Recent work for Red Clay Gourmet

On a recent shoot for Winston Salem-based pimento cheese producer Red Clay Gourmet, owners Lance and Michele wanted to showcase the versatility of their product by showing it in a variety of situations – in the kitchen, on the porch, and at a picnic. We took this direction and planned each shot to create a unique look, feel, and mood—down to expressing the time of day.

 The challenge for me as a photographer was to create images that were expressive of the brand, contextualize the product in different situations, and use light to suggest a time of day, all the while staying true to my “elegant yet unpretentious” style of work.

Using the substantial library of props and surfaces at my studio , the expertise of stylist Chriscilla Browning from Directions USA, and with  creative direction from Buttermilk Creative—the design studio working with Red Clay Gourmet to refresh their website and marketing materials—we reached Buttermilk’s goal to capture scenes that fit with the brand, practically and conceptually.

The photographs needed to work primarily as hero images on the site, but also work well in other applications like social media, brochures, point of purchase, and other marketing vehicles.

Our overriding goal was to get more mileage and use out of the pictures and start building a fresh, consistent brand image for Red Clay. All images were shot in my studio in Greensboro NC.