Want images that your customers will love? Here are 7 things to share with your food photographer.
Here’s a common scenario: a brand spends $3,000 on a food shoot, gets back 15 images, and three months later they’re still scrambling for content.
What happened???
Technically, the photography is fine. It just doesn’t do the whole job, thanks to wrong formats, unclear usage rights, no recipe to anchor the visuals, nothing that truly fits the campaign.
The shoot wasn’t the problem. The brief was.
A strong brief is what separates a functioning content library – assets you can pull from for social, email, your website, a retail pitch deck – from a folder of pretty images that don’t really go anywhere. Here’s what to have ready before your next shoot.
Don’t have a brief yet? Download The Content Kitchen Recipe Brief, a free template for commissioning recipe content that really works.
1. What the product does – and what you want customers to do with it
Start here, not with aesthetics. Tell your food photographer what the product is, who buys it, and what you want a customer to think or do after seeing the image. Are you trying to show this hot sauce belongs on eggs at breakfast, not just on tacos? That’s a very different shoot than “shot of bottle on a counter.”
If you’re working with a studio that also does recipe development – where the recipe is built to demonstrate your product’s versatility, not just make food look nice – this is where that conversation starts. The recipe choice and the image should make the same argument.
2. Where the images will live
This is the brief item most brands skip, and it’s the one that causes the most problems downstream. An image sized and styled for Instagram is not the same as one that works on a retail sell sheet or a product page. If your images need to pull double (or triple) duty – social post today, newsletter next month, pitch deck next quarter – your photographer needs to know that before the shoot, not after.
Be specific:
- Which platforms or channels (Instagram feed, email header, website hero, e-commerce listing, retail buyer deck)
- Aspect ratios you need (square, horizontal, vertical)
- Whether any images are going on product packaging (this changes the color and resolution requirements significantly)
The answer to “where will it live” is also how you establish the deliverable count. If you need one image for Instagram, one for email, and one for a sell sheet, that’s potentially three different crops from the same shot — which is very achievable, but only if the photographer frames and lights for it.
3. Your brand’s visual identity and whether you’re refreshing it
Share your brand style guide if you have one: color palette, fonts, any photography guidelines. If you don’t have a formal guide, that’s fine. Share your website and your strongest social posts instead.
The goal is to give the photographer enough to understand what “on-brand” looks like for you before they set up the first frame.
Also flag if you’re in the middle of a visual refresh. If you’re moving away from dark, moody aesthetics toward something light and bright, that’s critical information. Nothing is worse than investing in a shoot and getting back images that match the brand you’re trying to leave behind.
If you’re not sure what “on-brand” means for you yet, you’ll want to figure that before the shoot, not during it. The Content Kitchen food photography portfolio can give you a reference point for what’s possible.
4. Inspiration images and what, specifically, you like about them
If you’ve been saving images of competitor content, brands you aspire to, or photography you’ve responded to, share all of it. The goal isn’t to copy anyone; it’s to share clues. Does your folder skew toward warm, natural light or cool studio setups? Close crops or wide environmental shots? Minimal props or abundant styling?
When you share inspiration, be specific about what you’re responding to. Is it an angle? The quality of the light – soft and diffused or hard with deep shadows? Light and bright or dark and moody? Richness (or softness) of the colors? The props? Food that looks approachable or more aspirational? All of these are helpful clues for your photographer.
5. The full deliverable count you need
One of the most common ways food shoots underdeliver is when the brief says “a few images” and the brand was mentally expecting 40 usable assets. Get concrete before the shoot. How many hero shots? How many lifestyle images? Do you need recipe process shots? Flat lays for email headers? Short-form video clips for Reels?
Think about your content calendar for the next quarter and work backward. How many posts, emails, and campaign assets do you need to fill it? That number is your deliverable target.
If you want to see what a fully-scoped content set looks like. The Content Kitchen pricing page breaks down deliverable counts by package tier, which can be a useful benchmark even if you’re not ready to book yet.
6. Nail down usage rights before signing
This is the one that comes back to bite brands most often. You commission a shoot, love the images, use them everywhere and then get a bill six months later because “web usage” wasn’t included in the original agreement.
Before you book, ask explicitly:
- What channels are covered: owned channels (your website, email, social), paid media (ads), or both?
- For how long? One year? Two? In perpetuity?
- Are there restrictions on geography or third-party use (like a retailer featuring your images on their site)?
A straightforward studio will spell this out in the proposal, not bury it in the contract. At Content Kitchen, every package includes a two-year license for all owned and paid channels.
Want people to show off your food? Make sure your budget covers models, or plan to recruit volunteers who will sign a model release.
7. Whether you need models or a food stylist
Lifestyle photography that includes people – hands reaching for a dish, someone eating at a table – performs well because it tells a story. But it requires budget for models, and in some cases a hand model specifically (yes, that’s a real specialty). If you want people in the frame, flag it early so the shoot can be scoped and staffed accordingly.
Similarly, for complex food styling, like perfectly formed ice cream, anything with steam or pour shots, or elaborate spreads, a dedicated food stylist keeps the shoot running efficiently and ensures the food looks its best. It’s money well spent. For simpler setups, a photographer who also handles styling can manage it. Clarify this upfront so it’s built into the budget and timeline.
One thing most briefs miss: the recipe angle
If you’re shooting food, you’re almost always shooting a recipe, even if it’s just “our sauce on pasta.” Most food briefs treat the recipe as an afterthought or leave it entirely to the photographer to figure out on set. That’s backwards.
The recipe is a commercial asset. It should be developed to demonstrate your product’s versatility, to work in a real home kitchen, and to anchor the image in a way that makes the product the obvious, necessary ingredient, not just a prop in the background.
That’s the argument for working with a studio that handles recipe development and photography together. When the recipe and the image are developed by the same person, with the same commercial goals in mind, neither one ends up serving the other poorly. More on that in A Hatch Chile Makes a Great Content Strategy.
Not sure whether your brand needs professional photography yet? This post walks through the decision.
Ready to see what a full content set looks like?
Content Kitchen handles recipe development and photography in one studio — one brief, one delivery, no vendor coordination. See the packages and pricing →
Or download The Content Kitchen Recipe Brief, a free template for commissioning recipe content that works.