The food stylist’s job is to prepare the food to its best advantage for the photo. The food photographer’s job is to compose the shot, choose perspective, lens and lighting. Just remember that the food photographer and food stylist are there as a team to do one main thing, make the client happy. The stylist and photographer need to work together as efficiently as possible to please the client and to do this as quickly as possibly.  That doesn’t mean that the team can’t go above and beyond the call of duty in order to produce a shot better than the client’s wishes.  Just remember that time is money and if the client is happy, he or she may consider you wasting money if you spend too much time on one shot when the client wants to move on to the next one.

During your day’s chit-chat with the client, the food stylist should make it a point NOT to talk about other photographers.  Whether it’s good or bad, photographers don’t like it when you talk about their competition in front of clients.  Maybe we’re all just a little insecure, I don’t know.  I do know that I really hope it when a stylist mentions another photographer in front of the client.  When the client leaves, sure go ahead.  Most photographer love to hear gossip just as much as anyone else in this world, just be careful of what you say.  If you say the wrong kind of things, the photographer may wonder just what you say about him behind HIS (or her) back.

The food stylist should compliment the photographer on the way out the door.  I know this sounds kind of shallow, but photographers are in a field where their egos are dependent on the subjective interpretation of their work.  Everyone likes an “attaboy” once in a while and people tend to like people that let you know that they admire you in some way.  It’s only human nature and besides, what can it hurt?  Who knows, he may even give you an “attaboy” too.