Supermodel Garlic
Why you should be careful of what photos you use on your website or blog
Our garlic went on a photo-shoot!
Annie Chervin Edwards asked us to send her some of our garlic for a garlic shoot opportunity. Annie was nice enough to send us a little information about herself and some of her beautiful photos.
Annie (picture below):
"I'm a freelance photo-stylist, garden designer, florist and artist, Annie Edwards, living in Carversville, PA. I work mostly in NYC and PA.
I had a botanical photo-shoot coming up and had to procure garlic. I do my best to source ingredients from local farmers and passionate growers… flowering alfalfa dug out of a dairy farmer's field, agave leaves from a desert garden in Arizona, yerba mate from a woman rallying for free trade. I couldn't find any beautiful garlic locally at the farmer's markets - it was a bit late in the season and I had already put in an order at Grey Duck for the late fall - so I gave a call and thankfully Jane and Susan rushed to overnight me some varieties of lovely garlic with pink tones, tall necks and wild roots. They were gorgeous! Here are a couple of behind the scenes pics from the shoot…”
Picture: Garlic after shipping.
Susan: Annie wanted natural looking garlic for her pictures. Since our garlic was already dried most of the leaves were brittle and had already fallen off. We weren't sure how to ship garlic with four foot stems and roots. It certainly wouldn't fit in a paper bag!
I loosely tied the garlic stems with rubber bands and wrapped them in newspaper. Luckily we had a really long box. The garlic didn't seem to sustain too much damage except a few loose wrappers. 
Picture: Here are some more of the 'behind the scene' photos Annie took and sent to us.
Like many people, I have never considered how much work that goes into a professional botanical photo shoot! I certainly appreciate the beauty of garlic and can understand the desire to take a photo of it, though.
At Grey Duck Garlic, we take all the photos used in our website ourselves (with the exceptions of the lovely ones by Annie on this page). Since our experienced and enthusiastic photographer, Patty, left for college I have been taking more amateur photos of our garlic and the people behind the garlic. It is amazing how much thought is involved to get a good shot. Little things like light, background and composition can make the difference between a poor snapshot and a work of art. We also have the additional problem of convincing garlic workers to pose photogenically when they are busy. Luckily the smallest and cutest ones seem to delight in posing (I sneak up on the older and grumpier workers!) 
Picture: Garlic close-up!
Always make sure that the subject of your photo is okay with you using that photograph. I increase my odds of not getting complaints by only using flattering photos of people; no one wants to see a really bad photo of themselves on my website. If you are unsure make sure to ask; it is the best way to avoid miscommunications or hard feelings (or nasty lawsuits).