Monzú: A Food Photography Experience You Can Taste
Living in a major touristic destination like Las Vegas there’s no doubt we have access to one of the most diverse foods and beverage industries in the world. This means that any and every road leading to the strip Is dotted with billboards promoting blown up mouthwatering images and the fine-dining experience. Food Photography is undoubtedly an essential part of our community and the always-changing restaurant industry that surrounds us. So, our photography team decided it was time to pay a visit to our second home at Monzú Italian Oven and Bar. With camera in hand, we were about to start possibly the most delicious line of work LV Photo has undertaken, and the results were evidently out of this world.
Pizzeria Monzú
What is Food Photography?
Food Photography is classified as a still life photography genre where the photographer attempts to create attractive often dramatic and exaggerated images of food in order to bring out the most delicious aspects of the dish. These pictures are intended for commercial and promotional purposes usually used for Menus, social media, websites, and yes, even billboards.
While this sounds pretty self-explanatory, it is possibly one of the most difficult subcategories of commercial photography. Despite the ‘still life’ aspect, food remains organic. It moves, bends, flattens, and can easily lose its charm. This is especially true under bright lighting, which is always essential for an optimal image.
Pizzeria Monzú
The importance of food photography does not rely solely on the food, but the senses that the photographer is able to convey with its textures, lighting, contrast, and color. The characteristics of great food photography are determined by how much water is running out of your mouth when you look at the image. Its influence should cause a physical effect. In other words, your stomach should roar at the sight, and your nose should tingle with memory of the food’s scent, even if you’ve never seen the dish before. Now, this is obviously not true of all food photography. The fact of the matter is the photographer has to have the ability to acknowledge these senses and bring them to the forefront of the image.
It is because of this that we believe our team of photographers, many of which have extensive experience in Food Photography, have the potential and expertise to create stunning images that are sure to spark those taste buds.
Pizzeria Monzú
Monzú
One of the greatest things about being surrounded by a tight-knit community here in Las Vegas is the opportunity to work together with people whom you deem family in order to create something worthwhile. This is exactly why we headed over to Monzú. This warm and welcoming Sicilian Pizzeria is located on 6020 West Flamingo Rd., and houses some of the best authentic Italian cuisine Las Vegas has to offer— Believe me, the Mortadella and Apricot pizza can only be described as Ottime!
A longtime friend of LV Photo, and Head Chef Giovanni “Gio” Mauro gave us the honor of setting up shop inside the restaurant and photographing his new tasting menu. This seasonal menu was selected with very clear and beautiful intent, as you can see by the images that our talented Food Photographer Stephen Josef Fogarty was able to capture. The eye to detail and unique contrasting aesthetic work seamlessly to create striking and emotive imagery worthy of the Monzú menu.
Pizzeria Monzú
The Shoot
It is evident that this kind of collaborative project is passionate about every angle. Chef Gio began plating Steven’s eyes seemed to hyper-focus on the texture and contrast created by the crystals of salt that effortlessly speckled the plate. It’s difficult not to feel your tastebuds tingle and feel the warmth rising from each delicate filet.
The next image is worthy of the Wes Anderson grid-like trope. This is a depiction of Monzu’s beautiful biscotti tray complete with a delicious espresso cup at the center. The black background, which we see is a prevailing theme in this photoshoot, creates a sort of void where nothing but these delicious pastries exist, and honestly, nothing else needs to. You can sense the delicacy of each biscotti and maybe even imagine them crumbling in your mouth.
Lastly, and perhaps one of the most dynamic photos from this shoot is this specialty drink the reflective black surface makes the drink seems endless, and you almost hope it is. The sweet amber color emphasizes the beautiful crystal cut glass almost tempts you to reach into the screen and bring it to life.
Pizzeria Monzú
As you can see, it’s all about the senses that these images trigger. When you examine food photography you begin to see that you are already immersed in the experience of the food long before you even decide to attend the restaurant. This becomes especially important in the visual world of social media that we live in today. Your food Photography is what in turn attracts customers whether they’re seeing your images on your restaurant’s Instagram page, your website, and even your menus.
Our Food Photography Services
LV Photo is here to offer you services to showcase your curated menus and even dining areas, or table settings. This way you can effortlessly revamp your restaurant’s image whether it be on your social media accounts, on your personal food blog, on a billboard, or in print.
With the help of our talented and detailed Food Photographers, we can assure you that your images will be nothing less than perfect.
Pizzeria Monzú
We will Initially set up a consultation where we can decipher what the best course of action and direction may be for your restaurant, coffee shop, or fine dining menu. Using this we can create a list of product shots that fit your restaurant’s identity, style, and ambiance. Once all of the planning and scheduling is out of the way, we can focus on the shoot itself.
These shoots are a collaborative effort where our Food Photographer is able to come up with creative and innovative ideas to differentiate your images from the rest.
Once the shots are taken, we can provide some lite edits to ensure your photo is flawless. Your images will then be sent to you digitally at whatever resolution you may require.
Pizzeria Monzú
Food Photography proves to be one of the most challenging photo-styles. It requires a quick creative mind to work with a perishable product, but that’s nothing we can’t handle. As you can see, much like our wonderful experience at Monzú, we are dedicated to only bringing out the very best in your cuisine, and if you ever find yourself craving an authentic Italian meal head on over to the very best pizzeria Vegas has to offer!
Pizzeria Monzú
