Mark has about 15 years of experience in working with food in restaurants, and in 2005 he started shooting food for the Restaurants column in the most trendy magazine of that time in Moscow — «Afisha». Then it was almost exclusively photographs in a view from above. Over the years, the trends have changed several times, the chefs began to make servings modern to today, what matters now is minimalism and naturalness with correctly placed accents.

The restaurant is located in the famous Gum mall in the Red Square. It was necessary to understand how to shoot in order to convey this modernity, changes, but at the same time retain the loyalty of the old, somewhat conservative audience. The interior of the restaurant consists of several different zones, with slightly different color schemes in terms of contrast, but all in the same style. I decided that it was necessary to shoot in different parts in order to visually convey this diversity and as a result one could see it in the restaurant's social media accounts. But at the same time maintain a laconic style and simplicity of compositions.

From my experience I know that the more time that is properly spent on discussing, synchronizing and thinking through the style and workflow, the faster the shooting itself is. There was a bit of a rush here, because due to a hitch in the repair, the chef prepared the menu without a margin of time, and the photos were needed urgently (a common story). But the conditions for shooting there are excellent, so the work went quickly. I usually spend less than 10 minutes on one menu item if I need enough diverse photos for social networks with changing locations, and the light is natural. With a very simple query, it's even faster, 5 minutes/dish.

A trendy cocktail bar that includes two halls: one with a bar counter and brickwork on the wall, the second with small white marble tables and black walls and gorgeous massive chandeliers. Located in the basement. Regular shooting of cocktails and their ingredients for social networks. Here it was obvious that one could not do without artificial light, since the room was in the basement. I came up with the lighting scheme taking into account that I will have to work with cocktails, and not with food. Many modern cocktails were discolored, so I wanted to convey their transparency.

I started with the backlight. And the graphic, contrasting interior told me that the light should be as hard as possible so that the photos correspond to the laconic space of the bar. Later the tasks expanded somewhat, we photographed snacks for delivery, and sets of bottled cocktails during the lockdown (I shot them at home), portraits of bartenders (including creative ones) and step-by-step preparation of cocktails.

Standard two or three hours per shoot, 10-12 cocktails and/or meals, sometimes portraits. One cocktail with ingredients usually takes 5-7 minutes. Probably, it could have been faster, but I actually get to know it for the first time when they bring him to shoot, and it takes a little time to see the main thing that I want to highlight in the photo in order to convey it’s character.

The restaurant holding, which at that time owned several restaurants, opened a new one — a small bourgeois place with desserts in the Patriarch's Ponds area. It was necessary to shoot desserts and drinks for social networks. Later, these same photos went to the site for delivery options. As a result, the filming format was born, in which we worked with them for the next two years. The shoot had to have the potential to be regular, quick and inexpensive to set up, i.e. without complex lighting schemes with bulky equipment (since the cafe is very small).

I came up with the idea of ​​taking a small marble table outside, where near the door there is a pleasant gray wall, large enough as a background for our task. This solution is suitable for any time, except for rainy / snowy weather. It's quite a narrow street, so the light doesn't differ much at different times of the day and year.

At first, we worked longer, but after some time, with a well-established format and a clear list of tasks that we prepared in advance, we fit in an hour or two, even with a rather voluminous list of positions.