Food styling for commercial food photography…package design.

Hello to all,

It is pretty cool for me to turn on the tv or walk through a store and see some of my food styling work. Today I was walking through Costco in the San Francisco Bay Area and saw some of my work on this Thai Vegetable Curry packaging from Sun Tropics. Costco only carried this product in the midwest to start. The product must be doing well.

Since I was a little kid, I have always had an entrepreneurial spirit. I had a paper route while I was working at my grandpa’s shoe repair shop. ( that’s right kids of today… I had 2 jobs when I was 10 years old. Ha!) I wanted to own my own business, so I started my own business making and selling animal traps, and my friends and I would also try our hands at retail once in a while with a lemonade stand. We didn’t just sell lemonade. We sold candy bars, etc… I like to watch Shark Tank sometimes just to see how excited and motivated people are about getting their product off the ground.

To get to work with the people from Sun Tropics is a lot of fun for me because they are a family run business chasing a dream. I love it! They are also very nice people. There is so much work that goes into getting a food product on the grocery store shelves. Working as a food stylist for this package was just a small piece of the puzzle to getting their product in Costco.

Another cool piece of the puzzle is getting to work with a professional-commercial food photographer. A food photographer is not just a normal photographer. They specialize in lighting and knowing their camera inside and out to get the perfect shot of food. The pre-production meetings, communication, etc… involved is crucial so the day of the photoshoot goes smoothly. We need to have the mood board in our head as we are working, to create the perfect feel which will fit into the overall package design. Marshall Gordon a San Francisco food photographer, and his assistant Dan Mitchell did a great job. I think I’ve mentioned working with Marshall in past social media posts. He is a real pro at food photography and a great guy. It is always a pleasure to get to work with him on a photoshoot. It was my first time working with Dan. He is a superstar for sure!

It is rewarding to me to get to help someone else try and achieve their dreams. As you can see in the photos, Costco has pallets of product stacked and ready. I thank and wish all the wonderful people at Sun Tropics all the best, and can’t wait to get to work with them again.

Enjoy!