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Earlier this year, Aspen Sojourner magazine’s Art Director, Anne Reeser reached out to Aspen-based photographers Chris and Emily at C2 Photography asking them to shoot a project for the cover story and main feature of the publication’s summer 2017 issue. Having worked together before, Anne knew C2 Photography was the perfect team for the job. Anne recognized C2’s food & drink photography prowess and trusted their experience to identify the best shots at each location while presenting them in a creative way to compliment the story.
The goal of the project was to create a rounded mix of beautiful food shots, restaurant interiors, and chef portraits from some of the best restaurants in Colorado. This wasn’t as easy as it sounded. The project involved a lot of planning and organization on C2’s part. Over 40 restaurants were mentioned in the article’s text, but they needed to narrow the list down in order to finish the project on time.
After extensive scouting and planning, they ended up choosing 17 different locations to photograph in Aspen, Snowmass Village, and Basalt, Colorado. Seventeen may seem like a lot of ground to cover in the timespan of just five days, but C2 needed to ensure they had enough variety for the client and that the images fully illustrated the written content of the article.
From previous experience photographing the restaurant industry, C2 Photography knew very well that chefs and restaurant workers are always busy.
We aimed to be as respectful as possible of our subjects’ time, so we did as much pre-planning as possible to define and narrow the shot list for each location and to schedule food and portrait shoots for hours before or between service.
Chris and Emily juggled these concerns as they crisscrossed Aspen and the surrounding areas. During that time, people must have seen them darting hurriedly between locations, toting strobes, cameras, and tripods.
There were a few challenges that were involved in this project, but probably the hardest part was the tight deadline and the timing of each shoot. Many restaurants in Aspen close during the off-season, and when they received the assignment, they were only a week or so away from the spring off-season. C2 Photography had to react quickly to contact restaurants and schedule shoots on only a few day’s notice.
We were very thankful though because our subjects were accommodating and understanding, and their collaboration and flexibility helped make the project a wonderful success.
Even with the tight deadline and challenges, C2 photography had a lot of fun shooting this project, especially since they knew the area so well. Over the years of working and living in Aspen, Chris and Emily got to know many folks in the local restaurant community through both assignments and their own gastronomic pursuits.
It’s always fun to photograph a project like this that allows us to reconnect with old friends and see what they’ve been up to in the kitchen, as well as meet new chefs and restaurateurs.
The client was thrilled with the results, and the response to the article itself has been fantastic. There are no upcoming plans with this client at the moment, but Emily and Chris are sure they’ll be working with Aspen Sojourner again soon.
See more of C2 Photography at c2-photography.com!