A few days ago, I was scrolling thru search results online for ‘the best burger in Dallas’. Needless to say, there were a ton if results that came up. As I was looking at each of them, I started to notice the photos, because, well, that’s just where my eye goes. From what I could tell, only two pages that I looked at had photos professional photos. The rest looked ‘ok’, but, then there were also a couple that were just really bad… Like, so bad that it made me take note to never eat at those places!
I’ll admit that, since I take photos of food for a living, how the food looks in photos is the first thing that I notice about any restaurant or food product. But, I know for a fact I am not unique in that way. A really good photo of any food is literally THE deciding factor in whether the majority of people visit a place or buy a product.
That being said, why is it that so many places online are still not investing in this part of their business? When an investment like this can bring so much return, why would there be any question as to whether or not it’s something a food business will pursue?
I started to ponder this and thought that one reason might be that the reason is precisely that there are so many images out there, so much noise, that people are so overwhelmed by it that they have completely lost sight of the value of a really stellar and true to brand image. And it’s true, with the advent of the internet and platforms like Instagram and Pinterest, there are millions of images out there floating around. Way too many for any of us to look at and absorb in one lifetime.
But, that said, unless you’ve had photos taken specifically of your food, dishes or products, none of those images will convey your message or your brand. Not a single one.
A really beautiful and professional photo takes time. At least more time than an impromptu click of cell phone camera. It takes care, planning, styling, attention to detail, and an eye for making the subject look beautiful. It shows in the final product. And, it makes a difference in the perception people have of your business. It conveys that a company or product cares enough to invest in an image that is going to be the main touch point that the world and potential customers see and will think of when their brand comes to mind.
By the way, I ended up choosing one of the burger places that had the amazing photos to have dinner at. The photo made such an impression that it the image stayed with me all the way on the drive over. And, I must not have been the only one who this worked on because the place was standing room only and line out the door when I arrived!
I’m pretty sure it’s all because of those photos.