Food photographer in Barcelona

A Barcelona restaurant tends to sit in one of two kinds of building, and they light a plate very differently. In the old town and the Born, rooms are often deep and narrow, with a street front of a few metres and the light falling off quickly towards the back; the table by the door is where the dishes go. In the Eixample and newer districts the windows are taller and the light is more even, though the corner buildings can bring direct sun across a table at the wrong moment. Either way the shoot happens before service, in the restaurant’s own light, with the kitchen plating each dish as it would for a guest. Half a day before opening covers the menu, a few detail frames and the room as customers see it.

When to book in Barcelona

Half a day before service: for a lunch restaurant that means starting around nine, and for one that opens only for dinner, early afternoon. In Barcelona many kitchens close one or two days a week, and a closed day is often the calmest time to shoot because nobody is preparing service around us. Seasonal menus are worth timing: photograph the autumn dishes in October, not in the summer heat. Avoid the days before a big opening or a festival weekend, when the kitchen is under pressure.