SFU :: Campaign Photography with Sears Grilling #GrillingisHappiness #SoFabU

My photography class continued this week with a shopping trip to Sears to buy a new grill and accessories {thank you, Sears Grilling!}.  Since I had previously purchased some outdoor cooking products at Sears {which we've had so much fun with this summer!}, Phil and I decided to buy a portable outdoor grill that we can use for beach vacations, camping trips, and afternoons at the lake {you can see my path to purchase photos here}.  And my photography assignment this week was to photograph all of my new items, using natural light.

I love using natural light but, as I discovered with this little photo shoot, optimal natural light and a nice natural background are slightly hard to come by.  The reasons?  Five kids that greatly affect my schedule.  When the sun is no longer at its peak and is great for a photo shoot, I'm tied up with dinner and bedtimes.  I ended up taking photos in the shade of a tree and the shade of my patio but I'm expecting a bit of negative feedback on the dappled lighting from the tree.

This week, I also experimented with a bounce card, a first for me.  For those that don't know, a bounce card is used to reflect light into your photo, enhancing the lighting in certain areas.  At one point, I even had my photo assistant teenage son helping me with the card.  Successfully?  I'm not sure.  I think I need more practice.

Here are the photos of my new goodies.  Tell me what you think.

I love this portable outdoor grill and absolutely can't wait to break it in with a grilled feast.  

The size of it is perfect.  Small enough to easily tote to another site but large enough to accommodate my brood.

We also bought a stand to make grilling easier {who wants to bend over a ground-level grill?} ...

... and it serves as a cart that can be used to pull the portable grill when we're taking it to a different locale.

Ever since I started using a smoker, I've become intrigued with the different smoking woods that are available.  They impart such a great taste to meat, even when used on a regular gas grill.  I purchased a smoker box and Jack Daniel's wood chips that I'll use with our portable grill.  The salesman said the Jack Daniel's wood chips add amazing flavor to grilled meat!

On the technical side, this is one of my bounce card photos.  I used the bounce card to reflect light onto the wood chips, brightening the photo.

During my shop, I also purchased these neat meat thermometers.  They'll take all the guesswork out of grilling and ensure that I don't serve rare burgers to my little tikes {not that that's ever happened ... ahem}.

Besides the new grill, this cooler is a huge favorite of mine.  Since we have a backyard pool, we do a lot of outdoor entertaining, and this cooler will be the perfect grilling accessory.  Not only can it hold drinks, but it'll be perfect for chilling a potato salad or other summer sides.  No one wants the guests to go home with salmonella.

To avoid bright sun spots on the red cart, I took these photos on my shaded patio and experimented with the bounce card again, directing light to the silver handle.

Shopping for these grilling goodies was so fun and I'm so grateful for the opportunity.  Now to break them in!

I am a member of the Collective Bias™ Social Fabric® Community.  This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias™ and Sears.  All photos and opinions are my own.  #CBias #GrillingisHappiness