I recently shot a social media takeover for Natural Delights Medjool Dates at mindbodygreen. The shoot highlighted a tasty recipe for non-dairy ice cream made with dates, cashews, and matcha. It was a lot of fun, and here are several notes that made the shoot go smoothly and relatively quickly.
1. Create a Moodboard
I sourced these three images and used them as inspiration for the food styling: messy, imperfect, and full of toppings that add texture to the ice cream.
When garnishing the ice cream, I chose extra matcha powder for color and chopped dates for texture – similar to the moodboard’s green ice cream.
2. Pick a Complementary Seamless Background
For this campaign, I needed one eye-popping seamless to get the job done. [Pro tip: Adorama in Manhattan in store sells short seamless rolls for just $15.99. Great for playing around with small to medium still life set ups.]
I ultimately picked lavender because it accentuates the recipe’s main ingredient: green matcha! Complementary colors jive well together (think purple & green, purple & yellow, yellow & green).
3. Keep It Minimal
Keeping the scene minimal allowed the ingredients and colors to shine. I love how the cascading cashews are so simple and uncomplicated but full of texture and motion.
Overall it was a success. Also, shout out to Elizabeth Bobbitt and Ray Bass who collab-ed on the food styling!
What are interesting tips you learned from a recent shoot? Share below!
