There are two things people are extremely passionate about nowadays: food and social media. If you take a look at people’s Instagram accounts, you will find at least five food photos–to say the least. Some restaurants have even created special meals to be photographed; we know them as Instagram worthy. There are those who have made food blogging their career and, honestly, what is better than tasting food and photographing it for a living? Sounds like a dream job!
Tim Cheung is a professional food photographer and social media consultant who united his passions and became a professional food blogger. He has never worked a 9 to 5 job but has always been involved in digital marketing and social media marketing. With his knowledge and experience, he has been able to create an aesthetically pleasing, creative, and fun Instagram account for the Bay Area Foodies that now has over 124K followers. With every picture, he takes his followers to a new Bay Area restaurant and encourages them to try new food. All of this while making his models–every new dish–look delicious.
This University of California Santa Cruz graduate describes himself as “a foodie that’s crazy for all the newest food hypes!” And that is exactly what he does: follow the newest food hypes with great appetite and his camera in hand. One of Cheung’s goals is to help get the word out on some of the Bay Area’s most amazing mom and pop restaurants. With every new post, he tries to help people discover places which may have been overlooked. By doing this, he is also trying to encourage his followers–and anyone who might come across his work–to try different ethnic foods they probably would not have before seeing him.
Cheung’s goals set his path five years ago when he realized not many people were talking about the local food scene. He noticed the word was not being spread about the quality minority-owned spots he knew of. Although it started as a hobby, this food photographer quickly became aware of how helpful his posts were to people in the community. His audience started growing rapidly and many of those followers were inspired to begin their own food blogging journey. This was something that made Cheung feel excited about his work and the connections he was making because he believes it is “important to make friends that are as passionate as you about food blogging. It always helps to have a group of people that can motivate you. Food also tastes better when it is shared!”
Tim Cheung started out with his phone and his passion. Throughout the years, he has become better at taking pictures and has gained the experience to become a professional in something that used to be a hobby. Nowadays, he also offers his services as a food photographer to some of the top San Francisco restaurants. This 27-year-old foodie from California was able to successfully turn his love for food, his talented skills as a photographer, and his social media knowledge into a delicious way of making a living.
