Dream Team

teamwork makes the dream work

Yes, this is one of the most clichéd phrases in all of history. But we hear it so often because it's true. The creative process can often be a solo activity, but when you throw the word commercial into the mix, it changes everything completely. There are budgets to consider, marketing goals, brand guidelines, recipes, launch dates, and a whole host of other criteria that no one person can deal with alone. This is where teams come in. For this post I'll be focusing on a project I worked on with Nourish Food Marketing for their client, Seafood Canada.

the first step

Let's say you, client, approach me for a project. You're launching 3 new products and you want images of both the packaging and the product in use in a lifestyle situation. You ask me how much it'll cost. The short answer is: I don't know. I need a lot more information to go on before I can come up with a cost estimate. So to figure out how best I can serve you, we schedule a discovery call so I can learn all the details of your project and better understand your goals. You can learn all about the production process on my About page. But essentially we need to decide how long the project will take, the date for the final deliverables, how you're going to use the images, and whether we need any additional team members to accomplish this. No two projects are exactly the same and clients always require different things.

photographic production team members

Apart from the photographer, there are many other people who may be part of a photographic production to make the process go more smoothly. For the project with Nourish Marketing, there was no possible way I could do it alone and I had a lot of people around me to help create the client's final vision. Below I've listed some of the team members I worked with on this project, but they could also include a personal assistant, photographer's assistant, hand model, director, digital technician, and photo retoucher.

workflow

On shoot day, I immediately began setting up my camera and lights and modifiers while the food stylist and test kitchen chef prepared the recipes for set. The creative director printed out our shot list along with sample inspiration images and taped them up so we could see our assignments for the day. We ordered the shots based on recipe timing but also on camera orientation requirements so we weren't having to tear down and rebuild as often. In this case the food stylist was also the prop stylist and she did an incredible job balancing the roles. She had all the props pre-organized by recipe and was super efficient at styling and making the food look its best. I set up a live view of the camera on a monitor so we could properly compose the shots and ensure everything was aligned. Once we thought we had the final shot, the creative director would send it to the client for approval and we'd wait for the thumbs up before switching out the scene and moving on. In between shots, while the stylist was in the kitchen getting the next recipe ready, I'd manage my files and ensure the chosen shots were correctly tagged and labeled. We shot over 1000 images over the course of 2 days and only needed 24 final deliverables, so organization was imperative.

the photographer's role

For the shoot with Nourish Marketing I was able to focus solely on lighting and composition and how best to achieve the desired photographic effect. I had a team behind me to take care of all the creative details, come up with a shot list, ensure the food was prepared and looking pretty and the props were ready to go. But I often work on projects where I do all of those things. When working with a small business owner, for instance, I'll be the one coming up with the creative ideas and preparing mood boards and creative decks. I shop for ingredients and cook the food, I choose and lay out the props, and I style everything to perfection. And of course I capture the images and perform extensive post-production work afterwards. But it's challenging to focus on every single aspect of the photoshoot all at once, and it takes a lot of time.

why you might need a team

So if I can perform the functions of an entire team, then why hire one at all? Well, it depends on your goals as a business and what you hope to accomplish in a certain amount of time. On my own, I can usually prepare and style 2-3 full recipes per shoot day and capture images in similar setups. On one 10-hour day working with the team, we were able to capture 4 recipes in 2 distinct setups each, plus one stop-motion video per recipe. That may have taken me 3 days to produce on my own. So sometimes, hiring an additional team member can actually result in cost savings.

Hiring different people for different roles also allows everyone to do their very best work and focus solely on one responsibility. I can ensure lighting and composition is perfect while the stylist places each individual sesame seed in exactly the right place. This becomes especially important if you are shooting images for packaging or for advertising. The more stringent your standards for the final image, the more team members you may want to involve. Hiring a retoucher is also an option if you require significant digital cleanups on your images or you want to create images that can only be achieved by compositing frames together or by removing extensive hardware from the background. Photographers can often perform these basic tasks, but they are not as skilled or as efficient as someone who is a retouching expert.

create your best work

I hope I've given you a lot to think about when it comes to organizing your photoshoot. Professional photography is a business investment, and it can maximize your return if you hire the right people for the job. If I were to advise you on just one additional team member to bring in on a shoot, it would hands down be a food stylist. They are experts in their field who know all the tricks of the trade, and they can focus on the food while your photographer focuses on capturing the images. Together they'll be able to create the most visually appealing images that make your products shine in their very best light.

Click the button below if you'd like to schedule some time to talk about a project, or drop me a line to ask questions or let me know your thoughts.