One of my favorite things to do for clients is orchestrate the talented team at Jenkins Culinary Resources. The food stylist, the photographers, the prop stylist, and brand teams all work together in such a harmonious fashion the day of the shoot. It brings me so much joy to know that I set a smooth course for everyone to use their passion and skills towards one client goal. Part of ensuring that happens is appropriately preparing our clients.
Whether this is your first shoot, or you are shaking off the rust a bit we have some helpful tips for your next food and/or beverage photography shoot below!
First, pull out those handy brand identities and guidelines. Send us over a copy ASAP. Ok, thank you for sending that to us! Back to you.
A food & beverage brand's identities and guidelines provide us with a creative compass. If your brand is supposed to be fresh, organic, and vibrant than shooting with lower lighting and deeper jewel tones wouldn't necessarily make sense. Instead we would understand that your backgrounds are too be well highlighted with fresh contrast. Notice the big difference between these two photos below.
If you don't have brand guidelines or an identity that you can share with us we recommend collecting various photos from around the internet into a folder, dropbox, or Pintrest board. Keep notes as to why you like these photos, and how they align with your brand. A few stylistic differences to note: the backgrounds, depth of field (how sharp is the main image against the rest of the photo), the color palette, and the props utilized. Please keep in mind that you will have to share your Pinterest board with us, and if you need help just email.
Here are some other questions you should be prepared to answer as a brand manager or agency that is in charge of the shoot.
What is the final purpose for these photographs or videography assets?
Do you need horizontal, vertical or square video/images? Vertical video is recommended for social channels like Instagram and Snapchat.
Do you need high resolution for packaging/print or low resolution for the Internet?
How many products are we capturing in total?
How many shots of each product will you need? You can also ask yourself how many days will you need to stretch your assets across.
Is there a product launch date that you need finalized assets delivered by?
Is there a layout to follow for your brand's specific packaging requirements?
Is this an editorial or commercial photo shoot?
Although, at first glance it may seem that commercial and editorial photography don't have a big difference they do. Yes, all photographs have to be visually appealing to the consumer, but the two groups have different rules. Commercial photography is more concerned with things like truth in advertising. Jenkins Culinary Resources is no stranger to FTC regulations around this, and we will happily ensure that your product is purchase-compelling and compliant. Editorial is really focused on story-telling which often takes place in magazines, on property, and in social media channels.
We will discuss many other considerations before the shoot day at a pre-production meeting. As JCR has several studios around the New Jersey and New York area we'd be happy to come to you, or host it by email/conference call if needed!