Studio Shoot for SunWest Foods

Last month I shot the full product line of rice and nuts for SunWest Foods in Davis.

They actually sent there entire product line (including 50 pound bags of rice) to my studio.

I shot everything from their full product line in a single shot (well, actually three shots stitched and blended together), to individual products, to loose nut products.

This was an interesting and difficult shoot. First of all, my studio isn't really big enough to have a bunch of 50 pound bags lying around for several weeks. Secondly, those bags are heavy and difficult to move around.

But the biggest problem with the big bags was the fact that they sagged when you stood them up for their portraits. So, for some of the shots, I laid the bags on the floor to smooth them out more.

Another approach I took for dealing with the wrinkles caused by sagging bags was to light the bags from several different angles and then merge the differently lit shots in Photoshop to minimize the shadows and glare. Though this was a bit labor intensive, it produced excellent results.

I had a little fun with a couple of shots, scattering loose rice around the product jar.

Of course, after sitting in my studio for a couple of weeks, the 300 pounds of rice and nuts we had photographed couldn't be sold, so, with the permission of the folks at SunWest, we donated it all to the Chico Jesus Center. Here it is in the back of my truck ready to be delivered.

Although challenging in some ways, this was a successful and fulfilling shoot.