Food Shots for Local Business

© Phillip Shannon Photography - Food Photographer UK

I was recently commissioned to spend the day at a fantastic local food business.

The business is actually a farm and sells much of the things they produce in their own farm shop, the business also has a wonderful restaurant onsite preparing freshly made meals often with their own meat and vegetables.

This kind of location photography offers various challenges to the commercial photographer, and one word springs to mind " flexibility ".

Being able to switch from one type of scenario to the next, with relative ease comes from spending many years carrying out commercial photography for a variety of businesses and clients.

Dealing with changeable location settings, and working with natural daylight and flash too are skills which you'd expect your photographer to harness with good effect.

Working very closely with my client before and during the shoot meant that they could see the images being taken as it happened, advise, and control each scenario as it unfolded so that each image was working very hard to answer each and every design and marketing question the client had set.

Planning the shoot was the key to the success of this project, we held meetings and spoke many times before the camera and flash lights were unpacked. The graphic designer gave valuable art direction, during the shoot to, this graphic input was vital as the website design and other marketing platforms were all considered.

Working as a Professional Food Photographer I have carried out a huge variety of food shoots on location and within the studio too. Please visit my main portfolio site to view the Food Portfolio.

Phillip Shannon is a Professional Commercial Photographer based in Leeds, Yorkshire, UK and can offer a studio and location photography service.

Visit the website to view all the other portfolios too. http://www.phillipshannonphotography.com/

The vital role of a food Stylist for food photography

To produce delicious food photographs for a food product or to display a new recipe for a cookery book, you must enlist the skills of a professional food photographer, that I imagine you already knew, but equally important, when undertaking professional photography is the role of the food stylist.

The food stylist is the key to success when photographing dishes for websites, brochures or publications of the food that you are promoting or seeking to show.

This tried and tested combination of photographic skill and food preparation knowledge is in many if not all the food shots you see in the media.

A food stylist will often have many years of hands on experience in the food industry, maybe as a chef, teacher or producer of food. This wealth of experience and knowledge goes into the mix when the food shoot is being planned and right through the shooting process.

Having carried out many food shoots over the years, one thing is certain, producing shots for cooked food dishes & producing commercial and professional photography of food items for publication is more successful with the added skills of a food stylist.

The final images will always look more polished, sleek and have more impact on the page of your website, or cookery book when this combination of skills is employed.

Take a look at an example of some recent food photography shown here, and in the food portfolio.
(All images are subject to Copyright and must not be copied or pinned or used in any way without permission)

If this is the first time you have visited my portfolio website, take a look at the other portfolios too Still life Jewellery Creative People Locations
(All images are subject to Copyright and must not be copied or pinned or used in any way without permission)

Phillip Shannon is an award winning photographer with over 16 years experience in commercial photography.

Phillip Shannon is a professional photographer based in Leeds Yorkshire UK and can offer full studio facilities or a location photography service at your business address.

Areas covered include Leeds, Bradford, Wetherby, York & Harrogate, and further afield. Location photography is handled across the UK to suit your needs.

Contact Phillip Shannon, Professional Photographer based in Leeds for your next commercial photography project.

Food Photographer shoots for website launch

We were delighted to spend three days shooting for a major retail brand of chutneys, condiments and salad dressings.

The food photography took on many different approaches, from creative food shots to a more structured and design led set of images.

The shoot was a great one to get your teeth into ( pardon the pun ) and was a real team event.

Photographer, Food Stylist, Client and Art direction all blended well together to create the delicious food photography.

Knowing that the images will be used for a great deal of purposes, website, brochure, exhibition and promotional material, we set about shooting the products with this in mind.

This organised, design led and creative source means the client ends up with a huge set of versatile images which can be used across all platforms to promote the new range of food products.

If you are thinking about planning your own food shoot then planning the running or schedule of the shoot is all important to getting the most out of the time available.

This food shoot was carried out in studio, which is an ideal place to carry out this kind of work, location photography of food can be achieved if the  environment is suitable, having enough space to work, and having the kitchen close to the shoot area is very important.

If this is the first time you have visited my blog, take a look at the portfolios on my main website here Food Still life Jewellery Creative People Locations
(All images are subject to Copyright and must not be copied or pinned or used in any way without permission)

Phillip Shannon is an award winning photographer with over 16 years experience in commercial photography, the food portfolio can been seen here in the portfolio section along side the other areas of the photography service.

Phillip Shannon is a professional photographer based in Leeds Yorkshire and can offer full studio facilities or a location photography service at your business address.

