We haven’t really shared behind the scenes articles as much as we would have liked to. That’s changing though; presenting you with the behind the scenes shots & explainers for Sweet Art Creations product photography!
We really do love what we do. The team especially loved this shoot because the different chocolate flavours were sooo good. Do you know that feeling when you taste bacon for the first time, or walk into a coffee shop full of the smell of freshly brewed coffee? Or a bakery just when the pastries are rising and they spread the love through the sensational aroma they so generously roll out.
I kid you not, tasting these chocolates personally gave me shivers, and I was transported, to a mountain top, tasting the fresh air, to an orchard, tasting the oranges, to a coffee farm, tasting the fresh coffee. To my childhood, tasting Snack chocolate once again.
Wee these chocolates, turned me to a poet.
P.s. I bought this for my birthday, I just had to enjoy that orange crunch. Plus that aroma, I would inhale then bite.
Location
We had the shoot at the office with Karen & Simon from TAG Creative, the client’s Agency joining us. Prior to the shoot, we had a meeting with the agency to understand the client’s products and the direction we should pursue. Fun fact, the client has at least 23 chocolate flavours. The Agency also worked on the packaging. The packaging is quite interesting, it just stands out.
Prep
We had an easier time prepping this chocolate compared to other chocolates we have shot before as they didn’t have that whitish, “faded” look. The chocolates had been transported in a styrofoam “looking” box to prevent them from being affected by hot or cold temperature. We were also to avoid putting them in the fridge, as extreme cold affects taste and texture.
You May also like: Why Pre -Production Meetings Meetings Are Important In Food Photography + Free PPM Checklist
We only used the heat gun once or twice to make sure the chocolate looked vibrant. The client had given us extra chocolate that we could unwrap as well as the “proper” wrapped ones. Though we could play around with the extra chocolate, we still had to be careful with the heat gun. Chocolate burns so easily & this particular brand of chocolate is melt in your mouth/hands kind of chocolate. Unfortunately we don’t have images when we used the heat gun.
We used gloves to handle the chocolate as we didn’t want our finger prints all over them. Also, if you hold this chocolate for a minute, it’s remaining on your fingertips. It just melts away.
Lighting
We had a two lighting set up for the styled images. The octa-box was placed at ¾ back position and another light was at the back on a reflector head. At the front of the product, we had 2 bounce cards. When we shot the e commerce images, we used one light as that was sufficient.
You may also like our previous blog: 2021, Our Rebirth & 8 Powerful Business Lessons We Learnt
Styling
Since the packaging is bright and vibrant, the general consensus was to use a bright background as well that complements each flavor. Each chocolate flavor is represented by a distinct colour. We also showcased the flavor /or the ingredients for each chocolate type. For mint chocolate, we used a yellow background that would work well with the green.
Seeing that the flavours were so many, we shot over 2 days. Never say die is an ad for batteries; not humans.
Tips when shooting chocolate
• Store the chocolate in a cool place away from heat and extreme cold. Do not refrigerate
• Use latex gloves when handling the chocolate
• Have a heat gun handy when you need to make the chocolate look vibrant
• For some shots, you will need to get very close so a macro lens will be handy for the shoot as well
• Resist the urge to eat the products before the shoot is done
We loved he results from the shoot and so did the client. We hope to share more BTS blogs, let us know in the comments below whether that is something you would like to see more of.
You can see more images from the project HERE.
