Prep to Profit Podcast: Mastering Food Photography with Heidi Harris

Heidi's Creative Background and Entry into Food Photography

Andy Blechman: I think people are starting to pile in here. And I am so excited for today's conversation on the Bottle Podcast with Heidi Harris. Heidi and I were just talking about some of the multiple endeavors that she works on. There's a funny story layered in here about how we know each other and how this podcast came to be. But Heidi, I'd love to hear your background. We're here to talk about food photography, but I think you do a lot of things. You just called yourself right before we started this somewhat of a crazy entrepreneur. I would love to hear about your background, how you got into food photography, and then I'm really excited to talk about some of the work you've done in the meal prep and meal kit space and how you see photography drive success for brands online. Heidi Harris: Yeah, thanks for having me be a part of this podcast. It's really fun. I've been a photographer for a very long time. I even started with film way back when, and it's always been something that's been a creative outlet for me. My first industry was weddings, which is a common place for a lot of photographers. It can be a good boot camp for a lot of different skills. We were working with limited time at very large, luxury events. Part of capturing those events is the location and settings, but also the tent interiors, down to the table settings and place settings. That naturally translated into hospitality work—shooting restaurants, hotels, and resorts where the food and beverage component was a really big part of what we were capturing, along with the human experience and the experiential piece. I love shooting food and working with chefs. I went to art school and studied drawing. Chefs have a reputation of being a little eccentric as well, and I really vibe off that energy. I like that what they do is meant to be consumed and destroyed, and so the photograph really preserves that for them. It's been a really fun space to work with. Andy Blechman: What drove you to be an artist? You said you went to art school, and we just talked about your son, the drum set in the background is his, and the guitar is yours. It seems like you really love to create and be creative. What is the origin story for you in terms of wanting to be an artist and finding your way into making that a commercial endeavor? Heidi Harris: I would say I had no choice. This is just how I've shown up—very creative, loved drawing, loved colors, spending a lot of time outside looking at the clouds. It was naturally inclined in that kind of creative mindset. For me, it was no question that I needed to go to art school. I chose drawing because I felt like it was a great foundation and fundamental skill set that things could be applied to. I still practice art. I've been involved with the art community in Atlanta for a really long time. Photography for me was something that was a really great hybrid. It satiates my creative need, but I can apply it to a variety of different niches and industries that is a little bit easier to monetize than being a fine artist full time.

Building a Multi-Business Empire

Andy Blechman: One thing you're not mentioning, and we haven't gotten into your different businesses yet—you also have other ventures. I actually emailed a former guest, Laura Fryer, who does a ton of PR in the restaurant and food and beverage world, and asked who's the best photographer in Atlanta. She immediately sent me Heidi's information. Heidi and I were emailing back and forth, and I realized this is the same Heidi that for the last six years has taken every picture of my family. Some of the work you do is that your pictures hang in our home and are like my favorite part of our house. It's a gallery wall of all these pictures you've taken. You took the pictures of my wife when she was pregnant with our first child and now you're taking pictures of all three of our kids. When I found out that there was this beautiful meeting of something so personal to me, but also something so interesting to me—which is the power of photography for selling online, especially selling food online—that was especially meaningful. Tell us about your businesses. We have a bunch of entrepreneurs on here and they would love to hear about the different businesses you're working on. Heidi Harris: Yes, I have a family photography piece, which is from that wedding world and blends naturally into newborns and families, which I love doing. As a creative, I've picked up things along the way that I've enjoyed and didn't want to get rid of in order to change and acquire something else. So I really wanted to add pieces instead. I have a newborn and family photography portion of my business. I also have a school, preschool, and daycare business called Silly Goose, which has been going for about seven years and now has 16 team members—so that's a whole other thing. I have another business called HeartBook, which takes kids' artwork and makes beautiful heirloom quality coffee table books. And I'm launching another business next year, which will be my first foray into tangible items—some hard goods for photographers. So I'm branching out and going.

