Kitchen to Camera: Crafting Menu-Ready Food Photography

On a sunny Melbourne afternoon, MMP Studio ventured into the bustling Il Mercato Centrale to capture the essence of traditional Italian cooking for an exciting new eatery. The challenge? Create a consistent, appetising series of food photos to make an online menu sing.

Roasted Vegetables

Despite not being our typical healthcare or research photography assignment, our systematic approach to technical challenges proved perfect for food photography. Working with natural light streaming through the food hall's windows, complemented by carefully positioned flash lighting, we created bright, appealing images that showcased each dish at its best.

Sicilian Salad

The key to success was our methodical setup: a tripod-mounted camera positioned at exactly 45 degrees, tethered to a laptop for immediate client feedback. This allowed us to maintain perfect consistency across all dishes while making real-time adjustments based on the client's input.

The camera was positioned at a 45 degree angle with natural light from the window as a highlight

One particular challenge was managing a stubborn overhead light that cast unwanted shadows and yellow tints across the food. The solution came in an appropriately Italian form - a pizza tray held carefully in place to block the light, demonstrating how creative problem-solving often requires thinking outside the box.

We delivered a cohesive set of mouth-watering images that perfectly captured the home-cooked appeal of each dish, but our work caught the attention of other vendors in the food hall, leading to additional bookings so stay tuned!

Michelle enjoys finding new ways to show our images by offering clients various display options, and she created a fun gif.