BlogHer - When the Dinner says "Cheese" - Comments

I edited it

sam breach — Wed, 04 Oct 2006 01:03:34 -0500

Hey Pim - I edited it so that it corrected what you said nd still allowed your comment to make sense. Please let me know if that is ok or whether you would prefer me to edit it differently.

I am sorry to hear you got misquoted.

sam

Becks & Posh

Photos of phood

debra roby — Tue, 03 Oct 2006 08:59:28 -0500

I really liked this post, Sam.

While I rarely take photos of my meals, among the art-quilt bloggers there is this expectation that when we attend a workshop we share photos of our food.

Five of us going to the same week-long workshop (like ArtQuilt Claremont)? Five different takes on the dessert. Why? I'm not sure. (yeah, I tried to explain that while shooting a pix of my lunch at BlogHer one day...)

Debra
A Stitch In Time
Deb's Daily Distractions

hmm, I'd never thought about it...

Mistress Of The Dorkness — Mon, 02 Oct 2006 23:33:41 -0500

I never really stopped to think about it.

The only time I recall taking pictures of food while in a restaurant would be at my wedding reception (a great place in Sausilito, Calif called the Spinnaker's). Of course, we were taking pictures of everything... I say 'we' because I grabbed the camera from friends a few times, it is in my nature. I set up a lovely shot of our wine glasses, champagne corks, a lobster tail and my boquet. None of the shots were taken with a flash on, though. I don't imagine I'd do that in a restaurant unless I asked first, my thought would have been the other patrons around me, it hadn't really occured to me to ask the staff.

Hmm.

always interesting topics here, for sure.

Melanie Perry
***not all who wander are lost***
Mistress of the Dorkness
StL CAD group

good perspectives

erinskitchen — Mon, 02 Oct 2006 19:25:19 -0500

Thanks for the round-up of comments Sam--I'm finding them useful. I did manage to take some pics at restaurants during a trip to the Bay area this week--as long as the spots are bustling, noisy and somewhat bright--I've become the fastest, though not the best, shot in the West. :)

http://erinskitchen.blogspot.com

I was misquoted in the Chronicle and I am demanding a correction

Pim — Sun, 01 Oct 2006 23:04:01 -0500

No I didn't say that. What I said, in fact, was that even though I love to photograph my food, I will always follow the wishes of the restaurant because -and this is my exact quote- 'ultimately I pay for the privilege to EAT the food, not to take photograph of it." What's the entitlement in that? I thought my view was perfectly reasonable, and I have not once put up a fight or even argued when someone asked me to put my camera away -although that only happened once in London.

I emailed the reporter demanding a correction the day after the story ran, and received an email telling me that there's nothing he could do about it. I've been very busy this week so I haven't followed up on it, but I'm sure I will be emailing or contacting the editor there soon.

This is really horrible. I feel that my view is presented in the complete opposite of what I expressed during the interview.

It's Fun if not Overdone

Kalyn Denny — Sun, 01 Oct 2006 12:08:56 -0500

Great post Sam. If I was doing a lot of restaurant reviews, as you are, I suspect I might feel differently about this. But since I rarely write about restaurants, and only post about places if I love the food, I ask for permission to take photos and always have fun doing it. I've never had a restaurant express hesitation. I try not to be obvious to other patrons because that could be annoying. And believe it or not, most of my friends, male and female both, are quite amused and will often help "style" the food if needed.

Possibly I should add that I tend to frequent authentic ethnic restaurants, not "fine dining" type places. I might be more hesitant to take photos in a more upscale place. And if it was a special occasion or romantic dinner, I'd leave the camera at home.

Kalyn Denny
Kalyn's Kitchen

When the Dinner says "Cheese"

sam breach — Sun, 01 Oct 2006 11:30:48 -0500

What do you think about people who take pictures of their food in restaurants? It's a question that was raised last week in The San Francisco Chronicle in which bloggers were asked to weigh in with their opinions...

Mentioned in the Article:

Bunrabs.com creator Edie Ichioka is a discreet yet prolific snapper in a wide range of dining establishments.

Alice Yamada of Epicurean Debauchery finds that the Asian restaurants she frequents are very welcoming of amateur food photographers.

Pim Techamuanvivit of Chez Pim didn't actually say she feels a sense of entitlement about photographing her dinner because, she "paid to eat the meal", as she was quoted in the article. What she actually said was "even though I love to photograph my food, I will always follow the wishes of the restaurant because -and this is my exact quote- ultimately I pay for the privilege to EAT the food, not to take photograph of it".

And I admitted that my trip to Wylie Dufresne's New York restaurant WD50 was inspired by a picture of his food I spotted on Fatemeh's blog, Gastronomie. It's kind of ironic because Dufresne allegedly isn't keen on food bloggers despite the positive knock-on effect they have had on his business. The reason Fatemeh ate at WD50 in the first place was because she, too, had read about Dufresne's unusual cuisine on another blog where the poster had been encouraged to try it, you guessed it, yet another blogger.

The article raised some commentary from other bloggers...

Other bloggers weigh in on the subject of Photographing Food:

Liz from Good Stuff shares her first thought:

"...photographing a meal is something you don't do on a special occasion- a first date, a birthday (unless you're also taking group photos to share), an anniversary, etc. Those are times you want to focus on the other person and not, as another poster put it, getting that perfect shot of a butter pat."

The Passionate Eater remarks that there is an unspoken etiquette rule of "sometimes it is inappropriate to take pictures". Etiquette aside, she points out other reasons to keep the camera hidden in the bag:

"Although I have no shame in taking pictures of food, sometimes, I am hesitant to snap pictures in a group setting, because I have to explain why I am taking pictures of food (which inevitably garners scattered laughs) and also be "the person" who stops hungry people from immediately digging in when the food arrives on the table."

Erin from Erin's Kitchen puts the question out on Food Blog S'cool:

"I've gotten less wimpy about taking pictures in restaurants, but still somewhat dislike doing it, especially in a quiet, dark spot (and then the photos don't turn out anyway!). Also, sometimes I just want to focus on enjoying my meal and my company--though I'm often with my husband or close friends, I worry it's a bit rude to my dining companions if we're not as close."

Erin's post garners some great responses in the comments section (you should take some time to read all of them) including this one from Johanna, The Passionate Cook:

"I also don't think I've a right to take pictures and defend it over my dead body, but I also don't really understand why they shouldn't allow us bloggers to take pictures? after all, we're not using them commercially, so what's the problem? and if it's about distracting other patrons from their food, are they going to ban couples from having an argument? or what about people with verbal diarrhea? They put me off my food much more than any camera could!"

Blogher Contributing Editor:

Sam Breach, takes far less photos in restaurants than she used to when she first started blogging over at Becks & Posh. She finds it embarassing, to tell the truth. Unless she is on vacation, when anything goes and her camera is glued to her side, you are more likely, these days, to see Sam illustrate her restaurant review blog posts with a simple picture of the establishment's calling card.