Food Photography Experience and Restaurant Partnerships

Andy Blechman: Talk to us about the food work. Who have you shot for? What are some of those experiences been like? Heidi Harris: I feel like the easier way to structure it based on my experience has really been shooting for many, if not all, of the PR agencies in Atlanta and the umbrella restaurant brands. Instead of shooting individual restaurants, I'll shoot for the entirety of the Fifth Group or the Castellucci Hospitality Group. So lots of different groups who tend to have big networks underneath them. This segues nicely into how to adapt a skillset like photography but make it feel different per brand. For example, the Fifth Group has two Mexican concepts—one is fine dining, one is fast casual. The same photographer comes in to make them feel cohesive but distinct. There's nuance with playing with how to make it feel on brand for the Fifth Group but also distinctive within those brands. I've shot for Richard Blaze, who was one of the first people I worked a lot with when he was still in Atlanta. Now he's more of a celebrity style chef in LA and appears on the Food Network a lot. I've also photographed Tom Colicchio and shot for almost every restaurant in Atlanta. Another offshoot of this came from Steven Satterfield at Miller Union. There's a restaurant clothing brand called Tillet, and I shoot all of their photos—their look books and new products. We work with all the new upcoming chefs that are in New York City. They're based on the Lower East Side, so I'm up there about every two months and have been for about 10 years. That's been a really fun way to keep a pulse on what is happening currently in the food scene and to see what parts of that end up affecting the South or not. Sometimes we shoot chefs in action cooking, but a lot of times it's just meeting chefs and talking about their work.

The Garnish and Gather Partnership: Content Production at Scale

Andy Blechman: Let's talk about one of my favorite meal kit companies—Garnish and Gather. You've been working with them for almost a decade. Maybe you can share a little bit about that experience? What have you witnessed? They're located in Atlanta, and they have some really beautiful photography. What have you experienced because you have a first-hand account of meal kit and meal delivery trends and you've seen what they've done as they've grown? Heidi Harris: Yeah, it has been an evolving thing for many years since Garnish and Gather got off the ground. A big thing that maybe seems obvious, but with their specific approach—we're shooting a little over a month's worth of content on one day. Andy Blechman: So they change their menu every week, right? Heidi Harris: That's right. Andy Blechman: So they prep and plan their menu for a month and then you go in and shoot all in one day. I think that's a really good takeaway as a starting point. Heidi Harris: Yeah, we do. We try to maximize the time and effort that it takes. Photo shoots require all that pre-planning and time and effort. So how do we do that as a small business and make it manageable without it completely depleting your resources? For us, that really wound up being one longer format shoot where we have planned everything in advance. In the beginning, that was like we have three pieces of chicken and we are rinsing it off and it is not cut. Now it's rolled into more of an authentic cooking experience. Maybe there's some tasting elements happening with their team while we're shooting. Some adjustments and fine tuning can be made on their end. We prep and cook, and then I will have some styling elements pertaining to their brand. They like soft neutrals that really help the food stand out. Then I will plate and style each scene. That could be different if it's family style or something more fun and playful, but with food and meal kits primarily, we're trying to make it really driven—just like a POV style as if you are at a restaurant. Though these are made at home, we are just trying to make it enticing, very appetizing. And sometimes that means showing less, sometimes it means adding other elements in. But we're really making sure the image we're capturing is the best representation of that dish. Andy Blechman: What do you mean by showing less and food styling elements? For people who might not be as familiar with what food photography and food styling is? Heidi Harris: Yeah. Two examples. One would be if you have something that's more of a casserole type. The realistic lifestyle shot would be what we know of a casserole dish, but sometimes aesthetically that may not be the most beautiful. So maybe we have a little hint of the dish in the background, but we have it plated with some nice garnish, a napkin, and a fork—something that makes it look more like you're about to dive in versus the literal thing that you're getting. We are asking the clients to fill in the blanks with reading the description and knowing that it comes a certain way, but we don't need to show it that way. The other way would be tacos. We all know tacos as a handheld thing, but aesthetically it doesn't always look beautiful that way. So we usually show them flat, really messy, super textural. It still says taco. It's just a much more enticing and dynamic image.

