Shelby Moore
Commercial Food and Product Photographer / Director
Echo Park, LA
www.shelbymoore.co
instagram @shelbymoore.co
Q What do you do?
“I photograph food and beverage products for use on social media, websites, commercials, and other forms of advertising.”
Think apron and cookware companies, packaged coffee concentrates, spirit and cocktail scenes — things like that. Typically these takes place in a studio setting or on location with producers, stylists, and my team of lighting professionals, techs, and assistants.
Q What steps did you take to get to where you are now?
While freelancing as both a reporter/photojournalist and hospitality industry photographer in my 20’s, I assisted commercial photographers for five years. I’ve been a full-time commercial photographer since 2019.
Q How do you stand out in your field?
Stylistically, my work has always felt very alive — conveying energy and warmth, both through color and motion. I was relatively early to animating photographs into moving gifs, which helped me stand out between 2019 and now, where it’s an increasingly common ask from clients. I have a thorough understanding of the workflows and technical requirements needed to make clean and successful animations. I think, on the flip side, an ongoing stream of editorial work for institutions like the Los Angeles Times helps my online presence and overall portfolio feel earnest, credible, and grounded.
Q What are you working on right now?
I just directed my first social/web commercial for a pharmaceutical company specializing in an allergy relief product/service. Directing video alongside a crew of DPs and gaffers, in addition to executing stills, is something I’d like to do more of.
Q What’s your style?
I like projects that bring together bold or whimsical creative direction into immersive scenes in order to tell a story. It’s always nice when a project feels somewhat comprehensive in the sense that a product can be followed from very zoomed in still life settings to more zoomed out lifestyle scene depicting real world use. I love incorporating motion when and were possible.
A good example of this is in some recent work for Hedley & Bennett, which specializes in aprons but has recently ventured into knives. We photographed styled product-forward still life images of the knives and then carried the styling into stills and animated scenes of chefs putting the knives to work.
Another example of recent work where stills and direction of motion work coincided was this recent job for Nectar Allergy.
Q Out of all your slashies, which one do you wish you could do more often?
Editorial work will always be part of my equation — but, as mentioned above, I’d love to focus more on directing video for commercials.
Q What is frustrating you right now?
Perhaps this is evergreen for every new generation of creatives, but I think the most difficult part of the industry at the moment is learning how to adapt advice and mentorship taken from professionals who built their careers in a media landscape that existed prior to social media and applying it to making work and building a career now. We’re still making photographs and videos at the end of the day, but I think brands/clients and agencies are juggling more outlets and content needs than ever. So learning how to adapt to their needs — or, conversely, learning when to stay in a conventional commercial lane — feels like the learning curve for the image makers of today.
Q If you could hire someone for $20/hour, what would you have them do to make your day easier?
Nowadays, I’d probably be hiring them for $30-45 an hour ;) But it would absolutely be initial outreach to brands and their in-house creative directors, agencies, independent creative directors, and larger hospitality groups.
Q What do you wish you could have told yourself, when, and why?
I wish I could tell my high school self that just because I was on the high school newspaper, didn’t mean I needed to study journalism in college — and I wish I could tell him that a career in journalism wouldn’t be viable, even by the time I graduated college in 2014. I think being a visual person and having an interest in food would have led me into a creative, culinarily-inclined career path regardless of my schooling. But I would have liked to have had the perspective and resources to take a broader look at my interests and the various career paths I could have pursued.
Q If you could talk to an expert to gain more insight on something, what would it be about?
Like many, I think I’d like to find out how to marketing myself internationally, to brands and agencies in Europe and Asia. I think I could get used to a jet setting lifestyle — only to someday get sick of it (after a few decades).
Q What kind of opportunities/projects are you looking for?
I’m looking to work with food, beverage, and cookware brands that want to work with production teams to dive into fairly involved projects, with multiple shoot days and a shot list that spans still life, action/lifestyle, and incorporates motion work, be it animation or stills. Ideally, I can direct motion and stills teams.
Q Describe your ideal job/client/collaboration.
I’m looking to work with food, beverage, and cookware brands that want to work with production teams to dive into fairly involved projects, with multiple shoot days and a shot list that spans still life, action/lifestyle, and incorporates motion work, be it animation or stills. Ideally, I can direct motion and stills teams.
Q What is your rate?
Most clients should be prepared to hire producers, stylists and their assistants, and the photography team necessary to execute commercial photography in a studio setting. My creative day rate is going to fall in the $3-5k range before usage.
Q How should someone approach you about working together?
Email is always preferred! Though if it happens organically through other channels, I embrace it.
Q Who is a creative you admire?
I’ll give you two forward thinking LA-based creatives I’m lucky to call friends:
Marianna Fierro is a creative director and illustrator of all things food.
Danny Owens / Toil Studio is an enthusiastic, organized producer.
Q Oh! and… how do you stay creative?
Un-plug from photography, plug-in to creative friendships, television, movies, restaurants.
This member profile was originally published in Janurary 2024