It is all a balance. I used to shoot food for a major poultry company with a food stylist and a 4x5 in a test kitchen. That gave us perfect magazine-style food shots. We'd manage 3-4 a day max. For this restaurant, they insist on using only the real food, real plates, and that I always shoot on-site. I like that, you get what you see when you order this. I do combine items differently for the photo sometimes, but nothing is faked.