A Photo Shoot in the “Pepper” Kitchen

What exactly goes into developing a recipe, and what kind of preparation is involved? What does a photo production look like at Kitchen Stories? In our new series, together with our kitchen manufacturer next125, we’ll answer these questions and more with exclusive behind the scenes insights of our productions. So join us on a tour of our office and get to know how we work to create the content you love in our various shoot kitchens!

In this installment, we’ll join our chef Hanna as she prepares a tasty snack in the “Pepper” kitchen, named after its sleek black surfaces. We’ll pepper Hanna with a few questions about our shooting processes, and get to know this space even better—so let’s dive right in!

Watch as Hanna welcomes us on set during a recipe shoot:

Behind-the-Scenes with next125 - Shooting a recipe

• 05:00 min.
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Hanna makes cinnamon rolls!

This recipe shoot featured Hanna’s stunning take on cinnamon rolls. She added her own unique twist to them through a layer of soft caramel and a special vanilla and tonka bean filling.

Throughout our session, between our questions about the production process, Hanna continually paused to signal to our photographer that it’s time to shoot the next step. The photo can then be snapped quickly, and Hanna can move on to the next step.

Dusting flour is a skill to be practiced

Every step in a recipe shoot, and therefore every photo of every step, is planned by the editor, photographer, and chef beforehand. Between each of the steps, Hanna mostly continues to work through the recipe steps on her own. When we asked Hanna whether she prefers photo shoots or video shoots, she quickly answered: “Photo shoots, for sure!”

In contrast to a photo shoot, the chef does not cook freely between the breaks during a video shoot — instead, every moment is often captured by our video team. This often means that Hanna will not have to dust the countertop just once but three or four times — and in a skillful and particularly appealing way — in order to get the perfect shot on “film.” The fact that the countertop features a special surface and is made exactly for this purpose makes it the ideal place to shoot this recipe.

Storage space + organization + intuitive arrangements = optimal processes

When it comes to preparing a shoot, Hanna agrees with our two previous interviewees that you have to be familiar with the kitchen you’re working in. The arrangement has to help you in every step of the workflow and the shoot kitchen must be organized in a way that allows you to carry out tasks as intuitively and automatically as possible. That’s exactly the way we designed the “Pepper” kitchen, so that Hanna can find exactly what she is looking for right away during every shoot.

This means that not only the chef but the entire team can be sure that the shoot will run smoothly, regardless of the type of recipe being prepared for the camera. We don’t have anything else to add, except: Thanks, Hanna!

With that, we’re ready to wrap up our exclusive, behind the scenes tour of our Kitchen Stories office and shoot kitchens. If you missed an installment or would like to find out more, you’ll find all the information and the links to all the articles in our behind-the-scenes series, which was made with our partner and kitchen manufacturer, next125, here. Have fun watching the videos!