Café food photography in Sydney: the Firefly Cafe menu and the Eden Gardens garden centre

Eden Gardens is a large destination garden centre near Macquarie Shopping Centre in Sydney. Inside it was a café, which at the time was called Firefly Cafe. The café was about to launch a new menu, and Eden Gardens wanted photos of the food, the shop and its products to use on their website and social media. This post covers both halves of that job: the café food photography and the retail photography of the garden centre.

Eden Gardens has the same owner as Gro Urban Oasis, which I have also photographed.

The brief

The photos were going to three places: their web design agency, their social media and in-store promotion. That meant one shoot had to give them a lot of different kinds of photos.

The brief had three parts:

Café food photography: the Firefly Cafe menu

I photographed the food outdoors in daylight, on two set-ups. The first was a weathered timber table, where I shot the dishes from overhead and at an angle. The second was a white slatted table with plants in the foreground, where I photographed the brunch dishes.

Each dish got its own photo, so the café could use any single dish in a post, on the website or on a sign in store. Then I grouped the dishes together for wider shots that show the range of the menu in one frame. The menu included a charcoal-bun burger with lotus root chips, a grain salad, a radicchio and goat's cheese salad, a creamy soup, a braised beef curry with rice and beans, smashed avocado on sourdough, and a sugar-dusted bun with cream and jam. I also photographed beers on ice.

One photo of the avocado toast has a pair of hands in the frame. A dish with a person in the picture feels more like a real café visit than a plate on its own.

Retail and garden centre photography: the shop, products and gardens

The second half of the job was the garden centre itself. Eden Gardens sells far more than plants, so I photographed the homewares and outdoor furniture displays, the tableware, the potted colour tables and the outdoor areas.

Retail photos work best when they show a product the way a customer would use it. A table set with bowls and serving boards sells the idea of a meal outside, not just a stack of stoneware. Outside, I photographed the sculpture garden with its water feature and walkway, and the lawn with its brick steps. Photos like these show people the gardens are a place to spend time, not just shop.

Working around a business that stays open

We finished the shoot in a couple of hours, without disrupting the staff. The café and the shop ran as normal while I worked.

“We recently hired Paul to take photos of our retail location which comprises lifestyle, cafe, plants, garden. He was amazing. Did a thorough job in advance to know what we wanted so we could then work quickly on the day of shooting. He was self sufficient and worked quickly to get the shots done within our timeframe and budget. The shots he delivered were incredible and we literally chose everyone! Would highly recommend.”
Jessica Theuerjahr, Digital Marketing Coordinator, Eden Gardens (Word of Mouth review)

A shot list for a café inside a retail business

If you run a café, a garden centre, or both under one roof, this is the list I would start with:

Shoot each menu item from more than one angle, overhead and side-on, so your designer has a choice for each layout.

Café food photography in Sydney

Business photography starts at $495 for up to an hour, with up to 10 edited photos and a commercial licence included. See business photography in Sydney for what is included.