Say Cheese: Focus in on Food Photography

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JBloggs

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How are you promoting the OTHER B?
Say Cheese: Focus in on Food Photography[/h1]
Article here.
JB - I have to say every time I see a Facebook post/and or a Tweet mentioning these delicious breakfasts the innkeeper made for the guests that morning I cringe when there is no photo. It is more irritating than anything else. I know photos are difficult to get and take planning and there is rarely a chance to take a breakfast photo at the time. I have also seen some I think look like a plate of vomit, I am sure it was a cheezy casserole or something very delicious, but surely did not look delicious "on film".
Is this one area that most innkeeper skimp on, thinking it is not as important as say the room photos?
What say you?
 
Outstanding article, she details the fine points and drives it home very clearly.
A food photo shoot doesn't have to take all day, but it probably shouldn't occur during breakfast service either.
 
Show me the photos! I try to not mention something new until I have taken pix of it. Sometimes just a quick snap, but other times I really try to get a good photo.
 
Outstanding article, she details the fine points and drives it home very clearly.
A food photo shoot doesn't have to take all day, but it probably shouldn't occur during breakfast service either..
When we did our only prof photo shoot we cooked all of the food for the photog for the photos. We have some dishes, like JB said, that look like the dog's dinner. We don't use those pix on the website. I may crop them and use parts of them, but not the whole meal.
 
Outstanding article, she details the fine points and drives it home very clearly.
A food photo shoot doesn't have to take all day, but it probably shouldn't occur during breakfast service either..
When we did our only prof photo shoot we cooked all of the food for the photog for the photos. We have some dishes, like JB said, that look like the dog's dinner. We don't use those pix on the website. I may crop them and use parts of them, but not the whole meal.
.
Pictures are worth 1,000 words, good pictures are worth $1M.
Don't talk it up if you can't back it up with at least a reasonable picture.
Think of it this way....do you see GM Ford or any of the other big manufacturers announcing a new car without a prototype being available at the car show? NO, Why because the buying public, whether it be your breakfast, or a new pick-up, wants to see what they are getting for their money. As Cuba Gooding Jr said, "show me the money", you gotta show them the money shot, and that is the room and the food, give your potential customers the best money shot you can.
Even if that means "wasting" some food, what you spend in wasted food will easily be re-couped in additional reservations. I have spent a lot of time looking at inn's websites lately, making notes about what I like and what I don't, I find my list of what I don't like about what they show me is longer on the sites where there is one or two or even NO food pictures. I wanna know what you are gonna feed me if I stay there. OK Maybe I won't get that exact meal, but it sure gives me a sense (more than 3 paragraphs can do anyway) of what breakfast might be like.
I have a great advantage over many of you, in that I not only get all this great advise from such experienced people, but I will have several weeks of planning and practicing with recipes and chances to take pics before I launch the web site. I get to do it without a guest sitting hungry on the other side of the kitchen door.
 
Pics on FB don't need to be professional or perfect. I look at FB as a casual interaction, blog is more professional and website the ultimate of professional.
 
Hey Joey, Thanks so much for posting the Say Cheese blog post on here! I really hope it helps! Food photography is so important. Thank you for sharing!
 
Pics on FB don't need to be professional or perfect. I look at FB as a casual interaction, blog is more professional and website the ultimate of professional..
But wouldn't you want EVERY impression of your business to be professional? It's all part of branding your property. Remember, you only get one chance to make a first impression, too. And these days, Facebook is becoming that first impression venue.
 
Pics on FB don't need to be professional or perfect. I look at FB as a casual interaction, blog is more professional and website the ultimate of professional..
But wouldn't you want EVERY impression of your business to be professional? It's all part of branding your property. Remember, you only get one chance to make a first impression, too. And these days, Facebook is becoming that first impression venue.
.
If you didn't post on FB unless you had only professional quality photos, then it would never happen. Most of us are lucky if we can even GET a photo of a breakfast item while trying to get it out. The photo post of your new breakfast item is only one of many terrific photos on the FB page. If someone is making a decision of whether to stay with you or not solely on that ok photo you've posted, then believe me, you don't want them.
I still say it's better to put an ok photo with a post rather than no photo at all like JB mentioned.
 
