International Food Shoot for Tino's in Toronto, Canada
This assignment came through a colleague at Gotham Group and ended up being my first international shoot. I landed in Toronto in the evening, photographed the following day, and flew home immediately afterward. What should have been a straightforward trip turned into an unexpected lesson in international work permits and customs regulations. Because commercial photography work in Canada generally requires authorization, I spent a fair amount of time explaining why I had been brought in for the assignment, providing credentials, references, and examples of previous work before finally being allowed through.
Fortunately, the shoot itself was considerably more relaxed. Tino's, a Toronto restaurant known for internationally inspired hot dogs and comfort food, closed the restaurant for the day so we could work without interruption. The assignment combined menu photography with lifestyle imagery, allowing us to create both the clean food-focused shots needed for marketing materials and the more casual images that help give a restaurant personality.
One thing I learned from this job is that clients aren't just hiring a photographer. They're hiring someone who can adapt when things don't go according to plan, whether that's navigating customs, working on an unfamiliar set, or handling a full-day commercial shoot on a tight travel schedule. Thankfully, once the cameras came out, the hard part was over.
Here are some of my favorite images from this shoot (click/tap to view full size and un-cropped):
To see more examples of this style of photography, visit my food and dining gallery >>
All images in this blog post were shot on a Nikon D850 using a 24-85mm zoom lens, and all individually post-processed in Adobe Lightroom using custom-built presets.
Jinnifer Douglass is a full-time freelance photographer based in NYC, shooting for both individuals and brands such as Google, Sotheby’s, Uber, Make Up For Ever, Squarespace, and more! Specializing in portraits, food, and special events, she works to make every piece of your social and website content ‘Insta-worthy’ with high resolution, full-frame DSLR photography and expert Lightroom editing. Interested in chatting? Leave a comment below, or send an email to info@jinyc-photo.com!