Photographing ice cream in 95-degree weather, standing too close to the rear of a cow at the exact wrong moment—there are some things that go on in production that we just don’t see in the final photos. Jennifer Silverberg is an expert at showing only the right stuff from her camera, but for her latest farm-to-fork shoot, she was all about taking the time to show off the stuff we don’t normally see. Jennifer travelled from Wisconsin to Illinois to Missouri to show the stages that Oberweis Dairy’s products go through from the farm, all the way to the family table.
Oberweis Dairy brought Jennifer on as part of a major company rebrand that should be complete, with pictures, this coming March. They wanted to tell the story of their brand through their production, and as we all know, a picture is worth a thousand words. They left it to Jennifer to travel to each of the products’ key locations: the dairy farm in Wisconsin, the bottling plant in Illinois, and finally, to a family home in Missouri. For Jennifer this assignment was a dream. She was a customer of Oberwies before they became a client, and as a believer in farm-to-table products herself, she felt the purpose behind this project.
Jennifer’s favorite location of the shoot was where it all began, the dairy farm. Here, she got to meet the family of the farm, as well as a bunch of very nice cows. The team knew that a lot would be out of their control with this shoot—weather, animals, farm needs—so they made a detailed shot list, “and then allowed for things to happen.” Jennifer decided to take a documentary approach so that in addition to the planned shots, she was able to get some “wonderfully unplanned moments” that she said made some of the strongest images in the campaign.
At the next stop, the bottling plant in Illinois, Jennifer continued her documentary-style approach to shooting, which allowed her to get some more great shots and some great samples of the products. She says one of the most important things she learned from the shoot is just how delicious coconut ice cream is.
The final stop was the lifestyle shoot at the family home in Missouri. Of course, Jennifer had seen her fair share of mess at the farm in Wisconsin, but this leg of the shoot didn’t disappoint either. The shoot consisted of little kids and ice cream on a 95-degree day. Behind the scenes, the team had to work fast scooping replacement ice cream cones to keep the treat looking fresh. Jennifer had to be quick with the camera, too.
Jennifer hopes the photos show the “beautiful simplicity of the whole concept,” both the appreciation we have for the work that goes into what we eat, and the company’s joy in producing something people love. This shoot was about showing both ends of that joy and appreciation.
I love shooting food, food process, and the people/lifestyle that make it all possible.
Jennifer looks forward to doing more farm shoots in the future, and she’ll be fully ready once she shakes the memory of her too-close encounter with the dairy cow. (Yes, that did happen.) Good thing she’s not one to cry over spilled, well, you get the idea.
To view more of Jennifer’s work, visit jennifersilverberg.com.