Photograph 15 super fast melting products in your home studio? Challenge accepted! Working with Lopez Island Creamery was an absolute dream. I had always wanted to try my hand at working with ice cream in a bigger capacity. Having only ever photographed individual ice cream flavors as random product photography for local grocery stores, I knew this session was going to take a lot of planning and organization. This opportunity melded two of my favorite things: working with local businesses and this sweet, tasty treat!
The Challenge
Working with ice cream is inherently difficult due to how quickly it melts. This high quality ice cream in particular melted faster than other kinds of ice creams due to its ingredients. The goal was to photography 15 different products, each that would require different styling, fresh ingredients and props. I knew I was going to have to move quickly and efficiently, so I drew out each scene, collected the props and grouped products that utilize similar backdrops and fresh ingredients together in the timeline. When building out that timeline, I also had to consider allowing time to clean various dishes that I would need to use again during a different scene and needed to strategically map out how to fit all these various products in my freezer in an organized way that made it east for me to methodically pull them out in order of my shot list. This proved to be trickier than anticipated and next time I will be sure to have ice filled coolers and/or a second freezer on hand! Thankfully, I had 4 pints of each flavor so there was room for error if things melted quicker than expected. I always recommend leaving extra product with your photographer whenever possible for these unforeseeable, and sometimes unavoidable, difficulties!
Another tricky thing to think about was how to scoop the ice cream, and with what tool, to get that beautiful rippled look in the cream rather than a smooth texture that didn’t have a lot of character. I found that using a cold scoop with a sharp kind of scoop head to be the most effective – I liked this one! From there you have to be sure to scoop DOWN into the pint rather than around the top to really fill the middle of that scooper and allow the “extra” to build up around the sides. It was really good to have those extra pints for scooping practice, too. Remember that not all ice cream is the same, so be sure to practice scooping on the actual product you will be using!
The Project
The goal of this project was to photograph 11 different pints of ice cream and 4 different kinds of ice cream sandwiches with and without packaging. We wanted to be sure that the photos allowed the product to be the hero and that fresh ingredients and props/backgrounds were used only as supportive accessories that helped showcase the star of the show rather than distracting or taking away. It was important to include those ingredients because many of the different flavors from Lopez Island Creamery are all the same color as they don’t use any dyes or coloring in their products. So, those fresh ingredients were one of the best ways to show off each flavor in a fun and unique way.
This session took about five hours in total. It yielded 158 different photos of the products, each product including a top down, 45 and 90 degree shot at minimum.
The Takeaway
Working with an ever changing subject and in a VERY short window of time was challenging, but thanks to a detailed shot list, a thoughtful timeline and great organization, this session was very successful. Lopez Island Creamery has been able to use these images to help grow their business which is now located in a new location that includes an even bigger commercial kitchen and production area, a public storefront to grab a pint or a cone and they are constantly offering their delicious products in more and more stores around the area. I LOVED the Peanut Butter Chip and Cookies and Cream, but every flavor was unique and tasty! I would HIGHLY recommend stopping into their storefront or picking up a pint!
If you’re looking for other examples of studio work like this, check out Fidalgo Fudge and Holly’s Meat Pies!
After the studio session I even had the chance to spend some time with the team onsite while they made a fresh batch of Skagit Strawberry! I LOVE behind the scenes work like this and the crew was a lot of fun to be around.
