On Wednesday I had the pleasure of visiting Castleton Farm Shop near Laurencekirk.  Caroline from the Hideaway Experience had kindly recommended me to Anna at Castleton as she was looking for some photographs to help promote their new range of Berrylicious jams - made from berries grown, picked and preserved on the farm.  Anna sent me a brief and photographs of the farm were also required which will soon be displayed in the Farm Shop and on their marketing materials.

I checked the forecast in advance and Windy Wilson (the weather messiah!) said Wednesday was going to be the best day of the week,  we trusted him and rescheduled.  The weather was fantastic and the (non-photoshopped!) blue skies really add to the photographs, especially those out on the farm.

Thankfully Anna kindly drove me around the farm and I hopped in and out taking photographs of the various fruits all in their early stages.  Strange to think that in a couple of months those tiny twigs and plants will be producing some of the best Strawberries, Raspberries and Blueberries.

We continued around the farm before going back to the Farm Shop in time for the lunch time rush.  The dishes which were disappearing out of the kitchen looked amazing and they were really making my tummy rumble!  After photographing a selection of dishes including the famous Castleton Peppered Steak Baguette (Craig's favourite), I had some of the delicious Macaroni Cheese and Chips, even the chips tasted great!

Then it was on to take photographs of the new Castleton Farm Berrylicious Jam, I took a couple of photographs of the jams inside the shop but I knew I needed to think outside the box.  Product photography with a white background doesn't hugely appeal to me so I knew I needed to mix things up - I placed a batch of jam jars into a shopping basket and headed outside, I get so much inspiration from the great outdoors and love incorporating this into my photographs.  I turned left as I came out of the front doors and there it was... 

Thanks so much to Anna and the team at Castleton for making me feel so welcome, and thanks for the Macaroni and Chips - to die for! If you are heading up the A90, call in to Castleton for some great home baking, freshly prepared meals and lots of local produce.