Photographing food and cocktails at the Mission Inn Hotel & Spa in Riverside, including a spirits collaboration shoot, and what hotel and resort restaurants should expect from a shoot.
Who they are
The Mission Inn Hotel & Spa is the landmark hotel in downtown Riverside, with several restaurants and bars inside a building that is itself the main attraction. I have photographed food and cocktails there, including a cocktail shoot built around a spirits collaboration with Trust Me Vodka, and it is one of the Inland Empire projects I am asked about most.
What makes hotel work different
A hotel restaurant is selling the setting as much as the plate. At the Mission Inn that means the arches, tile and courtyards have to be in the frame, so the lighting has to balance a dish or a cocktail in the foreground against a room that is dim, warm and often full of mixed light sources. I shoot with a mobile strobe setup that can be matched to the room's color temperature, which keeps the hotel looking like itself instead of a studio.
What we covered
Cocktail photography for the bar and the spirits partner, plated dishes from the restaurant menus, and lifestyle frames of the dining spaces for the hotel's web, social and marketing use. Hotel shoots typically run a full day or two, because there are several outlets to cover and the images have to work for the hotel's marketing team, the restaurant and often a partner brand at the same time.
Riverside and the Inland Empire
I cover Riverside, Corona, San Bernardino, Redlands, Temecula and Palm Springs as standard territory from the Orange County studio. The Riverside food photographer page lists other Inland Empire restaurants and venues I have photographed, and the brands and publications page includes the hotels and resorts I have worked with, from Terranea Resort to Montage Laguna Beach.
Questions about this kind of shoot
Do you photograph hotel and resort restaurants?
Yes. Terranea Resort, Montage Laguna Beach, the Mission Inn and San Manuel Casino are all clients. Resort work usually combines menu photography, bar and cocktail images, dining-room lifestyle and chef portraits over one or two days.
Is there a travel fee for Riverside?
No. Riverside and the rest of the Inland Empire are covered as standard from the studio.
Can a spirits or food brand partner share the images from a hotel shoot?
Yes. Usage is agreed up front so the hotel, the restaurant and a partner brand can each use the images they need. The image licensing page explains how that works.
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