Technical Approach to Food Photography and Plating

Andy Blechman: How do you think about some of the more technical things? What's a day in the life like on one of these shoots? The chef prepares the food and then what? You said you plate it. So you actually put the food on the plate. Are there things that you're thinking about while you're plating? Heidi Harris: Yeah. I think my plating approach is directly derived from the new restaurants that I see. I do take time to follow current food magazines, cookbook authors, and online content. So I have a visual idea of some newer, fun approaches that we bring to the dish. There are sometimes two chefs prepping things. So whether that's if we have a chicken breast, the protein is there. If it's like a rice and a veg, all those components are separate—very mise en place style, just very organized and there. Then I will take the things and if there's a beautiful sauce, we'll swipe it on the plates. Sometimes it'll be drizzled on top. Sometimes a piece of pork chop is whole. Sometimes it will be cut. It all depends on how that final presentation is coming together. But we're really trying to make it look like current restaurant quality, delicious food that anybody could achieve themselves at home. Andy Blechman: Would your suggestion be to go in that direction? I know Garnish and Gather meals come prepared by the person at home. It's a meal kit. But you're presenting it as the final presentation. I think what we've seen on our side and the data supports this is that beautiful photography with a plated meal typically leads to better conversion. We do see a lot of meal prep folks present meals in the container, and they do a nice job with that. So what's the trade-off between showing it as it comes versus showing it more like restaurant style? Heidi Harris: Yeah, and we've learned the same thing at Garnish and Gather. They will sell some direct to consumer and other kinds of bundles, whether that's soup containers from Super Jenny or angel cakes—lots of other kinds of grocery items that are pre-prepared and packaged. We always take them out of the package and plate them. We sometimes need to show them both ways just to make sure that it's being clearly represented accurately. And there are creative and fun ways to do that too. Maybe it's somebody holding a stack of things or taking it out of a bag or from the fridge. But I think if you're selling the meal, show the meal. That's really what helps make people want to buy it.

Styling, Scale, and Setting the Scene

Andy Blechman: In terms of plating, either the chef does it, maybe the chef and photographer together, or if the owner is doing a DIY approach, they plate it and really try to make it pop. I love this idea of trying to stay super current, following food photography, seeing what things look really well, what things are trending. How do you think about setting up the entire scene so it creates this picture in the customer's head that oh, this is going to be a beautiful dinner that I have in my house? Heidi Harris: Yeah, there are a couple of things that I feel like are must-haves when photographing food, whether that's actually at a restaurant or for Garnish and Gather. And that's scale. To show any item with scale lets the consumer know through a screen what they can expect. Plate size alone doesn't always translate to what portion size you're getting, but things like cutlery, knives, forks, glasses—that does. We know about how big a fork is. So to have a fork next to your protein or next to the whole entire dish, we immediately understand, okay, I'm getting about this much. That's very beneficial. Otherwise we are losing some things in translation. So having a little bit of propping elements—and I would say for each brand, if there are specific colorways that are really derivative, go with that. So choose that color of napkin or a subtle suggestion in a glass in the background. But generally speaking, and you see this in the restaurant world, food tends to be plated on white or neutrals because it helps the food really shine and stand out. You can have fun with it. If it's in a cast iron skillet, then it's darker. If it's on a marble cutting board or wood cutting board, you can have different elements coming in, making it feel more formal or more casual. But I think always having something to show scale really just tells us what to expect. Andy Blechman: Scale and also texture. It sounds like cutting boards versus plates create some depth and volume to the image. Heidi Harris: Yes.

