Photographic Styling Shoot - Lisa's Larder
2 June 2017
I was delighted to be asked recently by Lisa Morgan, proprietor of Lisa’s Larder in Keyhaven a well respected farm shop, to style & photograph a selection of meat hampers that were soon to be featured by national magazine and web-based food publication, Delicious.
A large part of my photographic styling work over 30 years has been based around food and so, of course, I jumped at the chance.
With her predominant product being Lamb we had to create a meticulous plan to ensure the meat stayed in peak condition throughout the shoot, retaining its fresh pink appearance; timing was of the essence, it had to be shot the day it was butchered.
I teamed up with a photographer I work with on a regular basis and we used a dummy item to prep ahead of the meat arriving at the studio, which assured us that the lighting and positioning would work.
The brief was to create height in the shot as these images needed to be specifically formatted to a square, whilst at the same time trying to make the meat look tidy and 'clear to the eye' to ensure it reflected exactly what you would receive if you ordered a box....as well as being a 'pretty' shot - an odd thing to say I know! Various props had been sourced and were at the ready with fresh herbs, salt and pepper and chiliis.
Naturally we began with the largest of the shots first which was consisted of a leg of Lamb, a rolled shoulder of Lamb, two packs of Lamb mince, two packs of Cubed Lamb, and a dozen Lamb chops. Taking care not to over-handle the meat, including not allowing it to get warm, we dressed it with natural props to deliver the brand message clearly.
The smaller pack shots were quite intricate as we had to stack and balance some of the pieces to show them off and optimize the current trend for alternative cuts.
Shot at No64 - the lighting technique was soft and diffused. The flash head was equipped with a soft box and shot through a large 216 white diffusion trace screen. There was also a small amount of catch light from the rear to show the shape of the meat and add some natural shadows. Shot using a hi-end DLSR tethered to capture one pro imaging software.
The final portrait shot of Lisa herself (a rare event I'm told!) was taken on location at No64 – It was shot using a mixture of natural light and very diffused flash, then we bounced light off the wall from the right hand side onto the shot.
