I had the opportunity to plan and direct a Grocery shoot for Target.com while the incredibly talented Grocery art director, Rachel Hardacre, was out on maternity leave. Rachel’s expertise in food photography set a high bar, and stepping into a category I’d only previously designed for brought its share of new challenges.

From figuring out how to shoot ice cream in an 80°F studio—where it melted within seconds—to making microwave mac and cheese noodles look like convincing pasta chips, the shoot pushed me to problem-solve fast and creatively. It wasn’t easy, but I had an amazing crew behind me that made it all possible.

Cherry on top? One of my images ended up being the highest-converting grocery image of the quarter.