How to prepare for your DoorDash photo shoot

 

I have been shooting for DoorDash for over 2 years. If you want photos taken for your food for free, you can get more info here. I know other delivery apps also provide similar free service. Just check with them. Here are some tips that can make your session go smoothly.

1. Give yourself a week or two to plan the session. Don't go into the session without doing some planning. Here are the things that you need to plan out:
   • What dishes do you want to shoot? Usually people take pictures of the food that will show up on the first page. Write the list down and give a copy to the photographer because we need the names when we submit the photos.
     
   • Do you have all the materials ready to prepare those dishes?
   • Are your staff ready to make those dishes quickly? A session with DoorDash is between 1.5 - 2 hours and they want to get pictures for 10-15 dishes. So your staff need to know how prepare those dishes quickly.
   • Do you have the space available for the photo shoot? Some photographer brings their lighting equipment, so you will need to give them space to set it up. I prefer to shoot with natural light, so a table next to a big window will be good.
   • What time and what day is the shoot? Don't do it on a busy day or during your service hours. My shoots are usually between 10-12 or 2-4 on a weekday, like Monday or Tuesday. And make sure your staff know about the shoot.
     
2. Try to schedule all the delivery apps to shoot around the same time. This way, you only need to prepare the dishes once. Save your food cost. As long as you have enough space, we don't mind shooting next to other photographers.
   
3. Confirm the session with the photographer. When we call/text you, please respond. If you don't want the shoot, just cancel it. If you ghost us, you are just wasting our time. We work as individual freelancer, our time is important to us.
4. If you want some extra pictures taken for your social media, just ask. Not sure about other photographers but when I am asked, I would do it (as long as we have time in your session).
5. Invite your friends and have a party. Usually the restaurant would give me some food after the shoot. Since I can only take a few dishes, there are still many dishes left. You can invite your friends to eat them. They probably won't mind the food is little cold because they are your friends and the food is free.
6. Finally, if for any reason that you don't want to shoot, please cancel the session and call/text the photographer. It really pisses me off when I show up at the restaurant  and is told they cannot shoot.  Even the session is free, someone is paying for it. My time is as valuable as yours.

 

 

My on location set up for food photography

During the past 2 years, I have taken photos for over hundred restaurants. A majority of these shoots were for DoorDash. A typical DoorDash session is between 1.5 to 2 hours and we need to shoot between 10 to 20 dishes. Because of the limited time, I usually shoot with natural light and minimum styling. With most of the restaurants having outdoor dining now, this is not too difficult to setup a place to shoot.

 

And I have various table top patterns as background to make the photos more interesting. You can get them here and here. They are pretty cheap and they make a big difference.

I have also shot on a bench near a window.

 

Or even a table next to a food truck.

 

 

and if none of the above options is available, I would use my shooting tent setup.

the shooting tent is very portable and produces very good light for the shoot. It is pretty cheap too and you can get one here.

And if the customers prefer to shoot in a more control environment and if they are willing to pay for it. I can setup a studio with studio lighting in their kitchen. Here is the setup I had when shooting for the 49ers at the Levi Stadium kitchen.

In the next post, I will discuss how you can budget and plan your shoot. Stay tune.

DoorDash Photo Shoots

 

 

If you use the DoorDash app, you probably have seen my pictures there. I was causally doing some photo shoots for DoorDash in 2019, just for fun. But during the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic, this is my excuse to get out of the house. I visited many restaurants that I would not usually visit. I have also tried many types of food that I have never tried before. It is such a fun experience for me during this crazy time.

 

 

 

I have also witnessed how innovative the restaurant owners are to stay afloat.  In the future posts, I will share some of the ideas that work for them. Check back soon. 

If you haven't tried DoorDash yet, you can sign up here and get $30 off. You can also see some of my works here.