We had some fun recently shooting for the Turkey division of a long time client. As always, behind the scenes and out of sight of the camera, everything tends to look a little different.
An interesting challenge with this project was we needed to find a way to photograph four farmers once and have the ability at a later date to change out the food they were holding. We decided the best solution was to choose one plate and one platter that we would use over and over again. We made a support device that would hold the empty plate and platter in a fixed position that allowed the models to hold them differently expressions and body positions.
Whenever there's a chance we will shoot additional images that require the same look and feel (lighting, spacial relations, perspective, etc.), we craft drawings and take measurements of everything on set. This allows us to recreate the exact set-up and shoot more food that can be photoshopped onto the plate and platter we originally shot with the farmers. And an added bonus – by keeping the plate/platter supporting device thin, we have minimal retouching!
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| Model and food set all in one. |
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| Our hero turkey shot that will be placed on an empty platter our farmer is holding. |
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| Stylist Sarah Thompson Lift getting our GQ farmer ready for his close-up. |
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| Always fun to photobomb the food stylist. |
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| It never looks the same from the back of the set. |
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| I always have to have my hands involved in something, to the chagrin of the stylist. |
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| How about a little left? No right. No left! It looks perfect just where you had it. (:-) |
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| Putting the final paint stripper touches on the bird. |
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| Wardrobe, please! |
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| Farmer gear. |
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Any time there is a chance we will be shooting additional shots that need to have the same look and feel,
our assistant takes tons of measurements and photos so we can recreate the same look again. Thanks Ben! |
