This is the story of how I pitched one of my favorite small businesses… and then totally crushed the assignment.

Some context

I’ve been a runner for years (thanks, Dad!), and it wasn’t until the last couple of years that I started taking nutrition + fueling more seriously. And it didn’t take me long to realize just how much BETTER I feel when I have adequate gas in the tank. Turns out, I’d been running under-fed and dehydrated for YEARS. That why I felt so terrible after long runs and marathons, because my body was running on a completely empty tank.

[Stick with me- we’ll get to how this relates to business in a sec]

Once I started calculating carbs + electrolytes more intentionally, I felt exponentially better during and after my long runs, and started crushing my race day goals.

Which is why I was so excited to find NOOGS!

NOOGS delivers both carbs + electrolytes in one tasty chew- they’re like sour candy for runners, which makes eating them during an 11-mile run FUN! Fueling used to be something I suffered through, choking down thick gels for years without realizing there was an alternative. Plus, their branding is playful and the flavors are soo good. 

Then I found out they’re a female-founded, veteran-owned brand, and I was all in.

The pitch

When I find a small business I believe in and use in my personal life, I tend to get… kinda pushy. As in, I’m a pusher. Like “oh you’re a runner? HAVE YOU TRIED NOOGS?! Here, I brought extra- have some!”

I realized I could put my powers of pushiness persuasion to better use by combining my passion with my storytelling skills as a brand photographer, and reached out to NOOGS with a pitch- would they be up for me shooting story-driven, color-themed flat lays of each flavor?

The potential catch: I’d have full creative control of everything within the frame. Props, styling, lighting, all of it.

See, what I was really craving was an assignment that I could complete in my own way, on my own time. Brand shoot days are often packed full and fast-moving, and unless we have my favorite stylist on set or we’ve devoted specific time on the schedule for me to slow down and style, it’s just not usually possible to get super creative with flat lays because they take TIME. Each scene below took approximately 30minutes to style and shoot, not to mention the time spend sourcing props ahead of shoot day.

I wanted a chance to play storyteller/product stylist for a company I love, without the constraints that come along with a studio rental.

The specs

I spent a full morning in my office planning out my shot list- I first determined a theme for each flavor (“girly pop runner vibes,” “the cyclist,” etc.), and then chose props that would help to illustrate each theme. I didn’t want the props to take away from the main product, so I kept my prop list to 4-6 items per scene, bypassing any props with logos or super recognizable branding. I was looking more for identity signals- like the star clip for runners, the CO2 canister for cyclists. It was fun to sit in the dual headspace of photographer + runner to brainstorm stories that would resonate with the people I see at runDisney events!

On the day I’d set aside to shoot, I quickly realized the white paper backdrop I’d planned to use was going to be booooring for anything but the Poolside Pop flavor. So I took a trip to Hobby Lobby with a box of Noogs in hand to pick out art paper/posterboard that matched each flavor.

I took over our very-much-not-air-conditioned garage for the occasion and set up a mini studio, and then set to work styling + shooting each scene. I wanted the light to feel fun and bright, so I opted to use a bare-bulb Profoto B2 as my key light and a second B2 with a translucent umbrella as my fill. Because I controlled all the light in my frame, it meant I wasn’t dependent on ANY ambient/natural light, which came in handy when I needed to finish up my project after my kids were in bed). And more importantly, my light was 100% consistent from beginning to end.

And now… the results!