Product Photography: Lifestyle Branding & Bottle Photography
I met Kristeva Dowling and her husband Eric while helping to shoot a documentary show called HomeMade, about her homesteading lifestyle in 2018, and I was instantly fascinated by their self-directed lifestyle and easygoing ways. We got to spend a couple of days on their ranch, and it was a privilege to see this power couple in action (and to eat at their table!). They built their custom home near Grovedale, AB, and spend much of their time growing, foraging, and producing most of their own food and other needs in and around their property and community. Kristeva’s also an author and food security advocate, among many other things.
Oh, and they also keep bees and make mead—award-winning, local-ingredient-infused mead, to be precise. And it is delicious! I was lucky enough to taste some of their honey wine on that first visit and it was no surprise to fast forward a couple of years and see Kristeva and Eric bringing their unique products to market by founding Stolen Harvest Meadery in 2020.
It was an honour, and a lot of fun, to work with Kristeva again to capture product photos of some of her meads. The project included a number of individual bottle shots, captured in studio, as well as some lifestyle photos of her various varietals in the context of backyard picnics and other outdoor settings.
The Stolen Harvest meads have been winning awards since her first micro-batches, and most recently their meads have earned first place in two categories and gold medal ranking in three categories of the November 2020 World Mead Challenge. You owe it yourself (and maybe a friend or two), to pick up a bottle or three and try it for yourself. You can order right on their website or find them in select local markets like the Grande Prairie Farmer’s Market.
Thanks for inviting me to be a part of your continued journey, Kristeva and Eric. I know you will continue to craft amazing locally-produced things with skill and care.
Cheers,
Chris
p.s. – As an aside, I got to work with Kristeva again on a second documentary last year, although this time my contribution was smaller, only doing a few drone shots. Check out the excellent With the Land (directed by Dominique Keller).
