There is an adage when it comes to the retail environment. “Retail is detail”, which was attributed to James Gulliver, the head of Fine Fare/ Safeway in the ’70s. This was very important when I was recently asked to help with some marketing photography for an upgraded farm shop within a local garden centre.

Background

This is very true when my client took advantage of the recent lockdowns. Their circumstances changed when Edinburgh Woollen Mill closed their outlet within the building. The extra space allowed them to relocate their successful farm shop into the main premises.

This gave me the chance to help them with their marketing photography. They needed to inform their clients of this change.

Kat, the marketing lady, wanted to emphasise that the farm shop had nearly doubled in size. She was excited to announce that their popular ‘cook’ range of frozen dinners had been expanded to eight freezers from the original four.

An overview of the corner of a farm shop showing the display freezers for the 'Cook' range of frozen meals

The brief

The brief was therefore aimed at showing the overview of the space. They wanted to show the context of its position within the rest of the shop.

There was a definite need to show the details such as the vegetable displays, the refillable cereal containers and the expanded range of wines. They particularly wanted to emphasise the range of locally sourced produce, as clients are more aware of reducing food miles.

Kat was also very keen to show that they were operating in a more sustainable manner. Kat wanted to show that they were serious about a reduction in the use of packaging and that this packaging was environmentally friendly.

A close up of dispensers for weigh yourself dry goods in wooden racking at a farm shop.

Of course, when it comes to this kind of marketing photography you need to allow time to capture everything. The shop was open and the staff were still stocking up. Patience was the order of the day.

The premises were well lit so it was possible to get a lot of the shots in one take. However, some shots with differing exposures were merged later to create the appropriate ambience.

Kat was delighted with the results, and this allowed her to take out a full-page advertisement in a local magazine.

A view of the wine selection on shelves at a garden centre farm shop.

If you have updated your offering I would love to be able to help you to publicise this for your valued clients.

Please contact me to arrange a consultation regarding marketing photography or to book a shoot.

© Andrew Boschier Photography 2021

https://www.bournevalleygardencentre.co.uk/

A close up of the brightly coloured display of fruit and vegetables at a farm shop.