WHAT DOES ‘TRUE IMAGES’ MEAN?…OR, WHERE’S THE BEEF!

Southwest Chicken Dip, overhead shot dip just removed from oven

The aim of this particular blog post is to take a step back from talking about talking photoshoots to instead talking about our business name. In particular, why we chose our business name. Despite what it could seem to some, it wasn’t some random selection, there was real thought and meaning behind it. Interested? Will it answer a question that you have? Then please read on…

I started this blog page off by writing about beverages, but I quickly realized that it may be worth taking a pause, going back to basics, and talking about how our business name came about. Essentially, in our view, what a True Image actually is.

In explaining our thinking, it reminds me of another blog post that I recently read concerning Taco Bell. I was doing some marketing and in so doing, I was looking around a potential client’s website and came across their blog. And now I’m completely addicted! I’m constantly going back to their page as I thoroughly enjoy spending time there. But that’s okay, it’s educational, as well as being a great example of a well-thought-out and presented blog, which inspires me. But I digress, back to this post.

It seems that a number of years ago Taco Bell received criticism for advertising beef tacos that did not contain enough actual beef in its meat filling to justify calling it beef. This resulted in a lawsuit, as well as them taking out ads to thank their customers for suing Taco Bell. Weird, but I assume that to be true! In fact, the real story about Taco Bell is more about how this story blew up in the media, as it resulted in hundreds of outlets latching on to it and reporting on it, as well as the Twitter search term #wheresthebeef. So just why did this story become so popular? It was simply because it validated what we all long suspected, that advertising and marketing are nothing more than well-packaged lies. I won’t go into the full story here, but it was certainly interesting.

Within food and beverage photography there are a number of common cheats, particularly within the food photography niche. We avoid them all. Mashed potato is used to replace ice cream as the latter melts almost instantaneously, motor oil is used instead of syrup as supposedly, pancakes absorb it slower, although I personally challenge that one. And Elmer's glue gets used in place of milk and even some cheese. This list just goes on and on, it’s incredible. Even sauces can be made up of melted colored wax and grill marks can be painted on using shoe polish! Wow, I guess food photography is perfectly suited to those that have a great imagination. But it’s hardly suited to anyone who is hungry and wishes to snack on the food afterward.

But we have no reason to remember all of the cheats simply because we have no intention of implementing them. Yes, they can make life a little easier, as after all, dealing with ice cream is definitely no fun, and I can certainly understand why a photographer would seek out an alternative and far easier-to-implement solution. But there are always other approaches. They can take an equally imaginative mind and will often result in greater shoot complexity and oftentimes, more food being needed for the shoot. But obtaining a good food image, having not cheated at all along the way is incredibly satisfying, and more importantly from an advertising perspective, is far more honest.

I remember watching a video by the highly respected food photographer Andrew Scrivani, whom I highly admire. During the video, he talks about people in his building always eating well after one of his shoots. If you are interested, the video can be found HERE. This discussion starts at 35:33. The education, the real magic starts at 00:00! He states that 100% of his food gets eaten and that every food that he shoots ends up in someone's stomach. And we feel exactly the same. Everything that you see in our portfolio or on any of our social media channels ended up being eaten. And that is what a true image means to us, it’s real edible food, it’s a drink that can be enjoyed after the shoot, and it’s a product that can actually be used for its intended application. It’s truth in advertising, it's not cheating, it’s complete honesty. That’s why we named our business ‘True Images Photography’, and why this blog is named ‘The Truest Image’. That’s the reason for our name, everything has to be ‘True’. If it’s not then we do not pursue it. Now that’s honest.

True Images Photography provides professional beverage and food commercial photography that gets your business noticed. Feel free to book a free 30-minute consultation here.

Do look around the rest of the blog here for more helpful posts, and if you have any questions please reach out. I’m happy to advise. You can also connect with me on LinkedIn where I always answer messages with a detailed reply.

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