DIY Photography Tips for Food Businesses

Andy Blechman: What are you seeing in terms of the DIY world? How do you think people should think about taking pictures themselves? We have a charcuterie business on this one. What would you recommend for a smaller startup that maybe doesn't have time to invest in photography? What are some of the things they should be doing? How can you do this yourself? Heidi Harris: Yeah, the first thing that I would do is approach it with something that feels brand specific. In photography, what we call the correct photography term is called a tone or an action. For a quick example, that would be like making a photo that was color black and white. We all see those kinds of different effects and filters that we have on an iPhone. There is a program called Afterlight that allows you to edit photos a little bit better than what the phone comes with. Although these days, I think phones take really beautiful photos. I would just apply a filter of your choice and make it look like you. I say that only because if somebody is scrolling on the phone, we want it to be distinctly recognizable between your brand and your charcuterie and a picture of charcuterie. That could be a styling element in the background in addition to the tone. You'll see sometimes people shoot something it's called direct light—basically really bright sunlight that looks very beautiful for things like honey and oils and light colored liquids. But it's a very distinctive look. So I think having consistency in your lighting, consistency in that tone, and consistency with some styling that makes it you and your brand are going to be things that drive it and make it always feel like what you're offering. Andy Blechman: What are some of the places you're learning from? Is there a place where someone could go after this podcast to get better at photography and the DIY side? Heidi Harris: I think for ease and brand consistency, it really is trying to determine where you're taking those photos and making sure that place makes it easy for you. For me, we're shooting against window light and I do bring in supplemental light, especially for Garnish and Gather since this is their new aesthetic and new brand. But having good natural light is super important. I think especially for anybody who's more novice or beginner working with a phone and trying to maintain that consistency—just because you're shooting food, it doesn't mean that it needs to be in the kitchen. It can be on the floor, on a surface shoved next to a sliding glass door, on a table next to a window, wherever it needs to be to create your scene. And anybody's welcome to email me if they have any questions. I love to help people with this specifically and do frequently.

Hiring a Photographer: Selection and Pricing

Andy Blechman: So let's start with how do you pick a photographer? What are some things to think about when you're selecting a photographer? If you were going to pick someone and then we can talk through pricing. Heidi Harris: Yeah, I think and I would say I do specialize in working with small businesses, providing photos for people in a variety of industries. The key word that I would say is that I am relationship focused. If you're going into a new venture with a photographer and the idea is to create a streamlined, seamless experience where people are really dialed in and equally invested, it's going to create that relationship. To me, the relationship is the paramount thing that precedes business. With that in mind, I price myself accordingly for ongoing business with clients. So as a photographer, I might get some flack on this, but I do actually feel like I have a lower rate based on the understanding or desire for ongoing continual work. For that reason, because it's business, I have a flat rate per day, and that includes all of the edited photos and full usage rights. Everything goes to the business for the benefit of the business. It is not Heidi taking pictures for Garnish and Gather. It is Garnish and Gather. I feel like that's really important. Andy Blechman: That's a really important point. There are photographers who actually want to own the IP, so you as the business are just getting the right to license them. I think that is probably a huge takeaway for today—that it's really important that at the very least you have co-ownership, but I love this idea of it's a day rate and then the business owns the rights to those photos. What are some ranges people should be thinking as they're out there about pricing? Heidi Harris: Yeah, I would encourage people to set a price where they feel like their value is being met. We all have the ability to incorporate trade if needed. I'm a fan. I love incorporating trade whenever I can, and it does reinforce that I'm also a client of Garnish and Gather and not only do I photograph it, but I prepare it at home. And I think that does nothing but bolster our relationship and the images and the investment in the brand. So if bartering is something that you're okay with, add that in or have that as part of your conversation. I think if you're a new photographer and you're assessing this out, I am a fan of open communication. Have a day rate or a half day rate for whatever rate you feel is great. Maybe it's $500 or $1,000. See what the process is like all the way through from shooting the images to delivering the images. Have an honest conversation with the business owner about the value in that. I tell clients this myself. I've been shooting for 25 years, and if I have a new client, I say the exact same thing: for your investment in photography, this should come right back into your pocket. If it doesn't, I need to know. But it should pay for itself, and in that first iteration, it should pay for itself and then give everybody the confidence to move forward. Andy Blechman: If you were a meal prep or meal kit owner and you were assessing a photographer, what are some of the things you would ask or want to see? What should an owner of a business think about when hiring a photographer? Heidi Harris: Yeah, I do feel like those images need to be ownership of the company. From my point of view as a photographer, I am helping direct some creative, but the main usage rights and how the images are directly benefiting that business—that should be with the company. If I need something on my end, like I'm bidding on a job and really need to show them some of this work, I ask if that's okay. Yes, absolutely. You can use me as a referral. Great. That's where it comes into place more. If I'm trying to bid on a job, let's just link everybody together for a referral. I think it looks professional. I think everybody's in good standing relationship-wise. And again, defaulting back to the intention being longevity of a great working relationship. It makes it easier as time goes by—seamless. And as a freelancer, you get your dates booked. You don't need to constantly find new clients if you have a roster of ongoing, essentially retainers.

