Bowlander Ltd is an innovative supplier of natural ingredients.  They specialise in Individually Quick Frozen (IQF) ready to use chopped herbs and spices, vegetables, fruits and citrus ingredients, as well as many bespoke concentrated ingredients which are delivered to a diverse range of businesses from artisan farm shops,  to market leading meat and vegetable processors. When they chose to update their website, it was critical to ensure the quality of the ingredients in the photographs was evident.  This meant selecting a photographer who was creative, technically capable and one who really understood food photography.  One who could make sure the colours were accurately reproduced, who could work fast under pressure, match the existing brand style and bring in elements of creativity.

After receiving an email shot from R Gill Photography and reviewing his work, Carole Jones, MD at Bowlander, got in touch with Richard to discuss the project.  A brief was developed and the list of ingredients to be photographed was finalised.   As the list included both frozen and dried ingredients it made sense to have two separate photo shoots.  The frozen ingredients would need to be photographed on site to avoid any chance of them defrosting.  For the dried herbs, ambient pastes and other less perishable items these would be photographed in Richard's studio. 

Frozen red peppersFrozen red pepper portions

Richard explained "The photography of the frozen ingredients needs to be done quickly whereas items like herbs and spices need careful attention to detail to bring out the subtle differences in colours and textures. Having a clear and well thought out brief made a big difference to the success of this photoshoot.  For the frozen ingredients shoot the creative process started well in advance sourcing props and backgrounds that would bring the products to life.  For example Richard bought an orange and whisky ginger cake to use in the background of the photos of the citrus ingredients, for the spices using a hessian background helped empahisize their origins Frozen orange piecesFrozen orange pieces (IQF), with and an orange whisky and ginger cake in the background

Carole commented  "We are very pleased with the photos Richard has produced.  He worked very quickly and professionally with the frozen ingredients, showing their frozen structure but still producing an image that was eye catching and creative.  The dried ingredients photographed in the studio also look fabulous.  Richard has been careful to match the style to the branding of our other photography. We are already seeing an increase in enquiries from our updated website, which is a very useful part of our commercial offering in New Product Development, ( see www.bowlander.co.uk to view the results).

Dried herbs and spicesA selection of dried herbs and spices

Behind the Scenes  - Tips for Working with Perishable Goods
When working with items that will perish or change their look quickly then you need to have everything set up in advance.  I worked on the creative look and style of the shots before arriving on site.  I had a selection of backgrounds that matched the current branding style.  The shot was setup using dummy ingredients so all the lighting and camera settings could be worked out in advance.  When the composition was right the real ingredients were then substituted for the dummies.  With just couple of tweaks to get the configuration right the shot could be taken while the ingredients were still completely frozen. 

If you would like to update your website with some new images give me a call on 07557 780336 or send an email to [email protected]