Food and Beverage photography has been a big part of my business ever since I set up my company in Shanghai 5 years ago. It began with me supporting friends and their F&B startups, driven mostly by my love for food, I now work with several small businesses all the way to Starbucks and the Irish and New Zealand Governments.
A colourful array of Chinese cuisines, in this section, in order, is a restaurant called ‘1877’, a gorgeous private Guizhou restaurant in a refurbished mansion that was relocated to Shanghai; photos shot while filming a series of recipe videos filmed across China for the Irish Government to promote Irish pork; and project for JustEgg a plant based egg product shooting Jianbing makers in Shanghai using their products.
Shanghai full of elegant cocktail bars, wine bars and elegant restaurants, this is Black Rock, Bonica, Ottimo, and Yaya’s, four fantastic locations in Shanghai, connected by their warm wood tones, and gorgeous tastes.
A bright and refreshing collection of photos for Starbucks’ range of summer drinks, as well the The Pho Store’s menu update.
Bars and Cocktail photoshoots are always a good time to film, not just because you steadily get more creative as the shoot moves forward and the drinks get sampled, but because very venue brings its own atmosphere and feeling that as a photographer, I strive to respect, even if I am bringing my own lights into the shoot. A good example of that are these Bundaberg photos, taken across 10 bars in Shanghai. The first set of photos are for Alice Bar, a Proof & Co project in Shanghai.
I have been working with Starbucks for a few years now, mostly shooting their Bar Mixato concept, but also supporting other other brands, like Teavana.
Raw venison usually isn’t the most appealing thing to shoot - but that was the challenge when working with the New Zealand Trade commission to promote New Zealand Venison in China. Filming and photographing 5 chefs doing a dozen recipes all with venison was a tasty adventure.
So how do I approach a food photoshoot?
There is no one size fits all for shooting food, sometimes I’m working along side food stylists, but most of the time my clients need me to get in, and get out fast, before dinner service starts. Almost all of the photos here were taken during a photoshoot that was probably less than 3 hours long and we cycled through a large number of dishes. I often tell my clients that I’m not the guy you call when you need 1 hero image, I’m the guy you call when you need your social calendar filled up with high quality images, and you don’t want a headache doing it… and plus, it’s a bonus for me if I get to taste the food before it goes completely cold.