Ruby
A Five Guys shooting guide was inevitable. I've been shooting in Five Guys since I first discovered it 3/4 years ago while on a shoot, and it's one of my favourite places to shoot! My first shoot there was with Lotta-Liina which actually got my photo featured on Five Guys' Instagram account.
So why should you shoot in Five Guys?
Unlimited free refills & peanuts - keep the models and the team hydrated, and in a good mood.
It provides easy access to red neon lights, and the classic American diner vibe.
The staff are very nice and chill - as long as you're not being unreasonable with your shoot.
It opens quite early and closes very late.
Their restaurants are very Central in London.
Lotta-Liina
Here's my ranking of the Five Guys restaurants, in order of their photogenic-ness and ease of shooting:
#5 Piccadilly circus
#4 Oxford Circus
#3 North Greenwich
#2 King's Cross/ St Pancras International
#1 Covent Garden
Aesthetically, the Five Guys branches are fairly similar; neon red lights, red and wooden seating. But some are particularly busy, even in the early hours of opening. Piccadilly Circus and Oxford Circus are right in a shopping/tourist hotspot so avoid there if you want to shoot. I'm sure the staff wouldn't appreciate having to deal with busy customers as well as a shoot.
The North Greenwich restaurant gives a breath of fresh air to the standard Five Guys shots. It has an interesting ceiling, and the placement of tables in front of the tills makes it more interesting. Although it's located in the O2 Arena, I didn't find it that busy the couple of times I've shot there. For me, it was super handy to shoot in because I went to a University in the building right next to it.
The Covent Garden and King's Cross/ St Pancras restaurants are my favourite to shoot in. The King's Cross one can get fairly busy, but it has beautiful natural light thanks to windows surrounding the whole building. The Covent Garden restaurant has lots of seats upstairs and downstairs, so it's never too busy to shoot in. I think the Covent Garden branch has the best neon sign and large mirror setup. It's pretty much the branch I shoot the most.
Shooting Settings
I try to shoot as wide as possible (f/1.4 - f/2.8) to blur out people in the background when it's busy, and because the neon signs don't really light up the room that much. I set my shutter speed on the slowest acceptable speed I can (1/100s - 1/200s), and adjust my ISO accordingly. I don't care much about noise. I think in diner shots, it adds a bit of character to the photo. If you're shooting with neon sign in shot, take several shots at a time. The lights will flicker, so some shots might not even show the neon sign on.
Sophie
Jodie