Honestly? Probably not.

There, I said it. I'm a food photographer actively telling you that you might not need a food photographer. My accountant would love that.

But stay with me a second because there is a catch and it's quite an important one.

Phone cameras are genuinely brilliant now

Like, really brilliant. Shot in decent light with a bit of thought behind it, your iPhone can produce images that would have seemed witchcraft ten years ago. I'm not being falsely modest here. The technology is extraordinary.

And there's something phones do really well that over-produced professional photography sometimes completely misses. Realness.

People are a bit bored of perfect

Have a scroll through the restaurants doing well on Instagram right now. A lot of what actually performs isn't the pristine hero shot with the marble background and the tiny herb placed just so. It's the bubbling pan. The chef's hands. The slightly chaotic pass on a Saturday night. The dish that didn't plate up perfectly but looked absolutely incredible anyway.

People have got quite good at spotting content that's been fussed over too much. Behind the scenes stuff, a bit rough around the edges, shot on a phone, it can genuinely outperform a full professional shoot if it's done with consistency and a bit of heart.

So if you're willing to do that, and actually do it, you might be completely fine.

So, why aren't you doing it then?

Go on, be honest.

Because you're not, are you. Not consistently anyway. Maybe you got a great shot of a special last month. Maybe there's a folder on your phone you keep meaning to sort through. Maybe your last Instagram post was three weeks ago and it was slightly blurry and the dish sold out before lunchtime anyway.

I'm not saying this to be pointed about it. I'm saying it because I have genuinely been there.

I co-owned and ran a Michelin recommended, 2 AA Rosette restaurant with my chef partner and I know exactly what it looks like inside a busy service. I can tell you from real experience that when you're in the thick of it; covers on, tickets stacking, someone called in sick at noon… getting your phone out to take a considered, well-lit photo of a plate before it goes out is so far down the list it's not even on the list.

The intention is always there

You know your food is good. You know people eat with their eyes.

You know your Google listing and your Deliveroo page and your website would all do better with better images on them.

But there's a pretty big gap between knowing something and actually doing it consistently when you're running a kitchen or a front of house on a normal Tuesday.

Okay so what about actually hiring someone?

Right so now you're imagining someone turning up with a car full of equipment, moving things around your pass, asking your head chef to hold a garnish for half an hour while they sort out some lighting situation, and then sending you back a gallery of images so heavily edited they look like they belong to a restaurant you'd never actually eat in.

That's not an unfair thing to imagine. Some food photography is exactly like that.

It just doesn't have to be.

What if the photographer had actually worked in restaurants?

I spent nearly twenty years in hospitality. Commis chef, front of house, bar, barista, manager, runner, I've done most of it at some point. My partner is Michelin trained, having worked under Angela Hartnett, Marcus Wareing and Jason Atherton, and we ran our own place together.

So when I walk into your kitchen I'm not someone who needs the whole operation explaining to them. I know what a busy service feels like. I know which dishes need to be shot in about fifteen seconds and which ones can breathe a little. I know your sauce is going to split and your garnish is going to wilt and your team have got actual things to do that aren't watching me fiddle with a camera.

I shoot food as it's served. On the plate, the way your chef meant it to look, without spending forty minutes rearranging it with tweezers first. I come in, I work around you, I get what we need and I go.

I wrote a bit more about how my time in hospitality shapes the way I shoot over here if you're curious: 5 Lessons I've Learned About Food Photography From Owning a Michelin-Recommended Restaurant.

This isn't just restaurants either

Coffee shops, cafés, takeaway brands, anything on Deliveroo or Uber Eats, same thing applies.

That little thumbnail on a delivery app is doing so much work. It's often the only thing a customer looks at before they decide whether to order from you or scroll straight past. A poorly lit photo of your best dish is genuinely losing you sales and that's not me being dramatic, that's just how it works.

You don't need it to look like a fine dining catalogue. You need it to look like something a real person would actually want to eat on a Friday night when they can't be bothered to cook. That's a much more straightforward brief and honestly it's my favourite kind to shoot.

Food photography across Derby and the Midlands

Restaurant, café, coffee shop, street food, multi-site takeaway brand, whatever you've got going on, it doesn't have to be a big production. It can just be someone who understands the industry, turns up, and gets you images that actually work.

That's what I do. More about how I work with hospitality businesses across Derby and the Midlands over here.

FAQ: things people usually ask me

How much does food photography cost in Derby?

Good question and the answer is probably more straightforward than you're expecting.

Monthly retainer — £75 a month One hour of content per month, mix of photo and video. Good for keeping things ticking over; new dishes, seasonal stuff, a bit of behind the scenes. Enough to stay consistent without a big outlay every time.

2 hour shoot — £250 Honestly this is where most Derby restaurants and cafés land and it makes sense. Two hours covers your key dishes properly, I work quickly so we get a decent amount done, and you come away with images you can actually use. If you mainly just need your menu looking right, this is probably your one.

Half day — £500 If you want more than just food on plates — interiors, team, a bit of atmosphere, a staged service moment or a fake tablescape — a half day gives us the room to do it without rushing any of it. Good for a new opening or a website that needs a proper refresh.

Full day — £1,000 Works best for businesses with a couple of sites near each other, or anyone who needs a really full session. Food, team, interiors, video, the lot — across one or more locations without it feeling like we're constantly watching the clock.

No additional licensing fees on any of it. What you see is what you pay, the images are yours.

Do I need to style the food or do anything special before you arrive?

No, and genuinely please don't stress about it.

I shoot food the way it's served. The way your chef plates it, the way it goes out to an actual customer. That's sort of the whole point. Over-styled food photography can look a bit odd in practice and people can usually tell when something's been fussed over too much.

If there are dishes that are a bit tricky to photograph we'll work it out on the day. You don't need to do anything special beforehand.

Are you going to get in the way during service?

No. That's genuinely one of my main priorities going in.

Kitchens have a rhythm and I'm not there to break it. I know which things need to happen fast, I'll always work around your service rather than expecting you to work around me, and I won't be the person standing in the pass asking someone to just do that one more time.

Do you shoot video too?

Yes, short form video is included across all packages. Reels, TikToks, delivery app clips… whatever's actually useful to you. On the monthly retainer especially, mixing photo and video tends to give you the most to work with across the month.

Do you travel outside Derby?

Yes, I'm based in Derbyshire but work across the Midlands. If you're not sure whether you're too far, just drop me a message and we'll figure it out.

I'm not sure which package I need

Just ask me. No hard sell, no awkward upsell, I'll just tell you honestly what I think makes sense for what you've got, even if that ends up being a smaller package than you were thinking.

Get in touch via the Derby food photography page and we'll go from there.

So do you actually need a food photographer?

Maybe not. If you've got the time and the consistency to do it yourself on your phone, and you're actually going to do it… genuinely, go for it.

But if you got to this bit and you're thinking yeah I keep meaning to sort that out, well. That's sort of the answer isn't it.

It doesn't have to be complicated. Just your food, looking the way it should look, without anyone making your day harder in the process. Have a look at how I work here and if it feels like a good fit, drop me a message.