How I Prep for Food & Restaurant Photoshoots

I shoot a lot of food and restaurant work, and even after a decade of doing this, the prep is still exciting to me. It means I have a shoot the next day, and someone is expecting you to be putting in your all to make something look beautiful. Scary for some, and honestly it still can be for me, but I like the rush of the challenge.

Night-Before Prep

The night before a shoot is a ritual at this point. It’s when the bulk of my prep is happening. For a restaurant shoot, this is typically a 60 to 90-minute job. Here’s what’s going down:

• Formatting and inserting memory cards – Two in the camera, one in the shirt pocket.
• Charging v-mount batteries – Instead of traditional camera batteries, I bring two 95Wh v-mount batteries and a dummy adapter. This lets me run the camera for literal DAYS without having to worry about a battery change. I lock them to a belt clip or a clamp on my tripod leg.
• Charging strobe batteries – I always bring two batteries for each strobe. I’ve only once made it through an entire battery in a single shoot, but that was for an 8-hour mass headshot session with over 3,000 final shots.
• Rallying light stands – I always bring at least three light stands to a restaurant shoot, but usually end up using one and leaving the other two in my FUBAR bag. My choice lately has been the Matthews MERF Mini, it’s incredibly small and sturdy and can easily hold a strobe and softbox a few feet off the ground indoors.
• Prepping softboxes – I have a few favorite boxes I use, most notably a 36″ Octabox, 16×48″ Strip, or 12×32″ Strip – all Glow EZ Lock variants. I make sure I have the baffles, posts, and grids on-hand. The MERF Mini fits beautifully inside most of these carrying cases too.
• Packing strobes – I just got an AD100 that I’ve yet to use on a proper restaurant shoot (as of writing this), but my typical shoot I’ll bring it’s much larger brothers the AD600s. I bring two in case one fails, one goes in the aforementioned FUBAR bag.
• Replacing batteries – Once my light meter and flash trigger batteries hit that halfway bar on the battery indicator, I’m replacing the AA’s.
• Emptying bags and cases – I’m not usually lucky enough to have two shoots in a row that require the same gear, so I’m unpacking from previous shoots and repacking for the task at hand.
• Making a list (and checking it thrice) – I used to make lists mentally and almost every time I’d regret it. Instead, I build out a simple checklist on Google Sheets for everything I know I’ll want or need. It helps the next day when loading up.

Morning-Of Routine

By morning, all of my beautiful batteries have finished charging and are ready to go back into their respective gear. I also use this time to pack up all of my stands, softboxes, strobes, and gear – checking off my list as I trek from my garage to my car trunk. Don’t forget the FUBAR bag! This takes about 30 minutes.

I also read over client emails and shotlists to make sure I have all of my bases covered.

Before the shoot, my ritual snack of choice is a Monster Original and a pack of peanuts or cashews. I love them because they can be easily pocketed and snacked on during the shoot.

The Essentials I Bring to Every Food Shoot

• Camera
  • Nikon Z8
• Lens
  • Tamron 35-150mm f/2-2.8 (amazing all-arounder)
  • Viltrox 20mm f/2.8 (great for getting wide shots)
• Memory Cards
  • 1TB CFexpress (~12,000 lossless Raw shots, I DIY’ed mine)
  • 2 x 128GB Lexar Pro x2000 V90 SD Cards (V90 is imperative for video work, also great for faster buffers)
• Strobes
  • Godox AD600Pro (you can replace the sun with this)
  • Godox XPro-II N (must-have if you want to fire the flash)
• Stands
  • Matthews MERF Mini
  • Manfrotto standard light stand
• Batteries
  • 2 x Godox AD600Pro battery
  • 2 x 95Wh V-mount with D-Tap port
  • Nikon EN-EL15 to D-Tap dummy battery
  • V-mount belt clip
  • V-mount superclamp
• Modifiers
  • 36″ Glow EZ Lock Octabox (best all-arounder)
  • 12×36″ Glow EZ Lock Stripbox (great for close-ups and glassware)
  • 16×48″ Glow EZ Lock Stripbox (best for glassware)
• Cases
  • Pelican Storm iM2975 (it’s like a Pelican Air 1650 on steroids – deeper, easier to lock, smoother roll)
  • Tenba TTP46 (absolutely stellar build quality, can fit C-stands if you ever need to)
• Tripod
  • Slik Pro AL-323 DX with SH-705E Head (a mouthful, just a solid simple tripod)
• Miscellaneous
  • Sekonic L-308X-U Flashmate (light meter, super helpful for finding a good exposure without a bunch of test shots)
  • Optimum No Rinse (car wash soap, but great for removing hard water spots from tables, counters, and dinnerware of all varieties)
  • Microfiber cloths
  • Horsehair brush (excellent for dust and crumbs)
  • Homemade mini v-flat (white foam core taped together for bouncing or hiding light)

For photographers curious about the business side of all of this: a full food photography kit adds up quickly. The kit listed above sits around $10k, and there’s still plenty more I’m leaving in the workshop that I might swap out depending on the goal of the shoot. It’s a good reminder that pricing isn’t just about showing up for two hours, but the tools, prep, and experience that makes the two hours worth something.

If you’re building your own kit, don’t hesitate to reach out with questions. I’d be happy to answer.

Why Prep Matters

Every restaurant is different, but most can’t turn off house lights, close window shades, or clear a beautifully clean bar on command. That’s why I show up overprepared, with enough strobe power to overpower whatever stray lighting is happening. You’d be shocked how many gorgeous shots you can get simply by taking control of the environment with your own light kit instead of trying to work around the house lights.

If I don’t know the location well, I bring an extra foam board, a small stand, and clamps so I can flag off harsh window light in a pinch. And I always—always—make it clear that if guests are present, my gear is going to look like gear. I’ve been placed in the middle of a dining room during a packed Saturday dinner service before, and while I did what I could, there’s only so much magic you can make when you’re basically on stage with a giant octabox trying not to back into other tables while everyone is trying to eat. Won’t do that again.

The first test flash when I’m dialing things in always catches someone off-guard. Happens every time. Never stops being funny.

Making the Shoot Feel Intentional

My goal is simple: consistent lighting, refined detail, and luxurious, appetizing imagery that does justice to what the kitchen team is creating. The prep allows that to happen. It gives me a head start on the problem-solving that every shoot inevitably requires.

I want clients to understand that the gear isn’t just “because gear is cool”—it’s because the work deserves intentional lighting. And I want photographers who are learning to know that prep is half the job. The more you front-load the thinking, the more creative headspace you actually get once the camera comes out.

If you’re curious about the lighting side of my process, I’m putting together a separate breakdown focused entirely on how I light food and restaurant scenes. I’ll link it here once it’s live so it’s easy to find.

Final Thoughts

Every photoshoot is its own little puzzle, and the prep work is how I make the pieces fit before I even walk through the door. It’s equal parts routine, superstition, and problem-solving—and it’s probably my favorite part of the whole job.