Pics on FB don't need to be professional or perfect. I look at FB as a casual interaction, blog is more professional and website the ultimate of professional..
But wouldn't you want EVERY impression of your business to be professional? It's all part of branding your property. Remember, you only get one chance to make a first impression, too. And these days, Facebook is becoming that first impression venue.
.
If you didn't post on FB unless you had only professional quality photos, then it would never happen. Most of us are lucky if we can even GET a photo of a breakfast item while trying to get it out. The photo post of your new breakfast item is only one of many terrific photos on the FB page. If someone is making a decision of whether to stay with you or not solely on that ok photo you've posted, then believe me, you don't want them.
I still say it's better to put an ok photo with a post rather than no photo at all like JB mentioned.
.
Breakfast Diva said:
I still say it's better to put an ok photo with a post rather than no photo at all like JB mentioned.
I concur. Unless it looks like vomit. Or should I say my cats canned pate' breakfast.
I think an OKAY photo is better than none for social media purposes, but what we really want are great photos! So the article is fodder to file away until we can do it off season. Good intentions and all that, meanwhile those yummy breakfast photos could help book rooms! I firmly believe it!
We always discuss this, it is an investment. Why do we think the web presence is the last thing that needs attention or dinero$. In reality, and I speak to any aspirings on this, the web presence should be professional out the door, from day one...it is much harder to reinvent the wheel once you are operational. But difficult to get it just right prior to that, I understand that. But hey get the placeholders in and you can update once you are open with new and improved photos and ideas!
 
Pics on FB don't need to be professional or perfect. I look at FB as a casual interaction, blog is more professional and website the ultimate of professional..
But wouldn't you want EVERY impression of your business to be professional? It's all part of branding your property. Remember, you only get one chance to make a first impression, too. And these days, Facebook is becoming that first impression venue.
.
If you didn't post on FB unless you had only professional quality photos, then it would never happen. Most of us are lucky if we can even GET a photo of a breakfast item while trying to get it out. The photo post of your new breakfast item is only one of many terrific photos on the FB page. If someone is making a decision of whether to stay with you or not solely on that ok photo you've posted, then believe me, you don't want them.
I still say it's better to put an ok photo with a post rather than no photo at all like JB mentioned.
.
Breakfast Diva said:
I still say it's better to put an ok photo with a post rather than no photo at all like JB mentioned.
I concur. Unless it looks like vomit. Or should I say my cats canned pate' breakfast.
I think an OKAY photo is better than none for social media purposes, but what we really want are great photos! So the article is fodder to file away until we can do it off season. Good intentions and all that, meanwhile those yummy breakfast photos could help book rooms! I firmly believe it!
We always discuss this, it is an investment. Why do we think the web presence is the last thing that needs attention or dinero$. In reality, and I speak to any aspirings on this, the web presence should be professional out the door, from day one...it is much harder to reinvent the wheel once you are operational. But difficult to get it just right prior to that, I understand that. But hey get the placeholders in and you can update once you are open with new and improved photos and ideas!
.
Agreed. Professional quality photos on web site are a must. We've spent the $$ for them and are planning on doing it again in the next month.
 
Pics on FB don't need to be professional or perfect. I look at FB as a casual interaction, blog is more professional and website the ultimate of professional..
But wouldn't you want EVERY impression of your business to be professional? It's all part of branding your property. Remember, you only get one chance to make a first impression, too. And these days, Facebook is becoming that first impression venue.
.
Suite Exchange said:
But wouldn't you want EVERY impression of your business to be professional? It's all part of branding your property. Remember, you only get one chance to make a first impression, too. And these days, Facebook is becoming that first impression venue.
The short answer is 'yes'. The reality answer is 'no'. Because none of us have hundreds of different professional photos to post on FB we also post candids. You really don't want to bore your fans with the same 10 shots over and over again. I think it's ok to post room photos when you have a vacancy and say, 'Hey, this room just opened up for the weekend.' But the same breakfast over and over? That's boring.
FB may be commanding more of guests' time but they won't be hanging around and sharing with their friends if it's the same thing over and over. 'Oh, that again?' Then it becomes, 'Is that the only 2, 3, 4 things they ever serve?
You may be able to use stock photos for your blog, but we can't do that. Or, better put, we choose not to do that. Stock photos of something that is sorta like what's here are not really appropriate for most B&B's. Guests are expecting really close matches between what they saw and what is here.
We did have an innkeeper who used stock photos because she was just getting started. The photos looked nothing like her property because they were photos of the place (in another country) that her inn was named after. It's very misleading.
 