The Impact of Professional Photography on Business

Andy Blechman: In terms of what you've seen, I always think of the Airbnb story. Airbnb basically started with customers taking images themselves. The photos looked dingy. So then they invested in sending photographers to the actual rentals to take the pictures and immediately they saw massive conversion. Have you seen similar impacts with clients like Castellucci and Garnish and Gather? Do you have any sense of how photography drives business? Heidi Harris: Yeah, I think it should almost instantaneously pay for itself. With my day rates, I price myself per day, no matter what industry I'm shooting for. It's the experience and what I'm bringing to the table. But having delicious, appetizing, current, and modern takes on food is what's going to make the difference between somebody choosing to go to this restaurant on a Friday night or somewhere else. So it's part restaurant offering, part menu offerings, and part the experience. But highlighting that experience and showcasing it in a really enticing way is a direct comparison to being successful. Andy Blechman: Hannah is asking about your content days. Are you shooting all the items or just a few items? Do you basically shoot the entire month's worth of items? Garnish and Gather does about eight items a week. What do those days look like? How long are they? Heidi Harris: Yeah, they are long days. We're usually there about 10 o'clock in the morning until about four or five. We'll shoot anywhere from 30 to 45 meals. And it is a well-oiled machine at this point, but we are just cranking it out. And we're styling every single dish to make it look special. We will take breaks if there's a seasonal promotion. If it's going to be something for a Thanksgiving meal, a holiday, or if it's a new promo or limited time deal, we can spend a little bit of extra time adding elements, making sure we have space either above or to the side for copy or text. If we're not sure where the copy is going, we provide some options. We start with the meals prepped in little organized sections—here's all the elements that we need for dish one. I'm plating it, shooting it, cleaning it up, plating the next one, shooting it, cleaning it up, onward through the whole day. When I talk to new businesses, even for myself, we all have to start somewhere. But I do think with your investment in photography, and that's what it is—an investment in photography and in your brand. If you can invest in your own brand, chances are other people will. If you don't, chances are other people won't. So it does take a little bit of that belief. And also just paying attention to okay, we've got the images taken. They're being implemented two weeks, three weeks later. And I'm paying attention to our income and I need to see a difference.

AI, Editing Tools, and Food Photography Trends

Andy Blechman: I'm curious about AI. One thing we're interested in is what is the role of AI in food photography? How could we even use AI to help people with their photography? But I'm curious, what you've observed or seen, or if you're using it at all? Heidi Harris: Yeah, I have used it a little bit, mostly for things like backgrounds and other kinds of very specific ways that I want to enhance something and to make it look perfect for ads. Outside of that, it's good, but it's not great yet. There's a difference. I think if you have to lean in on it—let's say, oh, I can't secure any more of this one kind of protein or this one kind of pepper or mushroom and we have all these images and now I can't use them—if you need to go in and use AI to do something in a specific scenario, understood. But as a way to get around actually taking the best imagery you can of your items, probably not yet. If someone wanted to enhance an image or maybe not add a pepper but improve the overall look, where would you suggest people start? What tools are you using? Heidi Harris: I use Photoshop and Canva. I think Canva is a really great way to make things look good and it's very user friendly, too. You can take photos and make them look better for ads for social, or you can take a little element and make it a wallpaper or background and make it fun and interesting, or maybe a little animated. Canva does that in a really great way that feels pretty user friendly. Photoshop is what I'm familiar with mostly, but it's not user friendly.

