Three sushi pieces with yuzu and microgreens on a decorative Japanese plate

Food + Beverage

Food Photography

Commercial food photography for brands, restaurants, and CPG

Commercial food photography

New York, London, worldwide

Food photography is the commercial craft of photographing food and drink so it looks appetizing and stays true to the brand selling it. This is the commercial food photography portfolio of Brent Herrig, a food photographer working from studios in New York and London. The work below runs across advertising campaigns, packaging, restaurant menus, cookbooks, and social. What separates commercial food photography from food photography made for its own sake is what happens after the shutter: the images answer a brief, they are licensed for where they will run, and the lighting and styling are built to repeat across menus, packaging, and campaigns, so one shoot supplies assets a brand keeps using.

Food photography clients include Pepsi, Shake Shack, Benihana, Maille, McCormick, Sabra, Katz's Delicatessen, Restaurant Associates, Tao Group Hospitality, and Union Square Hospitality Group, plus plated and portrait work with Daniel Boulud, Eric Ripert, Marcus Samuelsson, Missy Robbins, Rita Sodi, and Daniel Humm.

Advertising and packaging

Restaurant and hospitality

Cookbook and editorial

CPG and product

Stills and motion from one shoot day

Studios in New York and London. Available worldwide.

Plated chocolate dessert with figs, cranberries, cream quenelles, and cocoa dust

On set

Texture, light, and appetite appeal

Commercial food photography lives in the details, the steam, the glisten, the crumble, because those are what read as appetite in a still frame. Lighting is built per dish rather than per room, so a menu, a pack shot, and a campaign hero all come off the same shoot looking like one brand.

Controlled on set: brand-true color, edge detail, and lighting that repeats across shoot days.

Chef Rita Sodi plating a dish on the pass in a working restaurant kitchen

On location

From the kitchen to the plate

The story of a dish starts before service. We shoot the process, the ingredients, and the people cooking, which gives a brand a full set of supporting frames rather than a row of plated heroes. Active kitchens are normal working conditions here, not an obstacle.

Shot in working kitchens without stopping service.

Selected work

Food photography portfolio

Commercial food photography from campaigns, cookbooks, menus, and packaging. Open any frame for the dish and, where the work is public, the client.

Bacon cheeseburger cross section with pickles, tomato, and lettuce, shot for Pepsi at MetLife Stadium

Stadium hot dog with sauerkraut and a mustard zigzag, shot for Pepsi at MetLife Stadium

Grilled sausage with peppers and onions in a roll, shot for Pepsi at MetLife Stadium

Walking taco with corn chips, cheese sauce, crema, and scallions, shot for Pepsi at MetLife Stadium

Maille Old Style mustard jar with bacon wrapped cornichons and cured meats on slate

Maille mustard jar on a board with salami, popcorn, chutney, and bacon wrapped cornichons

Sabra hummus tub beside an artichoke and ricotta flatbread with a Pepsi can

Three plates of sweet potato patties with shredded meat, poached egg, and salsa verde

Two panel recipe layout, turkey and bison burgers beside a board of grilled scallions and tomatoes

Overhead restaurant table with bread, olives, roasted chickpeas, and red wine

Overhead table spread at Schilling with shared plates, sides, and drinks

Burger and a bucket of fries with a beer under red bar lighting at Schilling

Overhead cafe table at Schilling with a plated fish, a green salad, wine, and beer

Overhead communal table at Musette in Brooklyn with small plates, pastries, and flowers

Overhead communal table with hands reaching for shared bowls, dips, and wine

Overhead grain bowls with tomatoes, seeds, and honey on a wood table

Overhead white table with a seafood salad, white beans, fried fish, and olives

Trusted by Pepsi, Shake Shack, Benihana, and Union Square Hospitality Group

Food work for Shake Shack, Pepsi, Benihana, Katz's Delicatessen, Restaurant Associates, Tao Group Hospitality, Maille, McCormick, Sabra, Whole30, Doritos, and Tostitos, plus plated work with Daniel Boulud, Eric Ripert, Marcus Samuelsson, Missy Robbins, and Daniel Humm.

150 recipes photographed in 7 production days for The Whole30 Cookbook. 15 stills, 12 motion loops, 5 cinemagraphs, and 4 parallaxes in one day for Shake Shack At Home.

Campaign-ready hero imagery and cutdowns

Multi-platform asset sets for paid and organic

Consistent lighting systems across shoots

Retouching standards for ad-level polish

Hybrid extensions when reshoots are not possible

How Projects Work

A clear process from brief to delivery

Pre-Production

Brief, placements, shot list, styling direction, crew, and logistics. We align on deliverables before shoot day.

Production

Studio or on-location. Still and motion captured together when it improves efficiency and output.

Post + Delivery

Retouching, color, compositing, and exports organized by channel and usage.

Food photography services and specialties

Six ways the food photography work gets used. Every one of them can come off a single production.

Restaurant and hospitality

Menu, room, and table shot together so the dining experience reads before a guest books. Shot on location, in service or around it.

