SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA
Food &
Portrait
Photographer
Creating images for restaurants, editorial clients, and brands across the Bay Area and beyond.
sf/Bay Area
BASED
Editorial & Commercial
FOOD · PORTRAIT · BRAND PHOTOGRAPHY
TEN+
YEARS EXPERIENCE
portfolio and services
A decade of shooting for restaurants, chefs, authors, and brands across the Bay Area. Every image below was made on assignment — real dishes, real people, real spaces.
Editorial Food
Magazine-ready food photography that captures the story behind every dish for cookbooks, editorial features, and culinary publications.
Restaurant & Brand
Commercial food and product photography for restaurants, menus, packaging, and Bay Area food brands that demand striking imagery.
Portraits
Authentic, character-driven portraits for chefs, authors, executives, and individuals who want images that feel genuinely them.
Recent work
A blueberry cheesecake captured in a warm, rustic setting
my recent work explores texture and light, pairing the creamy richness of the cake with weathered wood and linen. Working with artifcial light to create a fill of natural window light to bring out the subtle sheen of the glaze on the jewel-like blues of the berries, and the creamy, buttery cake. The mood is intentionally intimate and timeless to tell a story of handcrafted baking and slow moments shared. This image is made for editorial and boutique food brands that want authentic, tactile visuals with a refined, yet approachable, aesthetic.
Tells from out yonder
The blog features street photography, found-object studies, and behind-the-scenes breakdowns that explain how to adapt lighting for unpredictable settings, make clearer compositional choices, and tighten editing workflows for consistent color and on-time delivery. Each post pairs practical technical craft with thoughtful creative decisions, showing not just what works but why—so readers can apply techniques to meet both visual and commercial aims. Whether exploring a spontaneous urban moment or refining a client-ready edit, the content is geared toward photographers who need reliable methods for producing compelling, scaleable images under real-world constraints.
Client
Architectural Twilight Capture
Year
March 2024
Client
Heritage Editorial Series
about MICHAEL GURULE
I'm a San Francisco Bay Area photographer working with restaurants, editorial clients, cookbook authors, and brands who need images that do more than look good — they tell the story behind the food and the people making it.
With 10+ years of professional experience including a decade as a digital imager at the East Bay Times, I bring a retoucher's precision and a storyteller's eye to every shoot.
Let's make
something great
Whether you have a clear vision or just an idea, reach out and let's talk about bringing it to life.
mike@mcgfoto.com
BASED IN
San Francisco Bay Area, CA
Most projects book 2-4 weeks out. Reach out early and let's plan something together.