Hailing from the land of longhorns and leather goods, Dallas photographer Tadd Myers is no stranger to the craftsmanship of the cattle industry. Tadd’s work has an aesthetic that feels industrial and home-grown, which appeals to both industrial and food clients. For top-notch meat packaging company Standard Meat, hiring Tadd for their latest campaign was an easy choice.
Agency HZDG (responsible for Standard Meat’s campaign) found Tadd through several online searches. They responded well to his style of work featuring images of working people as well as food photography. While their initial search was nationwide, they were happy to learn that Tadd was Dallas-Fort Worth based. Standard Meat, which is a family-owned business, also has meat processing and packaging facilities there. The company prides itself on innovative and thoughtful preparation that caters to any client’s individual needs.
Next, Tadd had a few conference calls with Creative Director Gillian Goodman and Account Supervisor Stephanie Kay. They decided on a loose, realistic style that would show the authenticity of the Standard Meat production process.
Tadd and his team have plenty of experience conveying an honest and genuine tone in their work. They were to show the company’s process in a way that didn’t appear altered or staged.
By keeping our shooting process mobile and very flexible we were able to create diverse images that tell Standard Meat’s story in a more authentic way.
Gearing up to work in a food safe facility brought along its own set of challenges for the team. Their main goal was to be able to move around the facility with little impact on the floor. Having a larger crew helped, as it allowed Tadd to stay mobile throughout the day.
With 2 assistants and a digital tech (shooting tethered) we were able to move around this sanitary environment with very little disruption to their production lines.
Working with the production floor supervisors, they made sure their gear would be safe for the sanitized environments. Tadd also planned their load-in and staging areas with the agency as well as the client.
Our crew had to take extra steps to ensure that our presence that day would not impact food quality and/or safety, which was accomplished by keeping our production footprint as compact as possible.
Another important consideration for the team was how to work in a refrigerated environment for an extended amount of time. The cold temperatures had the potential to affect not only the team but their gear as well. Extra steps had to be taken to prevent slow downing the crew over the day.
Despite the challenges, the shoot wrapped with the quality and efficiency that Standard Meat lives by. From its processing and packaging to its website design and photography, the company takes its standards of excellency seriously. They were happy to add Tadd’s images to its careful branding.
The images are currently being used for Standard Meat’s new website that went live a few months ago, and Standard Meat purchased a collateral usage license enabling them to use the images in various other applications, including company brochures.
See more of Tadd’s work on his website.
Further Reading
Read more about Tadd on our Published blog.