The Pink Elephant: personal branding and food photography for Ian Henderson's charcuterie boxes in St Albans
Personal branding photography and product photography for small businesses and creative entrepreneurs in Hertfordshire
Some briefs arrive as a neat, clearly defined project. Others arrive as a conversation at a networking event that leads somewhere unexpected and considerably more delicious.
This one was the latter.
I met Ian Henderson through a local business networking event in St Albans. Ian is the creative force behind The Pink Elephant, an event styling company with a genuinely distinctive visual identity, bold colour, beautiful detail, and the kind of aesthetic confidence that makes everything he touches look immediately considered. We got talking over a shared interest in design and visual storytelling, and fairly quickly established that a shoot together would be worth doing.
What evolved from that conversation was a project that combined two things I find genuinely compelling to photograph: food and people. Specifically, Ian's beautifully curated charcuterie boxes and the person behind them.
Ian at ease at home, apron on, surrounded by the colour and character of his world. The hot pink box in the foreground, the animal-print cushions, the motivational typography on the wall behind: every element was already there. Nothing was moved. The environment tells the story before the subject says a word.
The Pink Elephant charcuterie boxes
Ian's latest venture takes his event styling sensibility and applies it directly to food. The charcuterie boxes are visually extraordinary: carefully assembled combinations of cured meats, artisan cheeses, seasonal fruit, figs, sun-dried tomatoes, olives, artichoke hearts, flavoured truffles and handmade rolls, all arranged with the same eye for colour, texture and composition that Ian brings to his events. They come in signature hot pink and teal packaging, branded with The Pink Elephant logo, and they look as good as they taste.
You can order them as part of the summer evening productions at the Roman Theatre in St Albans, hosted by the brilliant team at OVO Theatre. A charcuterie box under the stars at one of the most atmospheric outdoor performance spaces in Hertfordshire is, by any reasonable measure, an exceptional evening out.
We shot at Ian’s barn space in St Albans, which provided a warm, characterful interior with exposed brick, natural timber and enough ambient light to work with throughout the session. The boxes were the primary subject, but from the beginning the plan was to shoot both the product and Ian himself, because no amount of beautiful food photography does the complete job on its own.
The sweet box up close – matcha truffles, sesame-dusted rolls, fresh strawberries, raspberries, blueberries and sliced salami, all arranged with the kind of care that makes food photography genuinely rewarding to shoot. The Pink Elephant branding sticker sits cleanly in the corner. Shot against the warm wood grain of the table, with the blue floral linen adding depth to the left of frame.
Why personal branding photography matters for a food and events business
People buy from people. This is not a new observation, but it is a persistently underestimated one when it comes to food and events businesses specifically.
A beautifully shot charcuterie box tells a potential customer what they are buying. A portrait of the person who made it tells them who they are buying from. For a business built on creativity, personality and trust, the second image is at least as important as the first, and the two together are considerably more powerful than either alone.
Ian's warmth and enthusiasm for what he does comes through immediately in person. The job in the portrait session was simply to make sure it came through in the photographs too. I find that the most reliable way to achieve this is not to direct people into poses but to create the conditions for natural expression: a relaxed environment, enough time to settle in front of the camera, and genuine conversation rather than a formal session atmosphere. The environmental portrait of Ian on the sofa surrounded by the colour and character of his world says far more about him than a headshot against a plain background ever could.
The savoury box in the teal packaging – figs, salami, chorizo, artichoke hearts, sun-dried tomatoes, olives, dried apricots and artisan crackers, all packed with the kind of considered colour and texture that makes a product photograph itself. This box did not survive the journey to Scotland intact. Honestly, it was never going to.
How product photography and personal branding work together
This shoot is a good example of something I come back to repeatedly with food businesses, product makers and creative entrepreneurs: the most effective brand photography tells a layered story.
The detail shots of the boxes show the product at its best. Close in, colours saturated, textures visible, brand identity clear. These are the images that go on the website product pages, the online shop, the promotional materials. They need to make someone want to pick the box up.
The wider shots showing the boxes in context, on the table, in the space, alongside the linen and glassware of the OVO environment, give the product a setting and a mood. They tell the customer not just what the product looks like but where it belongs and what kind of occasion it suits.
The portraits of Ian tie the whole story together. They connect the product to the person, the brand to the individual, the beautiful box to the human being who thought it up and put it together.
That combination is what personal branding photography is actually for. Not just a headshot for LinkedIn, but a complete set of images that communicates who you are, what you make, and why someone should choose you over everyone else offering something similar.
The same savoury selection in the hot pink box – figs, prosciutto, salami, yellow peppers, artichoke, sun-dried tomatoes, olives and crackers. The pink packaging against the warm wood and the matching pink floral linen creates an immediately cohesive brand identity. This is what product photography is for: making the packaging and the product feel like a single, deliberate thing.
A note on the charcuterie box Ian gave me for the road
Ian very generously sent me on my way to Scotland the following morning with one of his boxes for the journey.
It did not survive the first service station.
I regret nothing.
The product and the person together – Ian holding the finished pink box that will soon be on sale at the OVO theatre, St Albans, branded apron on, looking directly at camera. This is the image that goes on the website, the social media profile, the press release. It answers every question a potential customer has in a single frame: who made this, what does it look like, and would I trust this person with my event? The answer to all three is obvious.
If you run a food business, a product company or a creative enterprise in Hertfordshire
If your business has a visual story to tell and you want photography that tells it properly, from the product itself to the person behind it, I would love to have a conversation about what that looks like.
I work with small businesses, creative entrepreneurs, food producers and event professionals across St Albans, Hertfordshire and London. Get in touch to discuss your brief.
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