Specialty · Food & menus
Food & menu photography, NYC.
Dishes photographed the way they leave your pass — in your room, in your light, styled by your kitchen. For menus, delivery platforms, websites and press.
Food that looks like food
Most food photography in New York is over-styled: plates rebuilt by a stylist under studio strobes until they stop looking like something you'd want to eat. We work the other way. As a food photographer in NYC, we shoot on location — your kitchen, your plates, your light — so the menu looks like the experience of actually sitting in your room.
That matters more than it used to. Diners see your dishes on a delivery app, a reservation platform and Instagram long before they see them on a table. Those images are doing sales work every day — they should be honest, warm and consistent with everything else you publish.
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Menu shoots
The core of the menu — 15–25 dishes in a day, planned with your kitchen so every plate is photographed fresh, not dying under the lights.
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Delivery & platform crops
Every dish delivered in the ratios the platforms want — delivery apps, reservation pages, Google listings — plus print-resolution files for menus.
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Drinks & bar
Cocktails, pours and coffee photographed in the room they're served in, with the light they're actually drunk in.
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Ingredients & sourcing
Produce, suppliers and prep — the story behind the plate, for brands that cook from somewhere specific.
What it costs
A full shoot day — dishes, drinks, details, and usually interiors and portraits in the same visit — starts at $4,500 with 30–50 finished images and licenses included. Quarterly menu and social retainers start at $2,500 per shoot. Every project gets a custom quote — see full packages or read what restaurant photography costs in NYC.
Photographing the whole place, not just the plates? Start with our restaurant photography page.
FAQ
Practical answers.
- How much does food photography cost in NYC?
- A full shoot day — covering dishes, drinks, details and usually some interiors and portraits too — starts at $4,500 with 30–50 finished images and licenses included. Smaller menu-focused sessions are quoted per project. Every engagement gets a custom quote.
- Do you work with a food stylist?
- Usually not — and that's deliberate. We photograph plates the way they actually leave your pass, styled by your kitchen, in your room and your light. If a project genuinely calls for a stylist, we'll bring one in and quote it transparently.
- How many dishes can you shoot in a day?
- A comfortable full day covers roughly 15–25 dishes plus drinks and details, depending on how much variety of setting each dish needs. We plan the run of dishes with your kitchen in advance so nothing dies under the lights waiting.
- Can the images be used on delivery platforms?
- Yes. We deliver crops and aspect ratios that work for delivery apps, reservation platforms, your website, print menus, social and press — all covered by the standard license.