Pics on FB don't need to be professional or perfect. I look at FB as a casual interaction, blog is more professional and website the ultimate of professional..
But wouldn't you want EVERY impression of your business to be professional? It's all part of branding your property. Remember, you only get one chance to make a first impression, too. And these days, Facebook is becoming that first impression venue.
.
Suite Exchange said:
But wouldn't you want EVERY impression of your business to be professional? It's all part of branding your property. Remember, you only get one chance to make a first impression, too. And these days, Facebook is becoming that first impression venue.
The short answer is 'yes'. The reality answer is 'no'. Because none of us have hundreds of different professional photos to post on FB we also post candids. You really don't want to bore your fans with the same 10 shots over and over again. I think it's ok to post room photos when you have a vacancy and say, 'Hey, this room just opened up for the weekend.' But the same breakfast over and over? That's boring.
FB may be commanding more of guests' time but they won't be hanging around and sharing with their friends if it's the same thing over and over. 'Oh, that again?' Then it becomes, 'Is that the only 2, 3, 4 things they ever serve?
You may be able to use stock photos for your blog, but we can't do that. Or, better put, we choose not to do that. Stock photos of something that is sorta like what's here are not really appropriate for most B&B's. Guests are expecting really close matches between what they saw and what is here.
We did have an innkeeper who used stock photos because she was just getting started. The photos looked nothing like her property because they were photos of the place (in another country) that her inn was named after. It's very misleading.
.
Boring people to death on facebook. I screamed bloody murder the other day when our chamber posted 175 photos of them out having fun on FAM tour to some member cabins etc. WHO in the hell wants to look at 175 photos??? I tried to explain to them this is not the way to do it....So what do they do this week? Post 250 photos of a dinky parade in the town. I mean come on...who needs to see 15 shots of the same thing. The poster made a remark about "sorry to post so many but we didn't want to miss anyone!" That was for my benefit LOL!!! I didn't say a thing to her. Facebook is not a subsitute for their website or a good blog, but they won't listen to me...OH well
What I started to post was to Maddie....some of the new photos on your site are beautiful and I know you did them :) Hurray for you!
 
So scary when I find a new review on TA and see they have added photos of their breakfast.
We decided to make a conscious effort to photograph breakfasts and add them to the website, however the reality has not matched the intent ..... yet.
 
I saw this from Jenncuisine today and thought you would be interested. People always ask for photos...there is a lot more to it of course.
Summer Fruit - testing out new 85mm lens in all its wide open f/1.8 glory http://www.flickr.com/photos/jenncuisinephotos/7711918582/
and then
pull back using new 85mm lens http://www.flickr.com/photos/jenncuisinephotos/7711917566/
more with focal lengths:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jenncuisinephotos/7711917896/in/photostream/
Full Frame vs cropped:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jenncuisinephotos/7711918232/in/photostream/
and
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jenncuisinephotos/7711918816/in/photostream/
 
I saw this from Jenncuisine today and thought you would be interested. People always ask for photos...there is a lot more to it of course.
Summer Fruit - testing out new 85mm lens in all its wide open f/1.8 glory http://www.flickr.com/photos/jenncuisinephotos/7711918582/
and then
pull back using new 85mm lens http://www.flickr.com/photos/jenncuisinephotos/7711917566/
more with focal lengths:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jenncuisinephotos/7711917896/in/photostream/
Full Frame vs cropped:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jenncuisinephotos/7711918232/in/photostream/
and
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jenncuisinephotos/7711918816/in/photostream/.
One perfect cherry. Interesting to see how they take the pix!
I was frantically trying to take pix of the danish the other morning while guests were watching. Ended up with only one photo with the right lighting. I was blocking the light from the overhead. Good to know I cast a useful shadow. ;-)
 
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