Rio Mare Pesto

I shot this tabletop commercial for Rio Mare Pesto with director Paolo Tonoli at Akita Films in Milano. We were working in a tight space with a lot of product detail to capture, so I went handheld with macro work to get close on the pesto texture and the jar itself, keeping things tactile rather than precious. The lighting was all practical and tungsten bounced off white cards, which gave us that warm, kitchen-table feel without looking over-lit. The whole job was about making pesto look like actual food you'd want to eat, not a hero shot that feels sterile. Sometimes the best commercial work is just honest light and a camera that doesn't get in the way.