Restaurant Photography in Amsterdam: A Practical Guide for Owners

Use Amsterdam's daylight instead of fighting it

At the June solstice the noon sun sits about 61 degrees above the horizon, so light coming through a south-facing window is steep and bright in the middle of the day. At the December solstice the noon sun is only about 14 degrees high, which means low, raking light through the same window for much of the day. The practical fix is to move your shooting table and use a sheer curtain or diffusion panel to soften the direct beam, then shoot slightly off-axis so the light skims the plate rather than blasting it.

A north-facing window gives you the most consistent soft light across the year and is the easiest starting point. If you only have a south or west window, shoot in the two hours after opening or before service when the sun angle is lower, and keep a white foam board opposite the window to bounce light back into the shadow side of the dish.

• June and July: shoot early morning or late afternoon to avoid the steep midday beam; diffusion is essential.
• December and January: the low sun means long soft light, but days are short, so block two hours before service and plan fewer dishes per session.
• March, April, September and October: daylight is moderate and the sun angle is between the extremes, which makes these the easiest months for a full menu refresh.
• Use a tripod and a fixed white balance; mixed window and tungsten light is the most common reason phone photos look yellow or blue.

Shoot for the crop, not just the plate

Delivery apps and social feeds crop differently, so compose with room to spare. A 1:1 square crop works for profile tiles and many menu thumbnails, while 16:9 suits hero banners on your website. Keep the main dish centered with a little breathing room at the edges so a square or wide crop does not cut off the rim of the bowl.

Shoot from a 45-degree angle for dishes with height, such as a stacked burger or a bowl with toppings, and from directly overhead (90 degrees) for flat plates, pizzas and shared platters. A close, slightly high angle at about 60 degrees is a reliable default for delivery app listings because it shows both the surface and the portion size.

• Leave at least 10 percent empty space around the plate for cropping.
• Keep backgrounds simple: a plain wood board, a neutral linen or a clean counter reads better than a cluttered pass.
• Shoot one wide frame and one tight frame of each dish so you have options for thumbnails and hero images.
• Avoid heavy filters; the color of the food should match what arrives at the table.

Delivery apps in the Netherlands: what to prepare

Restaurants in the Netherlands commonly list on Uber Eats and Thuisbezorgd.nl. Uber Eats has a photo spec page on this site at /delivery-photo-specs/uber-eats/netherlands/, which covers the image sizes and formats that platform asks for. For Thuisbezorgd.nl, check the upload screen in your partner dashboard for the current requirements, because platforms change their specs without much notice.

Under EU Regulation 1169/2011, allergen information for the 14 regulated allergens must be available for food sold without packaging, and for distance selling, including delivery apps, the mandatory information must be available before the purchase is concluded. Photos never replace that information, and a photo should not suggest ingredients the dish does not contain. Keep your allergen notes in the listing text and make sure the photo matches the actual recipe.

• Prepare a square and a landscape version of each dish before you start uploading.
• Name files clearly (dish name plus date) so you can find the latest version when a menu changes.
• Re-shoot any dish whose recipe or portion size has changed; an outdated photo is worse than no photo.
• Check the upload screen for minimum dimensions and file size limits on each platform.

Google Business Profile, your own menu and social

Google Business Profile photos are often seen first on a phone, so lead with a bright, tightly cropped shot of your signature dish and follow with a wider interior or team photo. Keep the dish photos current: if a seasonal item leaves the menu, remove or replace the photo so diners are not disappointed.

For your printed menu and QR menu, use a consistent background and lighting across dishes so the page looks like one set rather than a patchwork. Dutch is the language menus are commonly written in nationally, so keep dish names in Dutch with a short English line underneath if you serve many visitors. On Instagram, mix a square feed crop with a 4:5 portrait crop for Stories and Reels, and avoid text overlays that cover the food.

• Shoot a plain background for menu pages and a slightly textured one for social.
• Keep the same angle and distance across a menu section so the layout feels calm.
• For QR menus, export images at a size that loads quickly on mobile data.
• Refresh Google Business Profile photos when the menu changes seasonally.

A simple seasonal shooting plan

Block one session per season rather than trying to shoot everything at once. In spring and autumn, when daylight is moderate, shoot the full menu in a single day. In summer, split shooting into morning and late afternoon slots to avoid the steep midday sun. In winter, plan shorter sessions around the limited daylight and prioritize the dishes that appear on delivery apps and Google Business Profile.

Keep a shot list by dish and by channel: delivery app square, website hero, Instagram portrait and menu thumbnail. After each session, review the images on a phone screen as well as a laptop, because most diners will see them small.

• Spring and autumn: full menu refresh, one or two days.
• Summer: morning and late afternoon sessions, prioritize new dishes.
• Winter: short sessions, focus on delivery and Google Business Profile.
• After every session, update the dish photos on each channel that uses them.

When a phone photo needs a little help

If your window light is good but the background is cluttered or the crop is wrong for a platform, FoodPhoto can take a real photo of your own dish and improve the light, background and crop for menus, delivery apps and social, keeping the food as it is. Every photo comes as a kit of sizes, including a hero image, delivery-app sizes, Instagram formats and Google Business Profile. It does not generate a different dish and cannot guarantee approval by any platform, so always check the upload screen before you publish.