Rob Grimm Drinks It In

Rob Grimm knows how to make a person hungry — his meticulously planned food and beverage shots have been used in ad campaigns for mega companies from Heinz to Kraft to Bacardi.  In order to make his shots “look spontaneous while making it meticulously planned,” Rob frequently collaborates with food stylist Nir Adar.  The above mouth-watering shot of an over-easy egg resting on top of a burger is a fabulous example of this “planned spontaneity.”  Notice how the pepper is perfectly arranged on top of the white of the egg, while the yellow yolk glistens with carefully applied droplets.    

Hungry yet?  That isn’t a coincidence.  Rob painstakingly ensures that every food product he shoots is seen in its most appetizing light.  He uses carefully arranged lighting setups and a 120 mm macro lens to get razor sharp resolution on exactly the right area he is shooting.  “I find that food becomes much more appetizing when a lot of it falls off into soft focus.  It gives it a little bit of mystery, and makes you want to eat it even more.”

Although Rob’s primary photographic passion is shooting food and beverage, he dabbled in architecture photography in college, and even sometimes ventures into the land of location shooting.   Even though he doesn’t really market himself as a location photographer, he finds that it helps him hone his craft in general.  “I enjoy shooting locations because it allows me to think about my shots in a different way.” 

The son of a photography teacher, the St. Louis-based photographer grew up with a darkroom in his house.  Raised in that environment, it is little surprise that Rob gravitated towards photography as a career.  This paired with an early gig at a studio that specialized in in-studio product shots led Rob to develop a natural eye for how liquid refracts light.   He quickly realized that shooting food and drink was the only way to slake his thirst for creativity.

For more of Rob’s tantalizing imagery, visit his FoundFolios portfolio.