8 TIPS ON HOW TO TAKE PICTURES OF YOUR RESTAURANT INTERIOR
By SnapSquad - March 29, 2018
What do you want to express? What impression do you want to convey to your future clients? What is the end goal of your photo project? These are major issues that you will have to consider before you grab your camera. Do you want your restaurant to feel cosy or purely business-like and functional?
What are you going to use those pictures for? Will they be illustrations to an article? In that case you may want to plan relevant shots to fit the text.
Determine the exact purpose of your taking pictures of your business, the exact story you wish to tell and it will make it easier for you to proceed with the technical work.
Get equipped
Check out your photographer’s kit. You’ll need the obvious camera but also a tripod (do not trust your hands!) and an editing software like photoshop. With your camera a wide angle lens (16mm to 24mm) will help you get a better perspective from an indoor space.
Plan your photo shoot
You will need to literally stand in the room you want to take pictures of and evaluate it from the photographer’s point of view. This will be your chance to experiment with different angles; to define what details make your restaurant different, special; to pick a window for natural lighting and the best time to use that light; to select a few accessories or even re-arrange some furniture to accentuate the atmosphere. If you have placed food on a table, it will add to it to have a glass of wine or even a good bottle; in other words, be creative with composition. So, organise your space before you start taking pictures.
Use correct lighting
Interior photography lighting is a bit of a balancing act between shadows and brightness. The first thing you will have to do to avoid any white light is turn off the lights! Natural light is the best possible light (soft lighting) for interior photography hence the reason why you had to take note of the best time to get by that window you selected while you were planning your session. Technically, you will need to set a longer exposure for your camera. Finding the right light is paramount to a successful shoot and, of course, this may well imply that you’ll have to pick a closing day for your photo session and use actors (friends or staff) if you need to feature customers.
Play with your aperture
Setting the aperture correctly will assist you with the depth of field. If, for instance, you want to encompass a very spacious room, a smaller aperture will do the job to take the whole scene in focus from your vantage point.
Use wide angles
To create a nice wide-view of the room, you will most likely need to squeeze yourself in corners to find the best angle for the camera to capture the best perspective. This is when your wide angle lenses of 16mm to 24mm come handy.
Seek out symmetry
Symmetry is pleasant to the eye, so you’ll want horizontal and vertical lines to be aligned (walls and other elements in the room); the best way to achieve this is to shoot with the camera pointed straights on towards a flat surface.
Be creative
Keep in mind the story you want to tell and the atmosphere you want your readers/future clients to experience through your photos. Without over doing it, you can be creative with your interior and play with what is around you, starting with light but too, with accessories and even people. Have a splendid photo time!
Author: Annie R. Teo
