Top 100 Photos of 2024, Trends for 2025
Creating Scroll-Stopping Content
In 2025, restaurant photography is evolving beyond just beautifully plated food. It’s about storytelling, emotion, and creating images that make people stop scrolling and engage. Here’s how photography trends are shifting and how restaurants can use them to attract more customers.
1. Hyper-Realistic & Imperfect Aesthetics
The era of overly polished food photography is over. Today’s customers want authenticity—they want to know exactly what they’ll get when they walk into a restaurant. Social media used to be about selling the idea of perfection; now, it’s about showcasing reality. That’s why I encourage my clients to plate their food just as the customer will receive it. Then, we capture real moments—taking a bite of a burger, a cocktail spilling slightly, or a fork digging into pasta. These in-the-moment shots create a sense of trust and excitement.
2. Hands-In-Frame & Action Shots
Hands in frame and movement-based shots are the foundation of storytelling in food photography. A classic “cheers” with drinks always performs well, but I also love passing shots—where someone hands a plate to a friend—because they create a “you have to try this” moment. Capturing the perfect bite on a fork highlights the details of the food in an engaging way. While any dish can work in an action shot, cocktails and pizza slices remain my favorites. Engagement on interactive imagery is consistently higher than on static food shots because it invites people into the experience.
3. Vertical & Video-First Content
With the rise of TikTok and Instagram Reels, vertical video is now a must for restaurant marketing. Knowing that video content outperforms still photography, I’ve expanded my services to include reel creation alongside photoshoots. The most successful videos tell a story or communicate a restaurant’s vibe. Humor, behind-the-scenes moments, or slow-motion food prep clips all perform well, but the key is tailoring content to each restaurant’s personality. Any restaurant can benefit from video—as long as it aligns with their brand and customer expectations.
4. Bold & Graphic Compositions
In 2025, creating scroll-stopping content means going beyond “pretty pictures.” High-contrast, bold, and vibrant imagery is set to dominate, particularly in the CPG and liquor industries, but I’m excited to bring this style into the restaurant world as well. This approach works best for fun, playful restaurants looking to stand out. The key is ensuring that, no matter how bold the background, props, or colors are, the food remains the hero of the shot. Every design choice should enhance the dish, not overshadow it.
5. Behind-the-Scenes & Chef’s POV
Authenticity starts in the kitchen, and customers love seeing how their food is made. Showing the hands behind the dish builds trust and deepens the connection between the restaurant and its guests. However, there’s a balance—people don’t want to see a chaotic kitchen or raw ingredients being prepped. I focus on plating and garnishing stations, capturing chefs in their element. Some restaurant owners hesitate to show their kitchens because they don’t look like the pristine setups seen in TV shows like The Bear, but I’ve found that showing them past BTS work and emphasizing the small details convinces them of its value.
Final Thoughts
The future of restaurant photography is immersive, interactive, and real. Customers want to experience food before they even step into the restaurant, and these photography trends make that possible. Whether it’s through unpolished authenticity, dynamic action shots, video storytelling, bold styling, or behind-the-scenes glimpses, the goal is the same—to create content that stops the scroll and makes people want to book a table.