Food Photos of the New Spoon Menu for 2017

I was hired as the food photographer for the new 2017 menu at The Spoon in Provo, Utah. This is the third menu that I have photographed for the restaurant. Here is a link to their 2014 menu and the 2015 menu.

Artichoke Chicken Wrap

The objectives of the food photography was to photograph each new menu item. The photographs were going to be cropped into a square format so we had to get that right. I brought in a laptop computer and we shot tethered so as the photographs were created we could immediately preview the photograph and make sure the image could be square, sharp, and perfect.

Here is a behind the scenes view of the food photo shoot. We have a studio strobe, camera, laptop, and a wooden surface that I brought in for the background.

Behind the scenes of a food photo shoot

At the same time, The Spoon employees were there to taste test the new menu. They were learning the ins and outs of what ingredients are used and how to answer the concerns patrons might have.

Beef & Onion Sandwich with side of green chili

The chef and sous chef had prepared each menu item before hand. I did have my gear ready to clean up any items that might need some food styling tweaks. We had approximately 33 items to photograph. That might not be a world record for about 3 hours of photography, but it could be close. These photos were kept simple and consistent. The lighting did not change much. I would move mirrors around as needed. We wanted a consistent look to all of the food photos.

Artichoke Dip

We also wanted the photos to be similar to the previous menus. I didn’t use colorful napkins this year. We were pressed for time. Those can be fun and a great way to make each photograph unique.

Chicken Caesar Salad

The photos needed to be square for the touchscreen kiosk that acts as the ordering device. Patrons will navigate almost entirely with the photographs. There are text headlines labeling each menu item, however, many guests are from other countries and English is not a primary language. So the photo menu helps a lot.

Blackforest ham melt

The photos will also be used on TVs and monitors in the Café.

Beef and onion spinach salad

Country breakfast thinner sandwich

Butternut squash soup

Chicken artichoke pine nut flatbread

Chicken Cordon Bleu flatbread

Green Chili Chili burger

Combo flatbread

Green Chili Chili

Pork chop

Honey Salmon Sandwich

Honey Tamari Salad

Lemon salmon

Pasta bowl

Peanut Stir Fry

Pesto turkey sandwich

Portobello flatbread with sprouts

Raspberry Apple Almond Oatmeal

Portobello Sandwich

Raspberry french toast

Smokehouse club wrap with bacon

Southwest chicken sandwich

Spring rolls

Stuffed portobello

Turkey Taco Salad

Two egg breakfast with bacon and hash

Veggie Wrap