I love it. Love learning about it. Love practicing. Love experimenting and trying new things.
I was super stoked (is that even a word that someone from NY is allowed to use?) to photograph a few of the menu items for my favorite Thai restaurant. They were finally taking the plunge and having a website built (from Shared Appetite's very own... Tyler!) and asked me to photograph some of their signature dishes.
It was both a LOT of fun and a bit stressful being out of my normal photography studio area I have set up at the house. Different lighting conditions, relinquishing a lot of control of food styling to her kitchen staff, and only having access to a limited amount of props made it a really cool learning experience for me. At the end of the day, you gotta get the shot 🙂
Best part though? Eating all the food after. Well, that and seeing the satisfaction and excitement on the owner's eyes when she saw all the images of her food. She's used to just taking photos with her cell phone with flash. Yea, I know.
Here's a sneak peak of a few photos from the day...
By the way. In case you are wondering what the greatest dessert in the history of all time is? It's this black sticky rice with Thai custard. Hands down. It's... perfect.
shashi
Chris - amazing job on the pictures! I wish I was in NYC so I could have helped you eat ALL the food photographed! 🙂
Chris
Hahhaa you gotta come a visit Shashi!
Olivia - Primavera Kitchen
Wow beautiful pictures and amazing food. Great job, Chris!
Chris
Thanks so much Olivia!
Tina
The food looks delish! That restaurant is lucky to have you around 🙂
Chris
Aw well shucks, thanks Tina 🙂
Layla
First of all YES you can use that word!! 2nd Your food photography looks AMAZING! I'm sure the owner loved the pictures. You did exactly what is intended and that is to make the food look appetizing so the person who see's it jumps into the restaurant to eat. You got me craving Thai now! Which restaurant is it?
Chris
Thanks so much Layla! The place is called Raan Thai in Smithtown, NY.
Nicole ~ Cooking for Keeps
Amazing Chris!! What an awesome opportunity!!! I can't decide which one is my favorite!!!! They're all SO good!
Chris
Aw thanks so much Nicole!
Lindsay
Beautifully done! I love food photography too and eating of course 🙂
Chris
Thanks Lindsay!
Krista
So cool Chris! You did an awesome job and that was super encouraging, I am trying to do the same thing with a burger joint down here and seeing how you did was inspiring! Great pics too! 🙂
Chris
Thanks Krista! You should totally go for it!
Ashley
So cool! You got some great shots! And I definitely would not mind eating all the food afterwards : ) That's a great reward by itself! lol
Chris
Hahaha indeed it is. Indeed.
Mike
You did an awesome job my friend. I'm very proud of you!
Chris
Thanks Alpha!
Consuelo - Honey & Figs
Such an amazing experience! All the shots look gorgeous! And of course, so does the food! x
Chris
Thanks so much Consuelo 🙂
Kelly
Wow, you did an awesome job Chris! What a wonderful opportunity - the pictures and food look amazing!
Chris
Thanks Kelly!
Taylor
SO FUN! I would LOVE to do some restaurant photos! Congrats on the fun gig, and you did AMAZING. But, what else is new! 😉
Chris
Hahaha thanks so much Taylor! Now that you're going full-time, you totally need to rock some restaurant photo gigs!
Bri | Bites of Bri
Chris, that's awesome and the photos look amazing! I hope you get dibs forever there!
Chris
Hahaha, they are always really nice to me in there. The owner is super sweet and I know that she is barely making it. I was happy to help her out 🙂
Chelsea
Wow what an awesome opportunity! And you completely ROCKED these photos, I'm sure they are so excited to show off all these great shots of their food.
Chris
Thanks Chelsea 🙂 You're the best!
Melanie
Wow. That does sound fun! Good for you.
Photos turned out marvelous. 🙂
Have a super awesome weekend Chris!
Chris
Thanks so much Melanie 🙂
Jess
This looks amazing- all the photo's are great, Chris! Looks like it was a great experience!
Chris
It was def a great experience! Thanks Jess 🙂
Tina
How excited to be asked to be the photographer! The photos came out gorgeous!!
Chris
Thanks Tina! It was a great time!
Laura
Love these pictures! The food is so dynamic. I'm wishing I could have tried all the dishes.
Chris
It was pretty fantastic to try all the food after, not gonna lie 😉
Sarah
Nicest restaurant photography around! What a great opportunity to work on!
Chris
Aw well shucks.. thanks Sarah!
Alessandra // the foodie teen
GORGEOUS photos! I love seeing the behind-the-scenes stuff!
Chris
Thanks Alessandra!
Helen
Oooh ... is that pad thai? My favourite! You did a great job, Chris! I would be SO stressed not being in my normal photo environment (although mine seems to change every few weeks anyway with all the moving around I'm doing!) but looks like you pulled it off!
Chris
Hahaha I was going to say, your photo environment has been changing like crazy lately! You're a rockstar and would pull anything off 🙂
Chris
And yes, that's pad thai 🙂
Sandra
Great pictures! And how much fun!!!! That dessert looks amazing...I'm going to have to see if they have something like that at our favorite Thai place...I don't think we have ever had dessert, normally we get too full on dinner. At the rate you are going when people ask what you "DO" you'll be telling them you're a photographer who teaches on the side 😉
Chris
Hahahahaha... when people ask what I do my response time always takes a bit longer nowadays. I just love doing a lot of things!
Christine
this is so wonderfully exciting Chris, your photos look incredible!!! so inspiring to hear you expanding your food blog career, I love everything about this post!
Chris
Thanks so much Christine! Really appreciate the encouragement!