paw material: randal ford and annabelle breakey team up for beneful
Puppies, dancing, laughter—these are just a few of the highlights of Randal Ford and Annabelle Breakey’s colorful collaboration for Purina’s Beneful brand. Working in a massive studio in Los Angeles over four shoot days, the two photographers produced a vast image library that spanned product still lifes and hands with product (by Annabelle) and pet portraits and adorable pet/owner interactions (courtesy of Randal).
“Imagine, if you will, this huge space and it’s like Pee Wee’s Playhouse,” says Annabelle. There were four monochromatic kitchen sets, each keyed to a bright Beneful brand color. Randal would finish shooting on a set, and then a team would come in and paint and reconfigure it for the next round of images. (So, four sets, but really eight sets.)
“Color is such a huge part of this project,” explains Annabelle. “It carried over into the wardrobe and props, tying everything together and making it thematic. Kudos to the design team. It was a huge undertaking, and they made it feel effortless.”
Annabelle had two sets running at once: a hand set and a still-life set. She shared talent with Randal, shifting gears from still lifes to hand-plus-product images as models became available.
“The art direction on the still lifes was so artful and super smart,” says Annabelle. “The top-down shots—a bowl of food, a leash, ingredients, etc.—all those elements can be lifted and turned into animations. The potential for marketing is huge.”
“I loved seeing Annabelle in her element,” says Randal. “This is the second time we’ve done a collaborative shoot in the same studio.”
For Randal, the project was a chance to bring his iconic style of animal photography to a brand that’s been eagerly revamping its image to reach a wider audience. The new look is fresh, modern, and thoroughly fetching.
“The creative was great,” he enthuses. “They clearly put a lot of thought into and then invited us do our thing. There was so much trust there.”
All of the human talent and most of the dogs had already worked together, having shot the video spots that round out the campaign. So the energy on Randal’s sets was palpable. “It was like friends reuniting,” he recalls.
Randal had also previously photographed several of the dogs featured on Beneful’s packaging, adding another level of familiarity and brand continuity to the shoot.
To get a wide range of spontaneous-feeling moments, he worked with the dogs’ trainers to find out what each one could do. “If I throw a tennis ball, will they launch after it,” etc.
“Randal’s got this zen thing with the animals,” Annabelle notes. “He knows how to make them smile.
“This was one of my favorite projects ever in my life,” raves Annabelle. “We were surrounded by puppies and dogs. We had music going. All the clients were dancing and laughing.”
See below for a fun BTS interview with Randal and Annabelle together on set!