Hotel Food Photography for Evelyn's Nashville
Evelyns Hutton Hotel Food and Beverage Program
Since 2016 I have wanted to photograph the food and beverage program for a hotel. I had put out a ton of bids, but it just never happened. So when Evelyn’s at the Hutton Hotel reached out to me early this year I was stoked to say the least, but also had a nagging feeling it might not happen. This time was different. My friend Carly who I had previously worked with at another restaurant was the new GM. Since we had worked together before it made the process simple. The hotel industry is difficult to break into. I am thankful for this opportunity and I think we came up with some excellent imagery. This meant that I was going to bring the A team with me.
Evelyns needed a few photos for their updated menu featuring some seasonal items. They had a rock start chef and they also wanted to add a food stylist to the shoot to make sure the presentation of each dish was top notch. In fine dining it is essential to not just plate the dish, but ensure that it meets the chef’s vision. We enlisted Callie Blount as our food stylist. Callie is the perfect fit because of her willingness to work hard and to learn. Not to mention her amazing food styling skills and her eye for details.
For this shoot we wanted to use the space and also have a bit moodier lighting. So we had a Daniel Williams as the photo assistant on set to help out with lighting and moving gear. We used a large light, on a rolling stand to make set changes efficient.
For hotel industry photography I want to make sure that we capture the right vibe. We don’t just need amazing looking food we need a sense of place. I wanted to make sure we know that this amazing food was also in a really great environment. From a photographic standpoint that meant photographing the scene from a bit further away and using a bit of a wider lens. This lens choice gave us a more natural view of the food and the restaurant. It helped to capture the sense of place that we were looking for.
Since this was an active restaurant space we needed to keep a light foot print, and also move relatively quickly. We did a half day shoot starting just after the breakfast rush and finished just before the true lunch rush. Having a food stylist helps us move faster for this type of shoot. The chef can plate each dish, but allow the food stylist to add the elements of the dish that will fall with gravity and time. The food stylist adds things like the micro greens, sauces, and stacks things that will fall down over time. This allows the chef to be in the kitchen and come back to help when needed.
One of the most common questions I get is how many dishes can we capture in a half day or a full day. In this instance we were able to capture 11 unique dishes. We did this in 4 unique settings. We had a total of 40 unique deliverable final images and we took close to 400 images during the shoot.
I was so glad that we had a successful shoot for Evelyn’s. We brought a great team and came away with some excellent photos for marketing and advertising the restaurant. I walked away more confident than I went into the shoot. My team and I proved that not only can we photograph fine dining for the hospitality industry we can do it well and with a high degree of excellence. If you have a hotel food and beverage program that is in need of fresh content please reach out.
