Wellington Menu Photography for Print, QR Menus and Delivery Apps
A full menu shot in one session looks like a set; a menu shot piecemeal looks like a scrapbook. Wellington's short winter days and long summer evenings change when you can use window light, so the schedule matters as much as the camera. This guide covers batch shooting, consistent framing, file naming and keeping images in step with menu changes.
Plan the shoot around Wellington's daylight
Wellington sits at about 41 degrees south, and the swing in daylight is large. Around the December solstice you get roughly 14 hours 59 minutes of daylight with the noon sun about 72 degrees above the horizon. Around the June solstice that drops to about 9 hours 1 minute, with the noon sun only about 25 degrees high.
That changes where window light lands. A high summer sun throws a short, steep patch of light close to the glass. A low winter sun pushes light deep into the room but at a shallow angle, which casts long shadows across a plate.
A practical schedule: in summer, shoot between mid-morning and early afternoon but pull tables back from the window so the light is soft and indirect. In winter, shoot from late morning to early afternoon when the low sun clears neighboring buildings, and use a white wall or a sheet of baking paper as a diffuser to kill the hard edge. In both seasons, turn off overhead lights and mixed-color lamps so daylight is the only source.
- Summer: shoot 10am to 2pm, tables 1 to 2 m back from the glass
- Winter: shoot 11am to 2pm, diffuse the low sun with a white panel
- Book a backup day: Wellington wind and cloud can flatten light fast
- Test one dish at three distances before committing the whole menu
Build a batch setup you can repeat
Consistency comes from a fixed station, not from careful editing later. Set one table as the shooting bay: same background surface, same camera height, same distance to the plate. A 45-degree camera angle suits most plates and shows height in stacked or garnished dishes; a straight overhead shot at 90 degrees works for flat items like pizza, platters and shared boards.
Keep the distance constant, around 40 to 50 cm from the plate edge with a phone's main lens, so every tile has the same scale. Tap to focus on the front third of the dish, not the center, so the nearest edge is sharp. Lock exposure on a mid-tone item and leave it locked for the rest of the batch.
Shoot each dish twice: one clean version and one with a prop that belongs to the dish, such as the beer it is served with or the bread that comes alongside. That gives you a hero image and a tile from the same sitting.
- Same surface, same height, same distance for every item
- 45 degrees for plated dishes, 90 degrees for flat and shared items
- Lock focus and exposure after the first dish
- Wipe the plate rim and the surface between every shot
Shoot the menu in the order the kitchen can deliver it
A full menu is a production problem before it is a photography problem. Group dishes by station and shoot in that order, so the fryer, the grill and the cold larder each send out a run of plates while they are already working. Ask for each dish plated exactly as it leaves the pass, not a stylized version, because the photo has to match what a diner receives.
Hot food dies under lights. Give each plate a window of about two minutes: shoot the clean angle first, then the second angle, then move on. Cold dishes, desserts and drinks can wait; fried and grilled items cannot.
If the menu is long, split the shoot across two mornings by section rather than trying to force everything into one afternoon. Two consistent sessions beat one rushed one.
Name and store files so the menu can change
Name files by menu section and item, not by camera or date: starters_kingfish-crudo_45deg.jpg tells you what it is a year later. Add a version suffix when a dish changes, such as _v2, and keep the old file until the new one is live on every channel.
Keep a single folder per menu section plus a spreadsheet listing item name, file name, date shot, and which channels use it: printed menu, QR menu, website, delivery apps, social. When a dish leaves the menu, the spreadsheet tells you which channels still show it.
Refresh on a rhythm that matches your menu changes. Seasonal menu swaps need a reshoot of the changed section only, using the same station and settings so the new tiles match the old ones. Dishes that change garnish or portion size need a reshoot even if the name stays the same.
- section_item_angle.jpg, with _v2 for replacements
- One folder per section, one master spreadsheet
- Reshoot only the changed section, at the same station
- Retire old files only after every channel is updated
Match each channel before you upload
Printed menus and QR menus reward a consistent crop, usually square or a tall rectangle, with the dish centered and the background simple. Social channels want a mix of square and 16:9, and the hero image on a website can take a wider frame.
Delivery apps set their own requirements, and they change. This site has spec pages for Uber Eats New Zealand, DoorDash New Zealand and Yelp New Zealand. Where a platform does not publish pixel specs, check the upload screen in the merchant portal, which shows the current crop and minimum size.
Some platforms ban AI-generated food images outright. If you list on one of those, shoot and upload your own real photo of the dish and do not use any generated or altered image there. FoodPhoto takes a real photo of your own dish and improves light, background and crop, keeping the food as it is, and returns a kit of sizes; use it for your own channels such as your website menu, Instagram, Google Business Profile, QR menu and print.
Keep photos in sync with the menu
A photo set goes stale faster than a menu does, because delivery apps, QR menus and social posts are updated at different times by different people. Pick one person who owns the photo library and one weekly moment to check it.
Walk the current menu against the spreadsheet. Any item without a photo, any photo showing an ingredient you no longer use, and any dish whose price or name changed gets flagged. Then update channels in a fixed order: print, QR menu, website, delivery apps, social. That order means the slowest channel is corrected before the fastest one.
When you add a new dish mid-season, shoot it at the same station with the same settings, even if it is a single plate. One mismatched tile stands out in a grid more than a slightly imperfect one.
Checklist before you publish
- Choose one table as the shooting bay and clear it for the whole session
- Check the seasonal sun angle and book a backup morning
- Shoot one test dish at 45 and 90 degrees before the batch
- Group dishes by kitchen station and shoot in that order
- Lock focus and exposure after the first plate
- Name every file by section, item and angle
- Record each file in a spreadsheet with the channels it feeds
- Check the current upload screen on each app before exporting
Questions
How do I photograph a whole menu in one day?
Group dishes by kitchen station, set one fixed shooting table with constant camera height and distance, and give each plate a two-minute window. Shoot the clean angle first, then any second angle, and move on. Long menus are easier split across two mornings by section than forced into one afternoon.
What camera angle should I use for menu photos?
Use about 45 degrees for most plated dishes, since it shows height and layers, and 90 degrees overhead for flat items like pizza, platters and shared boards. Keep the same angle for every item in a section so the grid reads as one set.
When is the best time of day to shoot food with window light in Wellington?
In summer, mid-morning to early afternoon with tables pulled 1 to 2 m back from the glass for soft indirect light. In winter, late morning to early afternoon, with a white panel to diffuse the low sun. Turn off overhead and mixed-color lighting in both seasons.
How do I keep menu photos up to date when dishes change?
Keep one folder per menu section and a spreadsheet listing item, file name, date shot and channels used. Reshoot only the changed section at the same station, then update channels in a fixed order: print, QR menu, website, delivery apps, social.