Visual Breakdown of Garnish and Gather Photography

Andy Blechman: I'm going to share my screen and I wanted to have you talk through a few pictures and what we're looking at and what you were thinking. We have a Lebanese kale and chickpea, a cashew chicken stir fry, and a harissa salmon. I'd love to hear what went into each one and what you were thinking when you took them, the styling elements, and why you used beverages in some of them. Maybe spend a few minutes on each and some of the technical details. Heidi Harris: So this header image, horizontal, is very neutral. We have a neutral linen and neutral plate, and the food is mostly neutral. What we're doing is bringing in hard direct light to get that really pretty reflection from the wine glass and make it look like dinner hour, and just make the food look yummy. It's pretty close up so we can still see that it's at a place setting, but it's not too pulled back. Garnish and Gather crops to square on their website, so we keep that in mind. I think that's a great question when photographers are working with a new client or potentially with a client going through a rebrand—having extensive conversations with the web developers about how the images are going to be utilized. Are they vertical, horizontal, or square? Let's make sure we provide the options. Really doing your part as a photographer with the imagery to deliver what's needed for the specific usage. Adding in a fork element there, we're trying to bring in the concept of garnishing, which is in the brand name. Garnishing is super important to the brand. We try to bring in some styling elements with local produce or seasonal items. For the garlic mushrooms with that purple plate, the polenta on the base of a white plate with that cream sauce, I thought it might go a little too tonal. That purple plate was something we just got in and it was just begging to be used. The purple and yellow contrast is really beautiful and eye catching. It still makes sense in the context of the website without looking too much of an outlier, but it adds a little bit of color. We do have a prop kit. I think that's something else to keep in mind. We have vinyl backgrounds that we use, which are really helpful. You can get them wet or oily and just wipe them off. They're readily available at several different places. Then we have a little prep kit box which includes flatware, some bowls and plates, some glassware, and some napkins. For the warm bowl image, I'm still leaning into a tone on tone which also reads as a neutral. We have this warm wood background and this goldenrod napkin that are essentially acting as the same color. The bowl is plated in a white bowl with these warm fog tones, just making it seem like a warming dish when the weather starts getting colder. Andy Blechman: I actually have a beautiful fire going upstairs in my house for some of the season. This would be a great dish to experience with that.

Food Photography Inspiration and Trends

Andy Blechman: What are you seeing in food trends and food photography trends? Who do you follow? What are the places that you go for inspiration besides going to places like New York and San Francisco, which have very food forward scenes? Heidi Harris: Yeah, my favorite place to be inspired are cookbooks. Broma Bakery has a new one called Sweet Tooth that's really great, beautifully shot. Brooke Williamson just came out with her first book that's mostly plant based. Any current cookbooks, especially these happen to be from celebrity level chefs. Molly—I forget her last name—but new cookbooks by celebrity chefs tend to have hired food stylists with things plated in style. It's the best way to see fun, exciting ways to show things we already know. Think about how long cookbooks have been around. People still buy them. It's one of the most successful, highly sellable books on the market—it beats novels and fiction. Cookbooks are constantly coming out and they're a great place to get inspiration for new ways to show things we already know. Anything pasta related, desserts, anything flat like pizza—look in those cookbooks and you'll find fun examples of how to shoot that. Andy Blechman: That's cool. So take yourself on a little date and go to the bookstore and look at cookbooks. Heidi Harris: Yeah, there's another question here. There was a time when crumbs were all over the table and every food pick online. That was a trend. Is that still a thing? Are you still doing that? Andy Blechman: Yeah, I do a little messiness where I feel like the messiness is appropriate. So if it's a tortilla chip that's been cracked or a little bit of bread that's broken up, but I would limit it to what truly feels in the moment and accurate versus it being overly done. I agree that there can be a line. The messiness can be a line. But I think some, and again pertaining to your brand, if you're a brand that specializes in family meals where small children are eating, to have a little hand or like a little hint of some kind of toy element, like a crumb, would make sense. So not all the time, but I think occasionally when it's used, it can look really casual and comfortable and fun.

Final Thoughts on Professional Photography

Andy Blechman: Is there anything I missed or anything our audience should know that we didn't cover? Heidi Harris: No, I would just encourage everybody to work with a professional photographer or a dedicated photographer. Maybe that's somebody on an existing team. Try to identify the brand's imagery. We talk a lot about branding, whether that's in your font packages and your colorways and the story of the brand and what you're trying to go for and your ideal client. But thinking about that and thinking about how to reach your ideal client with the photo—so think about that demographic, think about where that demographic looks at stuff, and copy it. Andy Blechman: That's a great way to end. So we launched a community exclusive to meal prep owners on Facebook that will be going live next week. We're going to do at least a couple of times a month, hopefully every week, a live Facebook session where we do Q&A with either meal prep owners or people like Heidi. In addition to our podcast, hopefully you can join. Heidi, thank you so much. I really appreciate it. I'll see you in a month to take some family photos. Heidi Harris: Okay, all right. Andy Blechman: Bye.