Food Product Photography Campaign for Lakewinds Co-op
If you asked me in June what season I was shooting for, I would tell you fall (even though it was 80 degrees outside and pumpkin patches were hard to come by). That's the fun, slightly wild timing of shooting for print.
When I worked with the team at Lakewinds Co-op on their quarterly newsletter, we were photographing fall recipes months before anyone was even dreaming about apple cider or pumpkin spice anything, because it takes about three months for a piece to get designed, printed, and land in mailboxes.
So if you want fall content to feel like fall when people open their mailboxes in September, you're shooting it in early summer.
I love sharing the behind-the-scenes of a shoot like this one, because a single day in the studio packs more strategy than people usually expect (especially when a client needs that day to work incredibly hard for them).
The Team Behind The Shoot
Client: Lakewinds Co-op
Location: Studio 8900 in Hopkins
Services: Photography, Editing & Retouching
Team: Shelagh from She Cooks Design; Lakewinds Co-op
Deliverables: High-end imagery for use in Lakewinds’ quarterly newsletter as well as for use on their website and social channels
Great print photography starts long before the camera comes out.
Before we stepped into the studio, we held a couple of pre-production meetings to align the team on the vision and plan for the photoshoot. The project designer had already built a flat plan, which is the digital layout designers use to map out a flexible layout where, in this instance, each photo, recipe, and headline will live in the finished piece.
That flat plan changes how you shoot. When you're shooting for print, you're composing a beautiful image that leaves white space for the headlines and text to pop. Dark text is easily legible on lighter backgrounds and vice versa, another factor that is considered when selecting backdrops for food photos. Additionally, ingredients and props are placed with intention, with every element positioned so the text shines once the image is dropped into the layout.
It's a different kind of problem-solving than a straightforward product shot.
How far ahead should you shoot seasonal content for print?
About three months out, sometimes more. Print has a longer lead time than digital marketing. Lakewinds wanted their fall newsletter landing in owners’ mailboxes by September, so we photographed this content in June. It feels far ahead at first, but once you adjust to the timeline, it becomes part of the planning process.
What is a flat plan?
It's the digital layout a design team builds ahead of a shoot, showing exactly where each photo and chunk of text will live in the final piece. I love studying these before a shoot because they guide how I work alongside clients to compose each image.
On location, we use the flat plan as a living document. Each time we finalize an image in front of the camera, the designer drops a screenshot of the final image into the flat plan document to check spacing, layout needs, etc. We then tweak things in front of the camera to get the spacing perfect before striking the set.
Using the flat plan actively on set gives the team a solid idea of what the final document will look like once it’s printed. The colors, photo, text, and other design elements complement each other, seamlessly bringing each page together into a beautiful piece of art. I get giddy seeing it all come together every time!
Inside the shoot at Studio 8900 in Hopkins, MN.
We shot at Studio 8900 in Hopkins, an incredible local space with a full kitchen built right in (owned by Perry, who is the nicest guy and great to work with!). Having a kitchen on-site meant we could cook, style, and shoot without losing momentum, which matters a lot when you've got a full shot list and one day to capture all the goodness!
And the shot list was full. In a one-day shoot, we captured:
Coupon shots of individual products
A cover shot featuring the cutest model
Recipe features including a spiced apple donut loaf and an autumnal tortellini
Chicken curry hand pies from a few angles (an inside shot and a close-up insert)
Beautifully styled sheet pan ratatouille that turned out to be one of my favorite images from the whole day. The colors felt very fall-like and came together beautifully in this one!
The cover shot featured a child model who was the sweetest (she brought her own rubber toy snake y to set and loved showing it off between shots! Too cute!) She was a natural, and we had a lot of fun capturing shots for both the cover and the inside of the magazine. The hardest part was choosing only two photos from the dozen or so adorable ones we captured.
It takes a team.
A shoot like this only comes together because of a collaborative dream team! Shelagh from She Cooks Design led recipe development and food styling, helping every dish look its best in front of the camera! The Lakewinds team led up prop and backdrop selection and wardrobe design, giving the whole shoot a cohesive, fall-like feel before I ever clicked the shutter. My favorite projects are the ones where everyone brings their expertise to the table. The result is so much stronger than what any one person could pull off alone!
Turning a print shoot into social and web content.
Once we had each priority shot locked in for print, I moved through the space capturing extra angles and variations that Lakewinds could use for social media and digital uses.
A marketing team member grabbed some iPhone videos too, so by the end of the day they walked away with content ready for Q3 print, social, and web uses, all from a single-day shoot.
That's the part I want more brands to know is possible. A well-planned shoot day doesn't have to be one-dimensional. With the right prep, one day in the studio can fuel content across every channel for months.
Can one shoot cover print, social, and web?
Yes, and honestly, this is one of my favorite parts of a well-planned shoot day. Once the priority print shots are locked in, there's usually still time to capture extra angles and variations built specifically for social and web. Add in a little video, and one day in the studio can fuel content across every channel for months.
Why quarterly photography works so well for this food co-op.
Lakewinds does these shoots quarterly, and I have a lot of respect for the process their team has built around it. Each season gets its own shoot, flat plan, and list of recipes and features, meaning their content pipeline never runs dry.
It's a rhythm I'd love to see more brands adopt. It takes planning up front, but it pays off in a steady stream of usable content all year long.
Let's Plan Your Next Food Product Photography Shoot
One thoughtfully planned shoot day at Studio 8900, a flat plan designed for print, and a team of talented collaborators meant that by the end of the day, we had enough content to carry Lakewinds across their newsletter, social channels, and website for the whole season.
If your brand has big content needs, but wants photos that stretch across every channel you show up on, that's exactly the kind of project I love digging into.
I'd love to hear about your project and talk through how we can make one shoot day work as hard as possible for you. Reach out, and let's chat about what you have in mind!
Meet The Photographer
Hi, I'm Ashley! I'm the food photographer behind the lens at Studio Moyna, shooting for food and drink brands across the Twin Cities and the Midwest. I'm also a Registered Dietitian, so I can talk nutrition and ingredients as easily as lighting and composition. From local co-ops to national commodity boards, I love helping brands create drool-worthy food photos they can confidently use again and again to crush their marketing goals and convert followers into lifelong fans!