Photographing food can be a way to remember exactly what you ate or even a way to remember what the ingredients were in a certain dish. Food bloggers usually do this in a couple of ways, by cooking their own food and photographing it at home to show off a recipe or they go to a restaurant and photograph what they eat and write a review. Some even do it to just document what they eat instead of writing it down. Photographing food at home doesn’t really effect anyone, but what about in restaurants?
Back in March and early April there were a couple articles written about the whole subject of food photography, one by Time Out Chicago and another by the New York Times. The first of the two articles discusses how Grant Achatz, chef and owner of Alinea in Chicago, IL, tweeted:
“I love that ppl. are so interested. But the lengths ppl. r going to get video of their meal is becoming invasive to staff and other guests.”
This had apparently gotten quite a response. Enough so, that Mr. Achatz felt the need to blog about it in more depth.
Then a few days later the article by the New York Times popped up with “First Camera, Then Fork”. This one wasn’t focused as much on how people feel about others photographing food, but more on the fact that more and more people are keeping a photographic food journal and then showing it to the world.
Photographing our food may help us to seek out new and interesting subjects, thus expanding our tastes. It can help keep one motivated to eat healthier by seeing what exactly we are putting into our bodies. It may be that we just enjoy looking at mouth watering photos or use it to get ideas for things to create on our own.
What do you think about food photography? Do you photograph your food? Why? What do you think is proper etiquette for photographing food in restaurants, at home, or on the street? Please let us know your thoughts!
Photo by foggiegee
7. May 2010 at 2:24 pm
When I first became interested in food photography, I thought it was cool to photograph my meal in a restaurant, but never with a flash. I ended up getting annoyed with myself for not concentrating eating my food. I don’t photograph food in restaurants anymore. I want to enjoy what I pay good money for.
8. May 2010 at 7:50 am
That’s a good way to look at it. You can always try to make the same kind of dish at home and photograph the outcome of it then.