Who doesn’t love tamales? Stuffing in a corn mash and then wrapped in a corn husk and steamed… and then served with cheese, beans, rice, and salsa. Nummers!
I was hired as the food photographer and the food stylist for the Chaparros company in northern Utah. They manufacture tamales that are sold in the frozen food section of the grocery store. The assignment included photographing 4 different tamales in the frozen package, individual package, and on a plate ready to eat. I had the company bring some rice, beans, salad, and other side dishes. I brought Mexican style plates, placemats, and napkins. And I brought flatware as well.
Beef tamales
Theses are the different packages. They have four flavors: beef, chicken, pork, and jalapeño & cheese. I didn’t have a chance to try them, however, they look delicious. They were definitely stuffed with plenty of meat and filling.
Beef tamales
For the product photographs I knocked out the product on white so it can be used in advertising online. They might be redesigning their packaging soon, so they hopefully will hire me again.
Beef tamales
Beef tamales with salad
We had several packages on hand and we looked for the best looking tamales in their containers. We didn’t want odd shaped sides or too much spacing on the top or sides. In fact, they would make several packages just for this shoot. One reason it was convenient to shoot on site.
Chicken tamales
Chicken tamale
Jalapeño & Cheese tamales
Jalapeño & Cheese Tamales
Jalapeño & Cheese Tamale
Beef tamales
Pork tamales
Pork tamale
Pork tamales with black beans and rice
Here is a behind the scenes look of the food photo shoot. We did our work in the employee break room. I have one giant light with a reflector and a mirror. It gives the appearance of window light coming from the right side.
Behind the scenes of a food photography shoot
