Click-Share-Eat or Only Eat?

….You are at a fancy restaurant. If you are social media addicted, the very first thing you might be going to do is doing “check-in’ via Facebook to let your friends know where you are dining. Then you place an order of food you like to have.

 
Daab Chingri @ Oh! Calcutta


The next thing you would do.… you wait for the food to arrive. If you are with dining partners, you are probably in chit-chat with them. If you are alone you are probably telling yourself ”Knock-knock” joke. Your joke perhaps to complete as the food is now placed in front of you.

And now your fingers go click-click... right? And after getting the perfect shot (you seem to be satisfied with the click) you instantly share it on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest etc, and finally you dig in to food… hmm?

If the above scene is true, I am sure, you are kind of a guy like “I can’t eat if I don’t take photo”. … But imagine a scene, the moment you begin taking picture of food, the waiter staff prevents you from doing so… would you be offended? Ask yourself. 

If you are not like above, I am sure you consider it as the height of bad manners. You may think it is plain rude as it irritates fellow diners.

You might have learned that some restaurants in US have banned taking picture of their food. In US many restaurateurs are allowing their customers to take the photograph in the kitchen. Sometime the staffs of restaurants shoot the photo and deliver it to the customer via mail, before customers pay their check. But they don’t allow the customers to take photo in the dining area.

Tamang Gaang, New Delhi

In India too, taking photograph of food in a fancy restaurant has gone from awkward to mainstream... If there is a rule banning trigger-happy photographers in restaurants in India? Would it actually work in India? Banning people from taking pictures will be a foolhardy decision?

Do you think such practice should be banned in India? Many of you think that you are paying for food, but why can't you take a picture of it?

What is the problem if you take a beautiful picture of food in a dimly-lit restaurant?
Meanwhile I took views from few chefs and restaurateurs based in Delhi. Their views are mentioned below: 

1. With days food photography is becoming a common phenomenon, but the chef can't accept because of food presentation; although if they don't allow visitors to take photography of food, they would probably miss the benefit of free advertising. 

2. Many people can manipulate the food presentation. 

3. If photographer uses Flash, it may go off at a table nearby. Fellow dinners may consider the photographer a unfeeling paparazzi. 

4. Visitor may not always be expert photographer. They may snap a blurry picture of the supper, so the snap would probably be rubbish, anyway. 

5. If photographer takes time in photography, it may make the food get cold. 

I vote "YES" for food photography in restaurants. I could conclude the article this way. But I would like to end up the article asking both the food lovers and restaurateurs...Would you shoot / allow shooting in restaurants?... Would you mind if restaurant authority get the food clicked and give it to you letter via mail or WhatsApp?  ...In case you yourself want to click, what type of shooting style can be allowed inside the restaurant? 

This time I am not so curious to know your shooting style.... It could be a phone holding ninja... stealth shooting... or  stand-on-the-chair type...But we all should make sure our photography doesn't make fellow dinners feel irritated...