Salt & Honey’s new Tapas Menu
As a food photographer, it’s very exciting when I hear the words “we’re working on a new menu” from one of my favorite restaurants.
That’s exactly what happened last April, when Salt & Honey contacted me asking if I was available to shoot their new tapas menu in May. They’re located in Vienna, so this would take at least a couple of days and involve some logistics with the equipment.
It also meant flying to Vienna and spending a few days with great people in a cool hotel. Zero complaints there.
One of the images we did of their previous menu, back in February.
Having worked with them before, I had an idea of the aesthetic they would want, but I also new I had to change the lighting a bit. After all, this is the summer menu, meaning we need to create some sunlight!
This image, also done in February, was my main reference for the summer shoot, aligning my idea of lighting with the restaurant’s earthy tones.
There we go. Sunny, warm and delicious.
In this kind of shoot, I find it important to be light and mobile (learned from experience!), so I packed only 2 lenses, 2 speedlights… and a studio strobe, just in case.
Most of the images were done this way — no tripod and Ana as my voice-activated light stand, holding a speedlight.
Working with this kind of setup made it much quicker to set everything up and move around as needed. Unexpected things happen all the time and we really needed to be quick and nimble. Definitely a case of less is more.
We wanted to add a human element to some of the compositions.
There was also a special event going on to introduce the menu. I don’t usually shoot events, but with such a cool client I was willing to make an exception.
Last but not least, I took the opportunity to photograph Salt & Honey’s best asset: the staff. Such nice people, who always welcome me with open arms and a smile.
Here’s a gallery with some of my favorites:
Next time you’re in Vienna, be sure to drop by Salt & Honey and try their new tapas menu. I promise you won’t be disappointed!