A burger is architecture. Bottom bun, sauce, lettuce, patty, cheese, tomato, onion, top bun. When it is built right and still hot, it stands tall and every layer is visible from the side. Four minutes later the cheese has slid, the bun has absorbed the juice, the lettuce has wilted and the whole thing is two centimeters shorter. Most burger photos on delivery apps are taken in minute six.
What makes a burger photograph well
- Height. The burger is shot from the side, at eye level or just above, so the layers read. From above, a burger is a bun.
- The melt. Cheese laid on the patty at the end, just melted, draping over the edge, not puddled on the plate.
- Fresh layers. Lettuce and tomato go in last, cold, cut to show the color toward the camera.
- A clean bun. No fingerprints, no crushed top, sesame seeds where they belong.
- Fries that stand. Next to the burger, in a cone or leaning, not a limp pile.
Building a burger for camera
A burger for the photo is built by hand, on the plate, in front of the lens. The patty comes off the grill and rests a moment so it does not soak the bun. The sauce is placed where the camera sees it. The toppings are arranged so each shows a sliver of color at the edge. Sometimes the burger is held together with a hidden skewer so it stays tall through the shot. Then it is photographed right away, one burger at a time.
Where burger photos go wrong
The delivery platform’s default is the problem most restaurants never see. Without your own photos on the listing, the image can come from an ordinary order: the burger in a foam box, the top bun slid off, the fries crushed against the lid. With a photographer sent by the app, the kitchen sends every burger at once, in the restaurant’s basket, and they wait while he shoots the rest of the menu. By the time the camera reaches them, they have sunk.
A shot list for a burger restaurant
- The signature burger, side view, fresh, with fries.
- Each burger on the menu with the same angle and surface, so the listing looks like one brand.
- A cut burger showing the inside, for the double or the stuffed one.
- Shakes and drinks, cold, with condensation.
- Combos, because the combo is the order with the highest ticket.
- A short video of the smash on the flat-top and the cheese going on.
Burgers from Wellington to Miami
The burger grid on DoorDash in Palm Beach County has national chains, local smash burger spots and restaurants that sell a burger next to everything else. The chains photograph their burgers in studios with food stylists. The local place with the better burger can match that on the phone screen, but only with the same kind of production.
Burger photography with the production included
I build and shoot burgers one at a time, with my own boards, plates and surfaces, and the kitchen fires each one when the set is ready. At your restaurant before service in Palm Beach County, Broward or Miami. Cropped for DoorDash, Uber Eats, Google and Instagram.
Packages: restaurant and food photographer in Palm Beach and Miami. The first step for any listing: upload your own DoorDash and Uber Eats photos.
