The Art Director at Nashville Lifestyles Magazine contacted Nashville-based photographer Stephanie Mullins for a BBQ photo shoot. Stephanie frequently works with them on monthly features and was excited to photograph the food she loves. The Art Director’s goal for the most recent campaign was to highlight the new third and biggest location of Martin’s Bar-B-Que Joint in downtown Nashville.
Roll up your sleeves and get ready for a delicious experience in downtown Nashville, where the BBQ is just as spicy as it is sweet. Smoked whole hogs or made-from-scratch sides are always available.
During planning and preproduction, Stephanie spent most of her time coordinating with Pat Martin. He is both the owner of the restaurant and its publicist. They found an opportunity when she could photograph the building and the food when they weren’t so crowded.
The biggest challenge during the shoot was preparing the BBQ plates to photograph. Stephanie worked with Pat and his kitchen staff to prep the food plates. They did this in a way that would work well for photography as opposed to customer consumption.
BBQ isn’t always the prettiest food item to photograph and with editorial projects there is normally not a stylist on hand with you. We didn’t have one in this case so I had to wear a few extra hats!
The Art Director was thrilled with the outcome and was confident that the public would feel the same way. Stephanie enjoyed meeting Pat and realizing how much they had in common with her love for BBQ.
My experience with the restaurant and the shoot vs. the actual purpose of the shoot were very different. It was such a pleasant experience that just left me walking away feeling good… it felt like home — And when you grow up in a small town it’s nice to find that in the city.
Stephanie still has an ongoing relationship with Nashville Lifestyles Magazine for feature stories as needed. She hopes her work on the shoot ignited a relationship with such a successful and delicious restaurant.
See more of Stephanie’s work on her website.
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