Creating motion food photography work is very different than doing stills. For one, it takes more people, more equipment, more planning, more vision, more editing and more patience. I’m not always great at any one of these, but all of these…? Oh boy, I need help…big time. I’ve said before and I’ll likely say until…well, you know…I highly value and enjoy working with others in creative collaboration.

For this short exploratory test spot we worked here in the studio with a very small crew…um…John? Good job! Big thanks to Matt Huesmann for all the hats he’s able to wear and to Hannah Messinger for food styling and even some mighty fine hand modeling work.

– Kyle

We don’t often get asked to photograph raw meats, so we decided to take it upon ourselves to do some personal/portfolio work on the subject. Nashville food stylist Teresa Blackburn and I schemed up the idea of doing these graphic still lives. I guess this is just further proof that food photography and food styling isn’t always a recipe or something on a restaurant menu.

Truth be known, Teresa and I get into a zone when working together on little projects like this. I guess it’s our fine art backgrounds that kick in and take over. The compositions develop as Teresa pulls wonderful items from her personal prop collection, I knock the dust off some of my coveted props, and we play.

Additional thanks and credit to our assistants Tonya and John.

Such a fun day. – Kyle

BTW, these images are part of a bigger body of work I call graphic food photography.

In 1989, the movie sequel Back to the Future II was released. This is relevant because in the movie Marty McFly, the protagonist, time travels forward to today—October 21, 2015. So I thought we would do a little time traveling ourselves and visit some old Dreier & Company behind-the-scenes photos. A lot has changed over the past few years including the addition of yours truly to the team. Enjoy these photos, explore the blog, and follow us on instagram to see more of the fun things this company has done over the years and is currently doing. – John

p.s. Sorry, Marty, no flying cars yet.

Dessert. Too many calories. Too much sugar. It will spoil your appetite. You won’t get any if you don’t finish your vegetables.

Well today throw all that logic into the garbage, because it’s National Dessert Day and you need to be celebrating. Get out there, eat your favorite sweet treat and enjoy it to the fullest. Today’s the day to substitute your salad for a slice of cake and your green tea for a milkshake. Indulge. In case you need some inspiration, here are a few delectable photographs hot out of our image archive oven. Now go and eat, and whatever you do today be sure to save room for dessert. – John

My grandmother always says that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, so today we are going to take a VERY close look at breakfast…literally. At Dreier & Company we find ourselves shooting delicious breakfast foods all the time. Not only are breakfast foods tasty, but they also offer a lot of fun elements to photograph. In recent years I have gotten in a pretty bad habit of skipping breakfast (don’t tell my grandmother), but on days when we shoot pancakes or some other early morning treat, it’s a big reminder to start treating myself—and my stomach—in the mornings. When I do manage to get myself out of bed in time, there isn’t a much more peaceful or satisfying moment of the day than enjoying breakfast and a hot cup of coffee early in the morning. – John

Check out more of our up close encounters here.

I’m a firm believer in taking time to play with ideas and techniques…whether a food photographer or a candle stick maker. I also find it important to test new equipment and approaches to how we photograph food or other related subject matter. I say that with conviction as though I’m good at it… The biggest challenge for us here is finding (or making) time to follow through on our own projects. We have time between client productions; we just don’t always make it a priority.

Here’s a sample of some test work we did with the idea of being a little more moody and dark with our lighting. It’s also a good excuse to dig through some lesser used props from our library…like a rusty (and heavy) slab of metal and a vintage Japanese cocktail tray. We don’t get to use these often (or ever) on other shoots. Yet another reason to schedule play time here at the studio. – Kyle