Lee Starnes Photography | Product | Food | Beverage | Travel | Vietnam Photographer

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Recent Work: Shang Palace

A few weeks ago, Shang Palace reached out wanting to create some new images for their upcoming menu change and to elevate the visuals. With classic Cantonese cuisine, we wanted to be mindful of tradition while giving a modern take on the visuals. Dim Sum especially brought back memories of countless Sunday mornings heading out with friends and having mornings turn into afternoons - often needing my stretchy pants after eating way too much. So we pitched the idea of creating that sense of morning light coming through the window and a communal atmosphere. We opted to shoot from overhead to lean into the graphic nature of all the individual dishes and condiments that make dim sum so much fun. Not to forget the back of house, we had to show some behind the scenes action with the process of creating all these tasty treats. Shooting in kitchens is one of my favourite things ever - fire, steam, the craft of making things… I love it. All the hard work that it takes to create something beautiful on the plate isn’t celebrated enough in visuals and I’m so happy the team at Shang Palace agreed. They’re some of my favourite frames from the project.