You don't need a better phone. In eighty percent of cases, what ruins a photo of a dish is the lighting, and that can be fixed by moving one meter. This is what we learned by photographing shops in Nice.
We spend our weeks photographing counters, kitchens, and plates. And the question we are asked most often is about equipment.
That's the wrong question. A recent phone, well positioned, beats a professional camera that is poorly positioned. It all comes down to five decisions that cost nothing.
1. Turn your back on fluorescent lights
This is the first reflex to acquire: turn off the ceiling light and move closer to the door or window.
Fluorescent lights and ceiling spotlights shine from above. They flatten volumes, make whites look green, turn tomatoes yellow, and cast harsh shadows right under the plate. That's why your photos look "canteen-like" without you knowing why.
Daylight coming in sideways through a door does the opposite: it reveals texture, keeps colors true, and makes olive oil shine.
If your shop is dark, find the only square meter that gets daylight, and always photograph there. A corner of the counter near the entrance is enough.
2. Never use flash, never shoot in direct sunlight
Frontal flash is the only thing worse than fluorescent light: it flattens everything and leaves a white spot on the slightest reflection.
High noon sunlight on a terrace presents the opposite problem: harsh contrasts, blown-out whites, black shadows. Look for bright shade, like that from an awning or the building across the street. It's the best free light in Nice.
3. Two angles, not ten
There are only two that work, and it depends on the dish.
Vertically, from above, for anything flat that is meant to be viewed from above: a pissaladière, a charcuterie board, a salad, a socca.
At table height, almost straight on, for anything with height or an interior to show: a cut pan-bagnat, a glass, a slice of pie. This is the angle that makes people hungry, because it's the angle of someone sitting in front of it.
The forty-five-degree angle, the one everyone spontaneously takes while standing over the table, is almost always the worst of the three.
4. Get closer, then get even closer
Most failed photos are taken from too far away. You see the table, the tablecloth, the salt, an elbow, and the dish in the middle, looking small.
Fill the frame. Crop the plate if necessary; it doesn't matter. And remove anything that isn't the subject: crumpled napkins, phones, keys, pens. Thirty seconds of tidying up is worth all the filters.
5. Photograph the real portion
A classic mistake is to plate up a competition-worthy dish for the photo. The customer arrives, compares it, and is disappointed.
Photograph what you actually serve, on a day when it's done well. It's more useful for you, and much more effective: people instantly spot a photo that promises too much.
What editing should do, and nothing more
Three adjustments in your phone's editor are enough: slightly boost the exposure, warm it up a bit if the light was cool, and straighten the horizon.
Everything else does damage. Excessive saturation makes tomatoes look fluorescent and cheese look orange. Uniform filters give that "brand account" look that alienates local customers.
The only case where you should pay someone
Taking your own everyday photos is not only possible, it's preferable: you are the one there when the light is beautiful.
On the other hand, there is one set of images you'd better entrust to someone else: the twenty to thirty background photos that will be used for two years on your Google listing, your website, in the press, and on your marketing materials. Those require time, staging, and an outside eye, and they are done once.
This is what we do with Gusta Nissa Studio. And to see the result in action, look at the portrait of Batchas.
