Toronto Restaurant Photography: Window Light, Delivery Apps and Menus

A seasonal window-light shooting schedule for Toronto

High summer sun is almost overhead, so it drops steeply through a south-facing window and throws short, hard shadows across a plate. In late December the same window gets low, raking light that travels far into the room and stays soft. Plan shoots around the sun's height, not the clock alone.

In June and July, shoot between about 9 and 11 a.m. or after 4 p.m., when the sun is lower and light comes in at an angle. A north-facing window is the safer bet all summer because it never receives direct sun. In December and January, direct sun through a south window is usable for most of the day; move the table about 1 meter back from the glass to soften it.

Use a white foam board or a sheet of parchment on the shadow side, roughly 40 to 60 cm from the plate, to bounce light back. Set your phone or camera to expose for the brightest part of the food, then lift shadows slightly in editing. Keep the plate within about 60 cm of the window for the brightest, cleanest result.

• June: north window or 9 to 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. onward on the south side
• December: south window works most of the day, move back 1 meter from the glass
• Overcast days in any season: the most even light Toronto offers, shoot then if you can
• Avoid mixing window light with overhead tungsten, it turns whites yellow

Framing dishes Toronto diners recognize

Shoot the plate the way it arrives. A 45-degree angle shows both the surface and the height of the food, which suits stacked or garnished plates. A straight overhead shot at 90 degrees works for bowls, pizzas and shareable platters where the pattern matters more than the height.

Toronto menus draw on many cuisines, so let the dish set the styling. A sandwich or a plate of patties reads better cut in half with the filling facing the camera. A bowl of noodles or curry needs a low 30-degree angle so the broth and toppings are visible. Keep props minimal: one utensil, one napkin, nothing that competes with the food.

For calorie labeling under the Healthy Menu Choices Act, 2015, which applies in Ontario to food service businesses with 20 or more locations, the photo has to match the standard menu item as served. Do not style a portion larger than the one you sell.

Sizing photos for delivery apps and your own channels

Each channel crops differently. Square 1:1 works for menu grids and many app thumbnails, 16:9 suits hero banners on your website and Google Business Profile, and vertical 4:5 or 9:16 fits Instagram feed and Stories. Shoot slightly wider than you need so every crop still contains the whole plate.

This site publishes photo spec pages for Uber Eats, DoorDash, BentoBox, Olo, Ritual, Square Online, Toast and Yelp in Canada. Check the relevant page before you export, and confirm the current requirement on the platform's own upload screen, because apps change their rules without notice. Skip and SkipTheDishes also operate in Canada; check their upload screen for current sizing.

Google Business Profile and printed menus

Google Business Profile photos are seen by people deciding where to eat, often on a phone. Upload a wide 16:9 cover shot of your best-known dish and a few square dish photos, and refresh them when the menu changes. Name files plainly so you can find them later.

For print, export at 300 dpi at the final printed size. A dish photo printed 10 cm wide needs about 1180 pixels across. Keep a clean version without text or logos so the same file works on a QR menu, a table tent and a delivery listing.

Keeping photos honest and compliant

Photograph your real dish, not a stand-in. If a platform bans AI-generated food images, shoot your own photo and upload that to the platform; do not send a generated image there. Keep the food as served: same garnish, same portion, same plate.

FoodPhoto takes a real photo of your own dish and improves light, background and crop for menus, delivery apps and social, keeping the food as it is, and every photo comes as a kit of sizes. Use it for your own channels such as your website menu, Instagram, Google Business Profile, QR menu and print. It cannot guarantee approval by any platform, so always check the upload screen before publishing.

A repeatable shoot for a busy kitchen

Block 90 minutes once a month. Pick five to eight dishes, set one table by the best window for the season, and shoot each dish at 45 degrees and overhead. Keep a note of the settings and the board position that worked so the next shoot starts from a known point.

Shoot in the morning before service when plates are clean and the kitchen is calm. Batch the editing, export the sizes you need for each channel, and store the originals. When a dish changes, reshoot only that dish and swap the files.