Why is food photography so important for your business?
Food photography tells a story and helps to build an identity for your brand, so you want it to look realistic, authentic and most importantly, delicious. Ideally you want the consumer to think ‘Wow, that looks tasty’ or ‘I really want to try that’, prompting them to take a look at your brand, check out your recipes or maybe even place an order.
In the heart of Suffolk countryside, Sutton Hoo Chicken are a family-owned producer of slow grown free-range chicken, using traditional free range farming methods and rear the chickens slowly to the highest welfare standards. Initially, Curzon’s work with the Sutton Hoo team started with developing a new brand identity, with the end goal being to grow sales by recruiting more artisan butchers and quality farm shops as stockists. We continue to work closely with the team, near Woodbridge, to share their wonderful brand story and satisfy the UK’s appetite for utterly delicious chicken.
To take you behind the scenes of a photoshoot with this great Suffolk brand we caught up with Alex, our Creative Executive here at Curzon Marketing, to discuss a typical day shooting content and going through all the steps he takes to create excellent food photography.
What brief do you get given before a shoot?
“Before the shoot, the account manager for Sutton Hoo Chicken (Charlotte) would prepare a ‘shot list’ which is essentially a bullet point list of the content we are after and the equipment we will need. As we have done quite a few for the Sutton Hoo brand I am normally aware of what I’m shooting and know what to expect, but the ‘shot list’ is an essential reference point for the recipes. It breaks down the type of photos we need such as lifestyle photography, which may include Belinda, the founder of Sutton Hoo Chicken at her home, as her lifestyle is a key part of the shoot for this family-run business”.
What does a typical shoot for Sutton Hoo Chicken look like?
“On the day, typically the shoot is at the farmhouse. So normally I will arrive with all the kit needed, and then run through the plan of action for the day. Belinda usually prepares the food for the recipes we are shooting so often when we are cooking multiple recipes for one shoot, we will edit the ‘shot list’ to incorporate the cooking times and work out what to get started on first. We have a food stylist to help which is fantastic because they help with so many props, table linens, how to fold the linens perfectly and things like finding the exact flowers to match the set perfectly. This helps the food look great but also the orientation styling is quite important, so the food stylist and Belinda are a bit of a dream in the way they work together”.
What happens once the food is cooked and ready to be photographed`?
“Once the first recipe is ready and the set is dressed, I set up the lighting. I like to rely on natural light as much as I can but if there is a dull grey light, I normally use 2-3 lights to try replicate the natural light. After this, I will usually spend 10-15 minutes taking photos from a range of different angles. When it comes to photographing the food, I tend to go handheld with the camera due to the awkward angles that comes with photographing food. Generally, an over-the-top shot of the food tends to work really well”.
Once you have all the brand content, what does the editing process look like and where do the photos get used?
“A recipe shoot with around 3-4 recipes would mean I normally take over 100 photos and the editing process would involve myself and the account manager for the brand where we go through the content. I take a lot of the same shot so I know one will work - I like to try things off the ‘shot list’ too and experiment in the moment a bit. After this, a handful will be picked as the finals and will be signed off by the client but generally for each recipe there’s no need to have more than 10 final photos. Getting client feedback is useful as sometimes they see things I don’t, but we want to make sure they are happy with the photos too. The final images will then be used on the brand website and social media channels”.
How do you edit the photos to match Sutton Hoo Chicken’s brand identity?
“Most of the brand identity comes from the recipes and styling, with a focus on the chicken themselves. Editing therefore, tends to be correcting any lighting issues and developing a filter that will be consistent across all the photos without affecting the product”.
Thinking about all of the elements that go into a brand food photoshoot, what is your favourite part?
“I enjoy the styling and helping to set the scene when working with the food stylist and of course the part at the end where sometimes we get to eat the food. Food photography can be manipulated sometimes to help get a better-quality photo but generally with Sutton Hoo Chicken we can show the food as it is without any enhancements. What you’re seeing is what you’re getting which also sticks to the brand values and nature of the brand”.
And finally, has anything ever gone wrong whilst on a photoshoot and how did you fix it?
“No, I don’t think so! Nothing that I can think of. Although Belinda does have two really sweet dogs which is always a highlight of the shoot getting them involved in some of the lifestyle shots, even if they do try stealing some chicken!”
We deliver a complete outsourced marketing service maintaining an evolving brand communications strategy across social media, email marketing and the design and creation of a new brochure and recipe cards. Photography is included as standard in our operations, campaigns or strategy package.
If you would like to discuss ideas for your brand and the ways we can help put your brand first, we’d love to hear from you, with no obligation on your part and no expectation on ours.
Drop us a line at brandfirst@curzon-marketing.co.uk or give us a call on 01394 366800.