food

Cocina Superior Brunch - Birmingham AL Food Photography by Tommy Daspit

birmingham al food photography

Did you know that Cocina Superior in Brookwood Village serves brunch? It’s true, and I have the photographic evidence to prove it!

Yesterday I photographed several of their new brunch menu items. I’ve worked with Cocina in photographing their menu, restaurant and creating a Google Virtual tour. I’ve always been impressed with how good the food and service are there. So of course I was excited to shoot their new menu items!

Valentine’s Day is THIS Saturday and I would highly recommend Cocina’s brunch as a different treat for your sweetheart. After all, I know they will be packed (along with every other restaurant in Birmingham) that night.

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View the photos and virtual tour of Cocina Superior that I created last year.

Cocina Superior - Birmingham, AL Restaurant and Food Photography by nikonic1976@yahoo.com

Birmingham AL Restaurant Photographer

If you read my post on why restaurants need professional photography, you have seen some of the images I created of Cocina Superior in at Brookwood Village in Homewood, AL. I really felt that they deserved their own full blog post as well!

Cynthia at Cocina contacted me initially about doing photography of the restaurant and food. The owner wanted some updated images and told her to find a professional. She searched for restaurant/food photographers and my name kept coming up. She looked at the work of other photographers and judged mine to be the best (I’m not going to disagree with her)! While we were taking about the conventional commercial still photography I mentioned to her about the Google Maps Business View virtual tour program as well. She had never heard of it before but felt that it would be a benefit to the restaurant. Boy am I ever glad that she did! Cocina Superior is a beautiful restaurant. The styling is upscale, modern, but also inviting. It’s really a perfect fit for Brookwood Village and the Homewood/Mountain Brook area. I knew pretty quickly that it was going to be one of my favorite tours!

Cynthia, Carlos, and I worked great together to create the tour and images that you see. Unlike many food images you see on TV, in magazines, or internet sites, the food you see is all real and straight from Cocina’s kitchen. No food stylists were used. If you go to Cocina and order one of these items, this is how it will actually look!

Now, a pretty restaurant is one thing, but it is the food that truly matters. In that metric Cocina really shines! Everything is amazingly fresh and tasty. I’d actually been a patron before ever getting the job. My friend David, owner of Solar Reflections, takes people there for lunch. So I was doubly excited when I got the call! To demonstrate how highly I recommend Cocina Superior, I’m taking Kelly and Mother-in-law this weekend!

Check out the conventional restaurant and food photography, and Google virtual tour below. To learn more about Cocina Superior check out their Google My Business Page and website (which will be soon redone with the photos I took and tour embedded).

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lick and drag to pan, click arrows to move from one part of tour to next

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Do you have a business in the greater Birmingham Alabama area that you want to improve the image of? Call or email me to discuss what I can do to help!

Why Professional Restaurant and Food Photography? by nikonic1976@yahoo.com

In the not too distant past succeeding in the restaurant business required a great location, food, and reputation. Make a better soup and the world would beat a path to your door. Ambiance certainly played a role but you could still be successful with a top chef with inspired recipes. 

Today’s restaurants often turn to events and catering to fill in the gaps of their normal breakfast, lunch, dinner and weekend rushes. Word of mouth has transformed into your reputation online. How has your restaurant been reviewed? What is your rating? 

To help with that online presence, a restaurant must now have a website. That website needs to be engaging and appealing to a restaurant customer making decisions in the blink of an eye. People will make a judgment about your business, whether or not to dine at your restaurant, within milliseconds of your homepage loading. 

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One way of capturing their attention, of holding them that extra second, of getting them to actually look more into what your restaurant is about, it to have amazing photography. In this Instagram generation photos are king. People love photos of food. They take pictures of their food. They share these photos with their friends. They comment on the photos their friends have taken of their food. It can seem a little silly at times but this is the way we communicate with each other now.

Because of the explosion of low quality cell phone pics of food, when a consumer sees a real, high quality, crafted photograph, it captures their attention. It will hold them a second longer. This is why quality professional photography of your restaurant and food is so important.  If you want to differentiate your establishment from the masses. If you want the perception of your entrees to be above the average, then you need better photos.

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Whether it is with me, or someone else, take the time and budget for a quality professional photographer. Your bottom line will thank you for it!

View more of my restaurant and food portfolio. Click the thumbnail to view larger image.

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Olexa's Catering, Cafe, and Cakes in Mountain Brook Alabama - Google Maps Business View by nikonic1976@yahoo.com

Back in my wedding photography days the main way to get business was to have a booth at a bridal show. These are usually long events, on your feet all day, and can be exhausting. One thing than made them more bearable was the samples of wedding cake from the Olexa’s booth! They were always a big hit with brides and wedding vendors alike. I can tell you from photographing weddings with their cakes as always a treat (see what I did there). The cakes were always beautiful, and the best part, they tasted great too!

When I got the opportunity to create a Google Maps Business View virtual tour of Olexa’s cafe in Mountain Brook, I was very excited! It’s a fantastic little place in English Village. From personal experience I will say that the food rivals the cake in excellence. Everything I had was delicious, and the staff was great to work with. Diane has an incredible level of attention to detail. Nothing escapes her notice and she will work to make sure everything is perfect for her clients.

I highly recommend Olexa’s for anyone needing a cake (they do more than just weddings), or a great meal in Mountain Brook! Learn more about Olexa’s on their website: http://www.olexas.com/

Click on the thumbnail below to view the full size image

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check out the 360º virtual tour below

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