Beyond the Job Title
"As a kid, I was the one taking things apart."
For most of my career, I had one answer: "I'm a photographer." But my story didn’t start with a camera. I was that kid taking apart my remote control race car and solving puzzles for fun.
From high school woodshop to tinkering with HTML and C++, I’ve always seen design, code, layout, and imagery as pieces of one big puzzle. I wasn't just capturing the surface; I was figuring out how it all fit together.
"The job title became my whole identity."
That early curiosity took me to New York City, where I built a career in commercial photography. Food, cocktails, portraits, brand stories. That was my world, and it felt natural to let the title define me.
But years later, working in London, the early pattern caught up with me. I realized that while I still loved the craft, my work had evolved. I was solving deeper problems than just the frame.
"Bridging the gap between craft and technology."
I realized my work had shifted, but my identity hadn't. Today, I pair a photographer’s eye with websites, SEO, workflows, and AI. I help the surface look good while ensuring the systems underneath work even better.
If you were not allowed to use your job title, how would you describe yourself?
For me, I am still that kid who loves solving puzzles. Now I just do it with cameras, code, websites, SEO and AI.
The short version
Brent Herrig is a commercial food, drink, and hospitality photographer and director with close to two decades behind the camera. The studio has been working since 2007 and runs from two bases, a New York production network in Manhattan and a London studio in South Hampstead, shooting worldwide from both.
Clients include LVMH, Diageo, American Express, JP Morgan Chase, Pepsi, Shake Shack, and Nobu, alongside restaurant groups, hotels, and the agencies who work with them. The full list by category is on the clients page.
Six cookbooks in print carry his photography, as principal or lead food photographer: Cooking Whole30 with Melissa Urban, The Dead Rabbit Drinks Manual and Mixology and Mayhem with Sean Muldoon and Jack McGarry, Made in Mexico with Danny Mena, BBQ&A with Myron Mixon, and the Scarpetta Cookbook for Scott Conant. Covers and credits are on the press page.
The work has run in Bon Appetit, Saveur, and Food & Wine. Iowa Public Radio featured the Spoonfuls of Inspiration fine art series, and Iowa Stater ran an alumni feature on shooting food in 2023. He teaches and speaks on commercial photography and AI production, including at Iowa State University; those dates are on the speaking page.
Life Behind the Lens
Adventures in the Wild - Brent Herrig
The Craft in Action - Shooting Spoonfuls
Icelandic Inspiration - Travel Photography
Portrait by Peter Hapak
European Assignments - Paris
Celebrations & Milestones
Personal Moments - Brent & Kari
Vietnam Travels - Culinary Exploration
The Art of BBQ - Personal Passions
Moroccan Adventures
Award Winning Collaborations - Dead Rabbit
Cabo San Lucas - Hospitality Production
Creative Portraits
Craft First
Brent started with film, lighting diagrams, and obsessive attention to detail. Every frame was intentional. Every setup was built by hand. That foundation in traditional photography taught him to see light, compose with purpose, and deliver work that brands trust. The craft is still the baseline. Everything else builds on top of it.
Built for Agencies and Brands
Brent works with creative directors, brand leads, and marketing teams who need assets that perform across paid, web, and social. From campaign launches to ongoing content programs, he delivers work that stops the scroll and drives conversion. The output is platform-ready, brand-consistent, and built to scale.
Hybrid Production
A single shoot day produces a full content library. Photography, motion, seasonal variations, format adaptations, and channel-specific assets all from one production. Quality stays high because the craft is still there. Speed increases because systems handle repetition.
AI, Used on Purpose
AI tools let Brent extend a shoot, reimagine a background, or generate variations without another production day. The craft is still required. Quality control is always on. Hybrid production combines traditional photography with AI extensions in a way that actually works.
