I've been taking photos for my local favorite vegan restaurant's menu and socials. From what I recall Foodhisattva opened shortly before covid. At the time I was in an odd pattern of going out to eat every Sunday at Melt in Cleveland Heights after my grocery shopping for the week. When they opened I was really excited to have a local restaurant that was a strictly vegan menu right down the street. I'm sure Melt noticed their sales go down as my regular eating habits quickly shifted to the more local family owned small business, and vegan centric restaurant. I've been vegan for over 15 years at this point and a vegan only restaurant caught my interest more than the only veg friendly (and now closed) Melt.
Through the covid years they remained open, churning out amazing weekly specials through pick up order Friday through Sunday. They persevered through some tough years for small businesses and the creative and delicious meals made me yearn for the end of the week. I bought lots, and tipped well, as I was fortunate enough through those times to have my career at a software company that did not cut back on work and was able to continue to function completely remote.
I got to know the staff and owners pretty well over the years and as covid subsided I was able to talk a lot more when picking up my food. Eventually the topic of photographs of their wonderful dishes came up in conversation and I mentioned that I do a bit of photography and might be able to help.
First Session
Talking with them, they wanted to make sure that the dishes all had a similar look and feel and since they have a somewhat rotating menu the setup and lighting would need to match pretty closely. They would also be cooking the dishes during the session so capturing the food with a fresh look would need to be important as well. We coordinated doing the session shortly before their opening time right in the front of their shop.
I brought a couple backdrop cloths they could choose from that we could put down on a table, and after placing one of the dishes it seemed to feel kind of empty. They have a lovely little mascot, Satoshi, which they also have a cute little plush doll for sale so who better to participate in the photos with the food other than their mascot? Toss in a nice little decorative plant they had and that framed up the shots pretty nicely.
The first session I only used my Godox V1Pro and umbrella for lighting with the Godox X3 remote trigger to have the flash off body. I used my Fujifilm GFX100s-II with the 80mm lens which captures some super crisp shots.
The resulting photos, I feel, turned out fantastic. They captured the beauty in the presentation when you're dining in, and honestly make you feel hungry just seeing them... I'm actually feeling that way now while writing this and picking a few to show here.
All of these dishes are vegan, and scratch made. The chef, Josh, puts a lot of thought and love into these meals, how they look, how they taste. Both him and his wife, Francis, have a true passion for food, local small business community, and the vegan community. They have been part of the vegan community in the Cleveland area for quite a while. They have a media section on their website which lists a lot of news articles that have been written about them.
Joshua Sias
When I first started going here I recalled they looked somewhat familiar, like I had seen them from somewhere, and I eventually recalled a photo from one of the first Cleveland Vegan Society's VegFest which had them in it, which I attended as well. Small world in the local Cleveland vegan community 😃
Menu Update
As the seasons change they typically update their menu and they wanted to get some more shots for the new menu items. At this point I had purchased some new lighting gear so I brought the same backdrop, and the Godox V1Pro flash, along with my new Godox AD200 flash.
From the last shoot I had recalled the light from the front windows had created a bit of a glare on some of the dishes so this time I was able to block off the light a bit with a light reflector. While the reflector did block some stray light from the windows it did affect the color of the shots a bit on this session as I had left the silver reflector on rather than the dark reflector screen.
I was also shooting with my camera tethered to my laptop with CaptureOne this time, and that significantly sped up the editing and delivery process for the images as I was able to see more clearly how the photo looked and was able to make small adjustments and edits while shooting and between the times they were cooking the dishes. I feel I was able to somewhat recreate a familiar feel to the photos while months apart, but I forgot one thing for this session - I didn't have the napkins as a little splash of color under the dishes as I did on the first session. Something to remember for next time.
I feel they were pretty satisfied with the photos. They have been using them for their socials, Square shop ordering photos, and on their website (full disclosure - I'm hosting their website too).
If you love food (who doesn't??), give Foodhisattva a shot if you haven't already (but still do if you have). If you're vegan, vegetarian, veg-curious, or are just hungry and want a delicious meal they are located on South Taylor Road in Cleveland Heights and are open Thursday to Sunday 4:00-8:30.
Looking to update your menu?
If you're a local Cleveland business and want to give your menu a new look, let me know. We can talk through what you're looking for and I can stop by and set up a small session at your location. After the shoot, I can usually have your photos ready within a day or so. I'll provide a link where you can download them from my website and keep for your own usage. I'll provide a full resolution image suitable for print as well as a compressed format that is acceptable for posting on socials and other media.
