Thanksgiving Tablescape

With Thanksgiving a week away, and everyone preparing for guests, I thought I would share some behind the scenes of a recent in studio photoshoot utilizing our conference table as the setting. I spend my days shooting and styling for our boutique packaging design studio; Southern Northern with my husband, Chris. A recent project with our friends at Wilderness Run Vineyards, allowed the opportunity to build a Thanksgiving themed tablescape around their featured wines.

Portrait series wines for Wilderness Run Vineyards.

With the cost of nearly everything on the rise, the aim was to stick to a reasonable budget and rely on the natural surroundings to add ambiance with foraged elements that add color and texture. Natural dyes transformed a stash of forgotten linens to achieve a rich color palette and a bottle of Rit dye added visual drama to the tablecloth.

Tea dyed napkins and dried orange slices adorn each place setting.

A horn of plenty charcuterie platter presented on an heirloom tray.

To build layers in the tablescape, we shopped our house for timeworn family heirlooms. What wasn’t found at home was supplemented by a trip to a local antique mall, knowing the palette included certain colors, sifting through the shelves became easier with a theme in mind. With warm grey being the base of the tablescape, paired with grey stoneware and metallic patinas, amber glass became a great option to introduce light and color. One of the local dealers had a cabinet full of this beautiful glassware that was budget friendly and added fall hues.

Antique amber glass chicken and foraged hydrangea centerpiece.

A quick trip to the grocery store for seasonally appropriate produce completed the look. Items included pomegranates, cranberries in an amber compote dish and black grapes. A variety of cheese, meat and crackers from Aldi rounded the charcuterie platter out.

Once the table was set, a single Godox AD400 Pro studio strobe and a Glow beauty dish lit the scene providing bold shadows contrasted by sumptuous colors and tones.