General Questions
Q. What’s the cost?
Our on-location photography rates are straightforward at $800 per hour spent shooting. That pricing reflects the behind-the-scenes time we spend planning, shooting, editing and working closely with each client to produce the highest-quality work.
We always create custom proposals for content strategy, brand and marketing work (social media, email, websites, etc.). We also create custom proposals for full-day, half-day and studio photography sessions. Every project is different, and we want to make sure you’re getting exactly what you need!
Q. I feel stuck. I'm the chef and owner and I kind of run our social media, marketing and a bajillion other things. How do I keep up with this?
A. We know how overwhelming keeping up with social media and marketing can be, especially when you don't have enough hours in the day already. Our monthly services are meant to take some things off your plate, so that you can focus on everything else.
Even if you aren’t able to work with us for social media content strategy or publishing, our Strategy Sessions are intended to help you find sustainable ways to approach these efforts—you'll leave with a plan of action that actually fits into your life.
Q. Where are you located?
A. We have home bases in both Minneapolis and Seattle. Our team is also happy to travel to you if you live outside of those regions!
Q. What if I already work with a PR or marketing agency? Can I still use you?
A. Absolutely! We love collaborating with other creative humans to help small businesses.
Q. How does the payment process work?
A. Depending on the services you sign up for, we will either bill you directly or get you set up with a schedule of auto-payments. You'll know exactly when your payments are due so there are no surprises. We also understand that it is important to keep your cash flow in mind, so we have a payment plan broken down to installments if that’s best for you.
Q. Where will my photos and videos live?
A. We create a shared Dropbox folder so that you and anyone else on your team can access them easily from a computer or the app on a phone. We can walk you through it if you haven’t used Dropbox before.
Q. How do I prepare for my Creative Direction Session?
A. The only thing we really need you to bring is yourself (actually, just stay where you are because we'll come to your restaurant). We want to know what inspires you about your restaurant! We also want to know what you hope to accomplish with new imagery, whether that's starting from scratch or strengthening the visual identity you’ve built already. We want to poke around a little bit at your restaurant for stories, find the good light and learn more about the beautiful details to capture later on.
Q. Did I read that I have full Licensing Rights to all of my photos + videos?
A. You sure did! You can use them across all areas of your business—on social media, your website, marketing materials, ads, media, etc.
Q. Can I use my photos for press opportunities?
A. Absolutely. In fact, we encourage it! You will always have access to the high-res photos, which are perfect for magazines and other publications that might be interested in featuring your restaurant. The only thing we ask is that you include a photographer credit to us when you send the images to media outlets.
Subscription Questions
Q. What type of photo shoot is better for my restaurant?
A. Once we know more about your business, we can make a recommendation!
Generally, longer catalog shoots are great for restaurants or brands who are new, rebranding or simply don’t change very often. A bigger library will efficiently power their marketing needs for a long while. Some clients also start with a catalog shoot and then move to monthly or quarterly shoots to keep things fresh.
More frequent hourly shoots (monthly, quarterly, as needed) are great for restaurants and brands who have changing needs with the seasons (menus, patios, holiday promotions, etc.) and would rather build their library slowly over time.
Q. Do I need to commit to a monthly subscription?
A. Not for photography. Many of our clients who choose to start with one larger full-day or half-day catalog photo shoot do eventually become regular subscribers (and we hope you will too), but there's no obligation.
For certain ongoing strategy services like social media publishing, we require a 6-month commitment.
Q. How do I cancel my services?
A. If you need to cancel, just let us know and your contract will not be renewed. You will be obligated to continue payment through the length of your contract, and we will continue to provide services for you through that period.
Shoot Days
Q. How do you schedule the photo or video shoots?
A. For the Hourly Photography services, we try to schedule out all shoot days through the length of your contract to ensure availability. These shoots might happen both during slower hours and also during service, depending on your preference.
For full-day or half-day photo and video shoots, we schedule shoot days at your convenience. We like to plan them in the morning or early afternoon when the restaurant is closed (or during a slow time) for the majority of the shoot, sometimes adding additional time during service to capture more action.
Q. How can my restaurant prepare for our photo shoots and video shoots?
A. Think ahead, and you'll get the hang of it in no time! You'll know when we're coming, so simply consider what dishes, drinks, scenes or members of your team you want to focus on. As an example for one-hour shoots, we might capture the chef preparing a certain dish, a set of new menu items rolling out that week, a scene of cocktails to promote happy hour and a headshot for the new sous chef. You can always lean on us for inspiration and advice!
For longer days like Half-Day and Full-Day shoots, there's a lot more preparation involved on both ends. We typically schedule a pre-production meeting to run through the details and day-of-schedule in advance so we don't miss a thing.