Editorial, cookbook, and publisher work

Advertising and commercial

Product and CPG

Stop motion, cinemagraphs, and loops

Chef and personality

Select Clients

A selection of brands, publications, and partners the studio has worked with in this category.

Chefs

Daniel Boulud
Eric Ripert
Marcus Samuelsson
Missy Robbins
Scott Conant
Rita Sodi
Gavin Kaysen
Amanda Cohen
Daniel Humm
Daniel Rose

Restaurants

Acquolina
Akashi
Antojitos
Haru
Musette
The Hill
RA Sushi
Marcus Samuelsson Group
Pier i Cafe
Benihana
Fulton Fish Market Cooperative
Schilling
Katz's Delicatessen
Restaurant Associates
Tao Group Hospitality

CPG Brands

Maille (Unilever)
Sabra
McCormick
Whole30
Tostitos
Fritos
Cheetos
Doritos

Published Books

The Whole30 Cookbook

Melissa Hartwig Urban

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2016

Made in Mexico: The Cookbook

Danny Mena with Nils Bernstein

Rizzoli, 2019

BBQ&A with Myron Mixon

Myron Mixon with Kelly Alexander

Abrams, 2019

The Scarpetta Cookbook

Scott Conant

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2013

Explore related work

Discover the studio's other core specializations and how they integrate across its production systems.

Cocktails + Beverage

Liquid Artistry

Liquid motion and high-end spirits photography for global brands.

•Signature serves
•Atmospheric lighting
•Motion loops

Learn More

Hospitality + Lifestyle

Spaces & Ambience

Capturing the character and architecture of luxury hotels and restaurant interiors.

•Interior sets
•Lifestyle capture
•Brand narrative

Learn More

Advertising

Commercial Production

Strategic visual assets for global brand campaigns and OOH marketing.

•Product heroes
•Composite images
•OOH assets

Learn More

Food Photographer London

UK + Europe

Hire a food and drink photographer from the South Hampstead studio base in London.

•Menu + plated work
•Chef portraits
•UK and EU travel

Learn More

What is food photography

Definition + Guide

The plain definition, what a food photographer does, and how a shoot is run.

•Definition
•What a shoot includes
•Common questions

Learn More

FAQ about Food Photography

What does a commercial food photography shoot include?

A shoot day covers pre-production and shot list, lighting and styling on set, capture of hero frames plus supporting angles and negative space options, and retouched final files. Motion loops and cinemagraphs can be produced on the same day rather than booked separately.

Do you shoot food photography in New York and London?

Yes. There are studio bases in New York and in South Hampstead, London, and the work travels from both. UK, EU, and US productions are routine, and so are multi-market shoots that need one consistent look across cities.

Do you have a food stylist?

We work with a network of top-tier food stylists and prop stylists. We can build the right team for your specific project needs.

Can you shoot in our restaurant kitchen?

Yes, we are experts at shooting in active kitchens. We work efficiently to capture the action without disrupting service.

Do you shoot recipes for cookbooks?

Yes. We have extensive experience shooting full cookbooks, managing shot lists, and holding consistency across 50+ recipes. The Whole30 Cookbook ran 150 recipes across 7 production days.

What about lighting?

We bring professional lighting to every shoot, so results stay consistent regardless of the venue's natural light.

Do you handle retouching?

All final images include professional retouching so the food looks its best while staying natural and appetizing. We hold ad-level polish across all deliverables.

How does usage and licensing work for food photography?

Licensing is scoped to the project: specific campaign usage through to broad commercial rights for multi-channel brand use. Usage is agreed in writing before the shoot.

What does a typical shoot day look like for a restaurant or brand?

We start with hero setups and lighting, then move into a production flow capturing plated dishes, process shots, and environmental ambiance. Efficiency comes from the order of work, not from rushing frames.

What is commercial food photography?

Commercial food photography is food photography made for a client and licensed for a defined commercial use, rather than made for its own sake. It runs against a brief, it is styled and lit so the set can be repeated across menus, packaging and campaigns, and the deliverables are built to be used in paid placements, not only admired.

What does a food and drink photography shoot cover?

A food and drink photography shoot covers plated dishes and drinks in one lighting system, so a menu, a bar photo, and a campaign hero all read as one brand. Motion moments like a pour, steam, or a cocktail being built are planned into the shot list alongside the stills, and hero, supporting, and negative space frames get built for both categories in the same production day.

Do you offer food and product photography for a packaged goods brand?

Yes. Food and product photography usually run as one shoot for a packaged goods brand, since the pack needs a clean, shelf-accurate shot while the food inside it needs to be styled and plated the way it's actually eaten. The two are lit as one system, so the label geometry, the plated recipe shot, and the product page all read as the same brand.

How is food and product photography different for a packaged goods brand?

Food photography is built around appetite appeal: texture, steam, and how a dish is actually eaten. Product photography for the same packaged goods brand is built around pack detail, label geometry, and shelf-accurate color, so food and product photography end up working side by side rather than as one interchangeable job.

Send a message

Response time: < 24 hours

Available for projects

Let's work together

Have a project in mind? Email me directly, I reply within 24 hours.
Click above to start or send a message.

info@brentherrig.com