Popcorn Lobster - Ninja Sushi - West Bloomfield, MI

As a photographer, I think the most challenging subject is FOOD. And you may not even think of Brendan Ross, Photographer as a food photographer. Well, over the years I’ve done my share. Years ago, shooting pizza for Little Caesars with 8x10 film and then on to Hungry Howie’s with 4x5 film and 2-1/4 digital and a fair number of restaurants first with film, and eventually digital.

But the challenge was never the recording medium; large format film, medium format film or digital, it was lighting. And in that regard, food isn’t so much different from shiny metal parts, packaged products, automobiles or people. With proper, correct lighting, all photographic subjects look wonderful.

Just recently I’ve been shooting a lot of food. DoorDash, the food delivery folks, have asked me with some frequency to shoot single food items for their online restaurant menus. Using the DoorDash app on your mobile device, your can find a restaurant, look at samples of their real food and have it delivered to wherever you happen to be. If you’re now in the Metro Detroit area, and using the DoorDash app to find a meal, chances are pretty good that decision will be based on an image I shot.

The assignments call for me to go to a client’s location, photograph 10 single menu items in about an hour, and upload them within 24 hours. I know, it sounds impossible, or at least improbable. From my point of view, I’ve started with great photo skills and (with practice) added the speed necessary to get the job done. Here’s a sample of one of more than a thousand dishes I’ve photographed in the last year and a half. Get this one from Ninja Sushi on W 14 Mile in West Bloomfield, it’s called Popcorn Lobster.