Ice Storm Reflections - A look back at 2025

An ice storm has a funny way of slowing everything down. When the roads freeze and the schedule clears, it creates space to look back, and that pause feels especially fitting as I reflect on 2025 and the body of work it produced here at Stephanie Mullins Photography.

Based in Nashville, I specialize in food photography for commercial brands, packaging, and editorial clients. While the blog may have been quiet since mid 2025, the studio certainly wasn’t. This past year was filled with steady, meaningful work, much of it behind the scenes creating imagery designed to live on packaging, menus, campaigns, and printed pages.

Packaging photography played a major role in 2025. From clean, intentional product imagery to styled lifestyle scenes, much of the year was spent helping brands visually communicate trust, quality, and appetite appeal. These projects often require a balance of precision and creativity lighting, composition, and styling that must hold up across multiple platforms, from retail shelves to digital campaigns.

Breakfast photography also found its way into the studio more than ever this year. Bright mornings, warm tones, and approachable food styling became recurring themes. Breakfast foods have a unique storytelling quality comforting, familiar, and full of ritual and it was a joy to create imagery that felt both elevated and inviting.

Editorial clients rounded out the year, bringing opportunities to work with publications that value narrative, seasonality, and authenticity. Editorial food photography allows for a slightly looser approach… still intentional, but with room for atmosphere, texture, and story. Those projects added welcomed depth to the 2025 catalog and introduced several new relationships I’m excited to continue building.

Like many creative businesses, 2025 was less about constant visibility and more about consistent output. While outreach and blogging took a back seat at times, the work itself grew resulting in a collection of images that now better reflects the direction of my commercial food photography.

This ice storm moment feels like the right time to reset. New work is being added to the website, portfolios are evolving, and there’s renewed energy heading into 2026.

Looking Ahead to 2026

As the year turns, I’m eager to collaborate with new clients… especially commercial brands, packaging teams, editorial outlets, and agencies looking for food photography rooted in natural light, clean styling, and thoughtful storytelling.

If you’re a brand, editor, or creative team searching for a food photographer with experience in commercial, packaging, and editorial photography, I’d love to connect.

Here’s to thawing out, looking back with gratitude, and moving forward with intention.

— Stephanie

You can view recent work and inquire about upcoming projects at
https://www.stephaniemullinsphoto.com