Wellington Restaurant Photography: A Practical Guide

What each channel actually needs from your photos

A delivery app thumbnail is small and viewed on a phone in a hurry. A hero image on your own website is large and viewed on a laptop. Google Business Profile shows photos in a grid next to a map pin. Instagram crops to a portrait rectangle in the feed. Printed menus are seen under tungsten light at arm's length. One shoot can serve all of these if you frame generously and keep the food centered.

Shoot every dish in landscape at roughly 3:2 or 4:3, with space around the plate. That way a 1:1 crop for a delivery tile and a 16:9 crop for a website banner both work without cutting the food. Keep the plate edge inside the frame with a margin of about 10 percent on each side.

Before uploading to Uber Eats, DoorDash or Yelp, check the current image requirements on the upload screen. This site publishes spec pages for Uber Eats New Zealand, DoorDash New Zealand and Yelp New Zealand, and those pages are the place to start. Where a platform does not publish pixel specs, the upload screen is the authority.

• Landscape master file, food centered, about 10 percent margin around the plate
• One clean overhead shot per dish for menu grids
• One 45-degree shot per dish for delivery tiles and social
• Check each platform's upload screen for current size and format rules

A seasonal window-light schedule for Wellington

Wellington sits at about 41 degrees south, and the noon sun climbs to roughly 72 degrees above the horizon around the December solstice, when the day runs about 14 hours 59 minutes. Around the June solstice the noon sun is only about 25 degrees high and daylight drops to about 9 hours 1 minute. That means summer light is strong and comes from overhead; winter light is weak, low and comes from the side for most of the day.

In summer (roughly November to February), avoid shooting between about 11 am and 3 pm at a north-facing window, because the high sun throws short, harsh shadows under plates and blows out white napkins. Shoot in the morning from about 8 to 10 am, or in the late afternoon from about 4 to 6 pm, when the light is softer and lower. If you must shoot at midday, move two to three meters back from the window and let the light fall across the table rather than straight down.

In winter (roughly May to August), the low sun means window light reaches deep into the room and stays usable for longer. A north-facing window gives good side light from about 10 am to 2 pm. Because the light is weaker, place the plate within about one meter of the glass, use a white card or a sheet of baking paper on the shadow side to bounce light back, and raise your phone's exposure slightly by tapping the plate and nudging the brightness slider up. Avoid shooting after about 3:30 pm, when the light fades fast.

At the equinoxes (March and September), daylight is roughly 12 hours and the sun sits at a moderate angle. Treat these weeks as your most forgiving shooting window: a north-facing window works from mid-morning to mid-afternoon with only small adjustments.

• December: shoot 8 to 10 am or 4 to 6 pm, avoid 11 am to 3 pm at a north window
• June: shoot 10 am to 2 pm, plate within one meter of the glass, bounce light on the shadow side
• March and September: mid-morning to mid-afternoon is usable with minor tweaks
• Turn off overhead room lights when using window light to avoid mixed color

Shooting the dish so it looks like the dish

Delivery customers compare the photo to what arrives. A dish photographed with extra garnish, a different sauce or a larger portion than the kitchen sends will produce complaints. Shoot the exact build the kitchen plates during service, on the exact plate or container it goes out in.

Use a plain background that contrasts with the food. A dark wooden board works for pale dishes like fish or dumplings; a white or light grey surface works for dark dishes like braises or chocolate desserts. Keep the background clear of cutlery, napkins, bottles and hands.

Set the white balance manually if your phone allows it, or tap a white napkin or plate rim to lock it. Mixed daylight and tungsten produces yellow or blue casts that make food look stale on a phone screen. For steam or condensation on cold drinks, shoot within 30 seconds of plating.

• Plate exactly what the kitchen sends, including the container
• Match background tone to the dish: dark surface for pale food, light surface for dark food
• Lock white balance on a white reference before each dish
• Shoot hot food within a minute, cold drinks within 30 seconds

Google Business Profile and your own menu

Google Business Profile photos are seen by people deciding where to eat tonight, often on a map. Upload a cover photo that shows a signature dish, not the front door. Add dish photos at 4:3 or 1:1, well lit, with the food filling most of the frame. Update them when the menu changes, because old photos of discontinued dishes confuse customers.

For a printed menu or a QR menu, shoot at a higher resolution and keep the crop consistent across dishes so the page looks like one set. A QR menu viewed on a phone benefits from the same 1:1 crops you use for delivery, so one master file covers both.

Wellington menus are commonly written in English and Māori. If your menu uses both, photograph dishes so the image works next to either language block, and avoid text baked into the photo.

Social, delivery apps and where FoodPhoto fits

For Instagram, shoot a second frame in portrait orientation with the plate in the upper two-thirds, leaving room for text overlay. Keep the same lighting and background as your delivery photos so the brand reads consistently across channels.

For delivery apps, upload your own real photos and follow each platform's current rules on the upload screen. This site's spec pages cover Uber Eats New Zealand, DoorDash New Zealand and Yelp New Zealand.

FoodPhoto takes a real photo of the restaurant's own dish and improves light, background and crop for menus, delivery apps and social, keeping the food as it is. Every photo comes as a kit of sizes (hero image, delivery-app sizes, Instagram formats, Google Business Profile). It does not generate a different dish and cannot guarantee approval by any platform, so use it for your own channels such as your website menu, Instagram, Google Business Profile, QR menu and print.