What Does a Food Stylist Do on a Shoot? A Chef’s Answer
From the research to the last garnish, by a stylist who is also a chef.
By Andras Dietrich
What does a food stylist do on a shoot?
A food stylist makes food look as good as it tastes. It starts before any shopping: who buys the product, and when they use it. Then comes shopping for that story, prep the day before, and a hero plate where the product has a job. A stylist who is also a chef keeps it real.
Where does food styling start?
Research. The brand, the messaging, who they are selling to.
Then the moment. Sunday brunch, a Thursday night, meal prep. Where does the customer actually pick it up and use it? That is where the picture has to get into their head, so they feel understood. Or inspired.
Most people skip this. They only think about the look, and a look with no story in it is an empty promise.
What do I ask a brand to send?
Extra packs. Extra packaging. Labels that are not stuck on yet, spare stickers. Fillings sent separately.
And always two questions. What are the big no-nos? What are the big yeses?
How do you shop for the camera?
I shop for the story. Is it a Sainsbury's run on a Thursday afternoon, a 20-minute meal and done? Or the brunch you plan for, to wow the family?
Then the best-looking ingredients, but they have to make sense. Size matters. Wrinkly or not wrinkly matters.
Anything that slows the shoot down gets done the day before. A sauce that needs six hours in the fridge. The dessert.
What does a chef see that a stylist without a kitchen misses?
How real food behaves. Perfect grill marks? Anyone who has stood at a real grill knows they do not look like that. Too clinical.
Same with peppers in every colour, cut perfectly for the picture and not for the dish. That is how food loses its realness. If you want real foodies, keep it real.
I cooked 10, 12 hours a day for 10 years. I know the right consistency for a sauce, and I know which one looks best on camera.
A chicken for the camera comes off a little early, because it starts to wrinkle fast. Then it gets cooked through properly and it is a perfect lunch. That takes a chef's confidence.
What is in a food stylist's kit?
Tweezers, brushes, oil, a water spray, a glycerin spray, extra pans. And an air fryer, for small things on high heat. Super crispy in minutes.
Then very sharp knives in different sizes. People are always surprised I bring one. A clean cut makes the food look done with care. It changes the whole picture.
What job does the product have in the picture?
Is it the main ingredient? Or the thing that makes something else better?
Think hot sauce. A bottle on its own does not tell a story. Hot sauce sticking to a wing, a wing going into the dip, that sells it. People see it and want to dip their wings.
How long does a plate last under the light?
Thirty seconds. Once the last touches go on, a plate can die. So I plate it again. Herbs wait in iced water until the last second. I have plated thousands of dishes, so doing it twice is normal.
What if you have your own chef?
Then it is their food. I am the guide. I show them how to plate for the camera, small advice, nothing taken off them. I ask to garnish together at the end, because too much garnish hides the real thing.
What happens when the brief has not landed?
A brand came to me after a shoot they did not like. They wanted three burgers. Their chef was not there, and the brief kept changing on the day. The photos looked good. But styling cannot fix a brief that has not landed. So I land the brief first.
Planning a food shoot?
Send me the brief, or what you have so far. I will tell you what the pictures need to do.