Most restaurant photo shoots go sideways for the same reason. Not the camera, not the food. Nobody decided what they wanted before the photographer walked in.

The good news is that prep takes about twenty minutes and it doubles what you walk away with. Here is what I ask every restaurant to do before I show up, whether it is a taqueria in Midtown or a wine bar in Roseville.

Pick your dishes before the day

Not the whole menu. Eight to twelve plates, ranked. Your best sellers go at the top, then the ones with the highest margin, then whatever you are trying to push this season.

This sounds obvious and almost nobody does it. When there is no list, the kitchen starts improvising, the chef sends out whatever is easiest, and you end up with four photos of things nobody orders and none of the dish that pays your rent.

Also be honest about what photographs well. Some of your best food looks like brown soup. That is fine. I shoot it tighter, I shoot it with steam, I build around it. But I need to know going in.

Shoot before service, not during it

Mornings are best. The room is empty, the light coming through your windows is soft, and your kitchen is not underwater. Trying to squeeze a shoot into a Friday dinner rush means rushed plates and a stressed staff, and both of those show up in the photos.

If you only have a couple of hours, give me the window right before you open. That is usually the sweet spot.

Natural light beats your fixtures

Your restaurant lighting was designed to make people feel good at night. It was not designed for cameras. Those warm overhead bulbs turn white plates orange and make greens look grey.

Before the shoot, figure out which table gets the best window light and keep it clear. That is usually where I set up. I bring lighting for the dark corners and for the room shots, but for food itself, a window and a reflector still wins most of the time.

Plate it like it is going to a table

Fresh plates, not the ones sitting under the heat lamp. Wipe the rims. Garnish at the last second so the herbs are not wilting. Sauce goes on right before I shoot, not five minutes early.

Small thing that matters a lot: bring out two of each dish if you can. The first one lets me find the angle and the second one is the hero, still perfect. Ice cream, anything fried, anything with foam, those get maybe ninety seconds before they stop looking like food.

Have someone from the kitchen with me

Not the whole team. One person who can plate, adjust, and answer questions. A chef or a strong lead. They know how the dish is supposed to look, and they can fix in five seconds what would take me five minutes to explain.

This one change speeds up a shoot more than anything else on this list.

Think about where these photos are going

Photos for a printed menu, your website hero, Instagram, and the delivery apps all want different shapes. Delivery apps in particular want a clean overhead on a plain background, and they crop hard.

Tell me the list up front and I will shoot each dish in a couple of orientations. Otherwise you get gorgeous horizontal shots and then discover none of them fit your Instagram grid.

Do not forget the drinks and the room

Cocktails and coffee sell as hard as food does, and they photograph beautifully because of the glass and the color. Put your signature drinks on the shot list.

Same with the space itself. People decide where to eat based on whether a room looks like somewhere they want to sit. Empty room shots, the bar, the patio at golden hour, a bartender actually making something. That is the stuff that fills tables. If you want to see how I shoot interiors, my Spaces work is the closest thing.

Let your staff be in it

Hands plating. Someone pulling a shot of espresso. The chef at the pass. A little bit of human presence makes the whole set feel like a real place instead of a stock photo library. Just tell your team in advance so nobody gets ambushed while they are in the weeds.

The short version

Pick your dishes and rank them. Book a morning. Keep the window table clear. Plate fresh, double up on the tricky ones, and put one kitchen person with me. Add drinks, the room, and a few shots of your people. That is a full library from one session.

I shoot food, drink, and interiors for restaurants, cafes, and bars around Sacramento, Roseville, and Folsom, in English and Spanish. If you are staring at a menu full of photos taken on a phone three years ago, that is usually the sign it is time.