It doesn’t speak highly of Ulah that the bartender would immediately assume you were taking the photos because their food was BAD. If you serve food that you think is good, wouldn’t you assume people are taking pictures of it because it’s good?? That’s kind of hilarious actually. You were going to write about how good the food was there, and instead you ended up writing about how obnoxious the staff is. Nice move, Ulah bartender.

Also, limit yourself. Take one shot per course/dish, unless it turns out poorly and you really wanted to share. And limit the use of flash.

Honestly, living & blogging in NYC, my firm opinion is that ‘if you are not disturbing anyone, then there should not be a problem.’ As you note, the food is now yours, and provided you are not throwing it at people or causing a huge fuss (whipping out a mini-light booth, using a giant-giant camera and elbowing people to get out of your way… I really don’t see a problem.

I do, however, have a firm policy to never use flash. Even at the darkest of restaurants; my sole purpose in taking pictures of my meal is to remember it and to give readers an idea of what it looked like when I ate it (so I don’t have to describe its appearance too much; I’m verbose enough already and I’m way more concerned with taste, in any case). It doesn’t matter if my photograph comes out super dark, that is my choice to never use flash because 1- Canons have really bright flashes and 2- I think that’s really disturbing if you’re eating in a dark restaurant and you keep seeing flashes from across the room because someone wants to immortalize their meal. It’s selfish.

I try to take my pictures very quickly so my friends don’t have to wait long to eat. And I also always tell people (with whom I haven’t dined before) that I would like to photograph their food, though no one has ever declined.

As for reactions, I have gotten curious looks from servers (I have stopped waiting for servers to go away before photographing, to make sure my hungry friends can eat more quickly), and sometimes other diners have asked me why I am photographing my food. I tell them honestly that I’m a food blogger, and if they’re interested, I give them a card. I haven’t had owners, proprietors, anyone yell at me or even approach me to ask me what I was doing or anything. Maybe I’m just THAT ninja

This is a topic very close to home for me; I wasn’t a big fan of David Chang to begin with, but once he shut down taking pictures within Ko, I made it a point to not try for reservations there. I don’t think it’s fair or right that I could spend $300 on a meal that I would love to immortalize, but he won’t let me because he finds it distracting.

My 2c. Sorry it’s so long

This exact topic became a BIG deal for Jason over at DC Foodies a little over four years ago (way back before all the rest of us had even started snapping food photos in restaurants).

You can read about the chef involved, her cease-and-desist letter and all the other gory details over at the Accidental Hedonist and eGullet from back in the day.

There are differing schools of thought on your claim of ownership to the food, but I’m with you…take pictures, just don’t be an ass about it.