One thing I’ve learned over the years is to continue to move forward. Business slowing down? Bad market? Bored at the 9-5? Keep moving. And I’ve found the best way to keep moving has been to do test shoots.

Test shoots are photoshoots a photographer takes on their own time with no client. They are often used to stretch those creative muscles or try out new concepts to later pitch to clients. In reworking my website I noticed that while I love CPG photography, I didn’t have enough examples for my gallery to feel full. So I decided to con duct some test shoots to fill those gaps.

My favorite places to find CPG products are stores like World Market, Marshalls, HomeGoods and TJMaxx. Their buyers look for diverse up and coming brands that are usually smaller names but have great packaging. TLDR they follow the trends in both what is a popular item and what is popular for packaging aesthetics. 

I found Mela at World Market and LOVED the design on the can. It felt cool and artsy and I instantly knew the setup I wanted to try.

While I do look at the brand’s website and social media in prepping for a test shoot, I don’t want to just reuse their idea and copy directly. I think there can be a marriage in the brand aesthetic and a photographer’s personal style for a test shoot. Unfortunately I’ve seen photographers go to far to either end with test shoots and either shoot so far out of the brand’s identity that it’s confusing or just directly copy the brand’s existing content (which can be good for building skill BUT I’d be hard pressed to really promote that work on social or on my website).

Over the course of an afternoon I spent my kid’s nap shooting Mela in my kitchen. Our house smelled sooooo good with all the fresh fruit I sourced and I can say with 100% truth this drink actually tastes very good.

More test shoots are on the horizon! Though I do need to continue to plan around nap time haha