Listen to this articleThe Chef Shots is an online training platform that teaches chefs and culinary professionals how to use their smartphone to take “Drool-Worthy” photos of their food and beverage. Below is our recent interview with Leigh Loftus, the Founder of Chef Shots:
Q: What does it take to take a perfect food photo with your smartphone?
A: So many people have been misled to believe that in order to take “mouth-watering” photos you have to have the newest smartphone on the market, with the “world’s best camera…” That couldn’t be further from the truth!
The truth is, in order to take “Drool-worthy” images whether on your phone or with a professional camera, you have to know the basic principles of what makes a great photo.
Think about it this way: You just finished a meal at one of your cities top restaurants, the chef comes to your table to ask how it was and you proceed to say something along the lines of, “That was the best meal I have had in a really long time, you must have a really great oven……..” 😳
We all know it’s not the oven that made that dish one of the best you’ve ever had, it’s the chef, their team and years of honing their craft that made that dish “to-die-for!”
It’s the exact same with photography, whether on a phone or with professional gear, if you don’t know how to make a great photograph you’ll keep pointing shooting and hoping for the best. When armed with the fundamental principles, every photo you take becomes better than the one before it because you know how to compose, style, light, adjust and edit your images.
Just like a chef making those “to-die-for dishes,” they refine, and refine, and refine sometimes hundreds of times before they put an item on their menu. Photography is the exact same – you learn the rules, practice them repeatedly and eventually land on your specific creative style but in order to do that, you have to start with the fundamentals. The newest smartphone/camera doesn’t hurt, but it’s not, nor will it ever be, the “IT” factor of great photos.
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Q: Why is food photography important for chefs?
A: Food photography and content creation in general is so utterly important for chefs because our world, especially now, lives in the digital realm. It’s not photography specifically that matters it’s the ability to connect with your audience. The ability for a chef to create content, both beautiful as well as organic, raw, behind the scenes, the who, what, why and how… that invites your audience into your world… that is what builds a connection with your patrons – who want to know the ins and outs of your world, the more you invite them in, the more they love you… Good, bad and ugly.
As we forge ahead in the digital age, the chefs and restaurants that will thrive are the ones who are able to captivate their audience. That’s the importance of great photography and great content in general.
Q: Can you give us insights into your course?
A: The Chef Shots™ will offer many courses. We’re starting with Phonetography 101™, this will teach you the technical ins and outs of your device, both iPhone and Samsung. Along with learning the various shooting modes, an intro to building a composition, editing 1.0 and we wrap it up by teaching you how to capture 1 months’ worth of content from 1 single dish.
Next is Food Photo 101, in this course we cover the basics of understanding and working with natural light, move into 5 additional compositional rules, editing 2.0 and wrap this course up by planning 5 consecutive shoots that encompass all of the lessons in the course itself.
We decided to custom build the platform so that it would include the training content, as well as the ability to share your images with your peers all in in one area. So, we’re currently beta testing with our first 20 customers and plan to officially open the doors before the end of summer.
This winter we plan to release additional courses including Advanced Food Photography, Composition Advanced, Artificial Lighting & Food Styling, to name a few.
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Q: What are some of the main objectives for your company in 2020 and how do you plan to achieve them?
A: Right now, the focus is to successfully complete beta testing with our 20 users, which means that at the end of Phonetography 101 & Food Photo 101 they are beyond happy with the results they’ve produced while in the course.
From that, I will invite the next round of about 100 participants into the course, then 200, then 300, finally ending the year with 400 which would mean we’ve had 1,000 students complete the course successfully. Once we’re there, I will shift the model from invite only to an open registration, as our team should be ready to handle the growth from that.
I’ve spent a little over 11 years in the hospitality world and I have wonderful relationships with some of our industries top organizations. I plan to extend tailored invites to each of their audiences as well as leverage social media to continue to connect with my audience and invite them into the program.
Like any community, chefs are connected throughout the world and this program is very valuable to them. We all know how fun it is to share something new with your peers, so I am working to build an affiliate program as well. My hope is that a large portion of our marketing efforts, stems from our students success in the course and their desire to share it with their peers. To me, that’s the ultimate measure of success, to build a community of culinary professionals, so in love with our program they can’t help but tell others about it!
2020 hasn’t been easy for anyone — my overarching goal is truly to help chefs and restaurant owners alike, come out of COVID with a new skillset that directly impacts their bottom line. Rebuilding after this is going to be arduous and could feel overwhelming. The Chef Shots’™ is designed to invigorate and enliven our students relationship with social media. In turn building a new level of connectedness to their audience, including their patrons in the process of the rebuild and inviting them to participate in the future of their restaurant.
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