Areas covered include Leeds, Bradford, Wetherby, York & Harrogate, and further afield. Location photography is handled across the UK to suit your needs

Preparing for a Food Photography project

Over the last few days I have been busily preparing for a food shoot.

The project requires a lot of people's input and involves arranging a great deal of information to be collected to make sure the food shoot goes as well as possible.

It such an important part of the photographic process I thought I'd jot down a few pointers for you, if you are planning your next shoot.

1. Know what you want, be clear about which shots are required and how they will be utilized.
2. Once you know the images you need, where will they be used, crop requirements etc..
3. Props and other items needed for the food photograph.
4. Deciding who has final approval over the images produced is very important.
5. Schedule dates and times so that everyone that needs to be involved can be available.

Luckily this project is very well organised, and everybody involved is experienced in organising and taking part in the overall photographic process. So I can't wait to get started on this project. Will be posting images from the shoot in due course.

Until then here's a snap shot of what can be found in my current food portfolio.

I am a Food Photographer based in Leeds, Yorkshire, and can shoot food for you in studio or on location in and around the area, or further afield, just contact via the website http://www.phillipshannonphotography.com/contact.php

Food Photography with a difference

I was recently commissioned to produce some food photography, with a slight twist. The shoot was to create an image based on a very particular brief.

The image was to form the basis of a logo, and as such had to be very graphic in its structure, so I set about breaking down the problem into elements to ease into the photographic shoot ahead of me.

The food shoot was to photograph an orange with its peel rising up in a spiral above the main body of the fruit, as if it was floating.

I have shown the finished image below and the elements involved in the photographic approach to this particular studio shoot.

As a food photographer and working in the commercial world, this type of shoot is a great one to tackle, as it involves working to a particular brief as part of the overall marketing plan, something which I have a lot of experience with.

Based in Leeds, Yorkshire, UK, I have been fortunate to work with a great deal of food brands, businesses and marketing or advertising agencies across the region and around the UK.

My food portfolio shows a wider variety of work undertaken throughout recent years. Please visit the website here:

http://www.phillipshannonphotography.com/portfolio/food-and-drink.php

Helping food businesses connect with customers through professional photography

It is no doubt that any business needs a positive connection with its customers, whether you are a small local store or a city centre office your business success depends upon new and existing customers coming through the door or somehow purchasing your product or service.

In the food industry one of the great ways to connect with new customers is through trade shows, exhibitions, or even you're own open day.

As we look at the year before us, a great deal of food exhibitions, trade shows, food fairs and local events are taking place from Leeds to Los Angeles.

A great deal of variety exists in the world of trade shows, from the mega-complex's of a national exhibition space, to rural or local events where only a handful of stall holders are involved, whatever the event is, the ambition for your food business should be the same.

    1.    What are the fundamentals about my product that I need to convey
    2.    How do I communicate that to my customer
    3.    If I am selling at the show, is my price point competitive
    4.    How do I retain my customers long term
    5.    Do my competitors have a more successful product?, if so, why?

Needless to say the list could go on, but these 5 points are made for you to look at your food business and ask questions about how you communicate with the lifeblood of your business - your customer.

A food business in Leeds, Yorkshire can take advantage of the wealth of commercial expertise around them to evolve and promote their business through a series of channels. One is design and marketing and the other is Food Photography.

As a food photographer Phillip Shannon is well experienced in producing food images that sell your product online or in-store through point of sale, brochure or catalogue. Over many years and hundreds of studio and location shoots, the experience gained equals a very successful shoot for your food enterprise.

If this is the first time you've visited my blogger page please click the link to my portfolio site & take a while to view the other areas including all of the portfolios.

Phillip Shannon is a professional photographer based in Leeds Yorkshire and can offer full studio facilities or a location photography service at your business address.

Areas covered in the UK include Leeds, Bradford, Wetherby, York & Harrogate, and further afield. Location photography is handled across the UK to suit your needs.

Product Photography

A few days have passed since the last post, as the studio has been very busy with product photography. A range of items have been in front of the camera from handmade soaps to cakes and ginger bread men.

The task has been the same with all the clients, that is to get the most out of the products to fulfill the needs of their business. This is a really important aspect of the commercial photographers lot, to tune into what the client needs the images to do is what makes for a successful professional product photography shoot.

My other tasks over the last week has also to look at the creative and food photography section of my portfolio, I'm planning on entering the Pink lady Food photographer of the year competition so I'm really looking forward to putting my images together for that.