Fooderise

Photographing your dishes with a smartphone: a beginner's guide

Menus 6 min read 28 novembre 2025

Photos of dishes are the number one factor in the purchasing decision on platforms. A dish without a photo is ordered 60% less often. The good news: your smartphone is enough for quality photos.

Natural light is your best asset. Place the dish near a window, shaded (not direct sunlight). Soft, diffused light is ideal for culinary photography.

45 degrees is the most flattering angle for most dishes. It showcases volume, textures, and colors. Reserve a top-down view for flat dishes (pizzas, bowls, salads).

The base matters just as much as the dish. A neutral base (light wood, marble, slate) highlights without distracting. Avoid patterned tablecloths, cluttered backgrounds, or shiny surfaces.

Fill in the frame with the dish. Avoid large empty spaces. Add one or two elements of context (fresh herbs, spices, utensil) to create an atmosphere without overdoing it.

Post-processing: slightly increases brightness (+10%), contrast (+5%) and saturation (+10%). Do not over-filter – the dish should look like what the client will receive.

Join the Fooderise community

Get more tips like this one straight to WhatsApp. Free, no spam.

Join the channel

A correction or a suggestion?

Are you a vendor, a restaurateur or an industry expert and you spotted something to correct or complete? Help us keep this article up to date.

Suggest an improvement

Related articles

Marketing

Smartphone food photography for delivery platforms

Learn to take professional photos of your dishes with a simple smartphone to boost your sales.

Delivery

Food photography for delivery: how to take photos that make people drool and convert

On Uber Eats and Deliveroo, your food photos are your storefront. A good photo can increase clicks on a dish by 30 to 80%. Here are professional techniques adapted to restaurant owners’ budgets.

Platforms

Commission Deliveroo restaurant France 2026 : exact percentage, hidden fees, how to reduce

Everything about the Deliveroo commission in France for restaurants in 2026: percentage per plan (Lite, Plus, Premium), hidden fees, numbered examples and strategies to reduce it.

Le chat est sur le tapis. Il dort. C'est mignon.

The victim-founder of LinkedIn: when public complaint replaces execution

Identical posts, a vague betrayal, a call to DMs. This phenomenon is invading LinkedIn and deserves to be named for what it is: a marketing strategy that exploits the network's sympathy without offering anything real.

Compliance

Mandatory legal notices for a B2B SaaS provider in France (LCEN 2004)

What are the 9 elements a commercial website must display to be legal in France, and why their absence is a warning sign for any restaurateur about to sign a contract?

Profitability

Calculate profitability by platform: the step-by-step method to identify your champions and your dead weight.

Do you really know which dishes on your menu make you money and which ones make you lose money? The Stars/Cows/Problems/Dead Weight method applied to your restaurant.

Join the Fooderise community on WhatsApp

Free · Exclusive content · 0 spam · Cancel anytime

Join the channel

Instant access · WhatsApp