Pictures are powerful. Studies reveal that people retain 10% of what they hear, 30% of what they read, and a whopping 80% of they they see. As the internet becomes an increasingly visual experience for users, incorporating images into your advertising and specifically your Meta Flavor profile gives you a more effective way of communicating your message and engaging potential customers.
With the wide proliferation of digital cameras, free photo editing tools, and a free venue to showcase your menu with photos of each item you serve - there's no excuse not to have your entire menu showcased. Here are a couple "do it yourself" tips that will transform a mere listing to a rich media experience that powerfully engages customers.
Use a digital camera - no film to purchase or process. You can easily save good photos and delete mediocre shots.
Take your time, you don’t have to complete your entire menu in a day – enjoy the process and do it over a period of time. Day one focus on your entrées or signature dishes, day two your appetizers, day three desserts, and day four any specialty drinks or items. Check and see if any of your employees are good with a camera and want to participate!
Use a “To Go” Menu as a check list to cross items off as you take photos of them.
Make sure your food is the focus of your shots by keeping your background free from unnecessary distractions.
Take 3 - 5 shots per dish at different angles. This will give you the option of going back and choosing from the best photos at a later point in time, before you upload them to Meta Flavor. Take your photos in a well lit area. Natural or indirect lighting is always preferred as using the flash usually distorts the colors in the image.
Take close-up shots and don't worry about getting the entire dish in your photos. Close-up shots are dramatically more compelling than shots taken at a far distance. Cut sandwiches, burgers, burritos, wraps or any other item where the goodness is hidden in half. Do a couple food searches on istockphoto.com (lamb, steak, pasta, dessert, etc) to get some good ideas.
Use an online photo editing site such as picnik.com to quickly and easily edit your photos. Adjusting brightness, contrast and sharpness is often times a very quick and easy way to increase the quality of your images. For the best menu images we recommend cropping your photos into perfect squares, with minimum dimensions being 400 x 400 pixels.
Tips & Tricks .>. Getting your menu photographed 
