Restaurant Photography in Ho Chi Minh City: Delivery Apps, Google and Menus

Use the daylight you actually get

Around the June solstice the city gets about 12 h 38 min of daylight and the noon sun reaches about 77 degrees above the horizon. Around the December solstice it is about 11 h 22 min, with the noon sun at roughly 56 degrees. In practice, the June sun is so steep that it throws almost no light sideways through a window, while the December sun sits lower and reaches further into the room.

That gives you two different shooting windows. From roughly March to September, shoot in the early morning or late afternoon, when the sun is lower and light comes in at an angle. From November to January, the middle of the day works better because the lower sun pushes light deeper into the room. In both cases, put the dish near the window but out of direct sun, and turn off overhead fluorescent or warm bulbs that mix color with daylight.

• June: shoot before 9am or after 4pm for angled window light
• December: shoot between 10am and 2pm when the sun reaches indoors
• Never place the plate in direct sun; the highlights blow out and the sauce looks greasy
• Turn off ceiling lights so daylight is your only source and white balance stays clean

Frame dishes for delivery apps and Google

Delivery app thumbnails are small and often square, so the dish has to read at a glance. Shoot straight down or at a 45-degree angle for bowls of pho, com tam or banh mi, and fill about 80 percent of the frame with food. Leave a little space around the rim so the crop does not cut the bowl.

Google Business Profile shows photos in a mix of landscape and square crops, so shoot one horizontal frame of the full table and one close square of the signature dish. Phone cameras default to a wide lens that bends the edges of the plate; step back and use the 2x lens instead. Keep the background simple: a plain wooden table, a neutral cloth, or the counter, with nothing cluttered behind the dish.

• Shoot one straight-down frame and one 45-degree frame of every dish
• Use the 2x lens and step back to avoid plate distortion
• Keep the background plain; remove sauce bottles, receipts and phone chargers
• Shoot each dish twice: a full plate and a close crop on texture

Check each platform's rules before uploading

Delivery apps set their own image rules, and they change. Some platforms do not publish pixel specs at all, so the only reliable check is the upload screen itself, which usually states the accepted size and shape. Look at that screen each time you add photos rather than relying on a guide.

Where a platform bans AI-generated images, do not upload an altered or generated picture of the dish. Shoot and upload your own real photo of the actual plate. FoodPhoto is not affiliated with any delivery platform and cannot guarantee approval anywhere; use it for your own channels such as your website menu, Instagram, Google Business Profile, a QR menu or print.

Build a simple shooting routine

You do not need a studio. A window, a clean table and one person with a phone can produce a consistent menu if the routine is fixed. Pick one spot in the restaurant, shoot every dish there, and keep the same angle and distance so the menu looks like one set.

Shoot freshly plated food, not a dish that has been sitting under a lamp. Wipe the rim of the bowl, brush crumbs off the table, and check that the garnish is placed the way it is served. Ten dishes in one session beats one dish a day, because the light and the setup stay identical.

• Fix one shooting spot and one background for the whole menu
• Shoot within two minutes of plating
• Wipe rims and clean the table between dishes
• Shoot in the same session so color and light match across the menu

Where the photos go

Your website menu, QR menu and printed menu should use the same crops so customers recognize the dish when it arrives. Instagram favors vertical 4:5 or square frames, while Google Business Profile works best with horizontal shots of the room and the food together. Keep the original files: a photo shot for print can be cropped for a delivery thumbnail, but a compressed thumbnail cannot go back to print.

For your own channels, FoodPhoto takes a real photo of your dish and improves light, background and crop for menus, delivery apps and social, keeping the food as it is, and delivers every photo as a kit of sizes. Delivery app uploads still need your own real photo taken to that platform's rules.

Seasonal shooting calendar

Plan shoots around the sun rather than around your marketing calendar. In the wetter, high-sun months from May to August, book morning slots before service prep begins and keep the shoot short. In December and January, when the sun is lower, a late-morning slot gives you the most usable light and lets you shoot a larger batch in one go.

If your dining room faces east, morning light is your window; if it faces west, shoot in the afternoon. Rooms that face north or south get softer, more even light all day, which is easier for beginners but needs a white card or a sheet of foam board on the shadow side to lift the dark side of the plate.