All professional food photography shoots present different conflicts and challenges. But few present as many, and different, conflicts and challenges as this shoot on location in Palm Beach, Sydney. How come so many conflicts and challenges? Well, here were the conflict ingredients:
- Australian mushrooms.
- TV celebrity chef.
- Hired house.
- Video and sound film crew.
- Often dim or difficult lighting.
- A lot of people on the shoot.
- The need to capture images in multiple formats for use in multiple marketing campaigns.
- A tight time schedule – not just for us, but for everyone involved.
And here, as a result of the conflict ingredients, was the challenge:
- Every shot, every image, had to be perfect, first time, every time.
As recipes go, that one was not too easy. But, with professionalism, patience, expertise, and experience (plus, of course, a love and knowledge of not just food photography but also food itself), a success it was.
Here’s the story. 
Our client was Bite Communications, the PR/communications agency for Australian Mushrooms. We had been hired to capture the stills of the mushrooms, the preparation of, and the finished mushroom recipes as presented by Australian Mushroom’s ambassador, celebrity chef Miguel Maestre, author and owner of Maestre Family Food.
So far, so good, and nothing too difficult there. But, when you add into the mix the fact that all this was to take place in a hired house in Palm Beach, over a two day period, with a huge on-set staff including, in addition to ourselves, a production crew including cameraman, lighting guy, sound guy, producer along with a PR agency team of 3, food stylist, TV celebrity chef, child talent complete with parents, then things start getting interesting.
That’s a lot of people on the set of the shoot, a lot of people to work around, and a lot of people all with their own requirements, priorities, and schedules that had to be understood, respected, and accommodated. And, from the client’s point of view, that’s a lot of people on the payroll. So time is money!
That’s why every shot, every image, every move we took had to be perfect, first time, every time.
Plus, our images needed to be captured in multiple formats – portrait and landscape – while always ensuring the images contained enough text space for the designers to incorporate them into multiple different marketing campaigns.
Did it all work out? Yes. Was it always easy? No. Dim and sometimes difficult lighting, coupled with the constant communication needed to appreciate and anticipate the needs of all the many other people constantly on set, as well as the expectations of our client, and our client’s client, plus our own need to focus on delivering punchy professional images presented a unique smorgasbord of conflicts and challenges.
And did we focus on what was important; the product, the process, the finished food, and the TV celebrity chef, Miguel Maestre? You bet. And was the client happy? Absolutely. The images were featured across the internet, social media, online promotional campaigns in print media such as Women’s Weekly, and in national newspapers.
As a food and drink photographer, that’s what we do. No matter what the media is, we make sure our images will work for you and are a recipe for success!
If you need help with your food photography, get the ball rolling by getting in touch.
