Meet Colleen Redwood | Photographer & Chef

We had the good fortune of connecting with Colleen Redwood and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Colleen, what led you to pursuing a creative path professionally?
Since I was a kid, I was a creative person. In school, the classes that I enjoyed the most and was most successful in were the classes where I could be the most creative. Throughout my life, I only ever envisioned myself in a creative field. This led me to go to culinary school to become a chef and eventually to becoming a food photographer.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I am a Commercial Food Photographer and recipe developer. I work with different food brands to develop recipes and create marketing content with their products. I have also worked with food bloggers to take photos of their recipes to use on their blog or for cookbooks etc.

After going to culinary school and working as a chef in restaurants and hotels for many years, I decided to start an instagram page for me to share what I was creating in the kitchen. To make a long story short, I ended up purchasing a DSLR camera right before everything was shut down due to the pandemic and fell in love with photography during my time in quarantine. One day I stumbled upon the youtube of Joanie Simon, who is an incredible food photographer/educator and the rest is history. What started out as a hobby eventually became my full-time job.

What sets me apart from other food photographers is that I also develop recipes. I get to use my culinary background to offer an additional service that many others cannot. My journey to becoming a food photographer was not easy, but it happened naturally. I spent countless hours researching, practicing, and trying to develop my own unique style.

What I am most excited about is how I was able to turn my hobby into a profitable business. I had to do my own research and learn everything from contracts, to licensing agreements, to basically how to run a business. I want people to know that this is only the beginning for Sprinkles of Cocoa Photography and I look forward to expanding my brand in the near future.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
If I had a friend visiting and I wanted to show them a good time, I would start by taking them on a cute brunch date. There are so many brunch spots around Atlanta like Snooze eatery, or Mojave. For entertainment, depending on the time of year, we could hang out on the roof top at Ponce City Market, go bowling at The Painted Pin, or golfing at Top Golf. I’m always down for a good happy hour, so we’d probably get drinks at my new favorite Thai restaurant Osha Thai and Sushi. During the summer, Piedmont park is always a good time or we could ride bikes on the Beltline.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I have been very fortunate to have a close knit support system that keeps me going. I would like to dedicate this shoutout to my closest friends and family and the mentors that have supported me along the way. I specifically want to shoutout my parents Nicola & Colin, who continuously reassure me of how proud they are of the person that I have become. I will forever be grateful to all of the people in my life that believed in me and supported what I was doing even when I doubted myself. Having the support of my family and friends is amazing and something that I will never take for granted.

Website: www.sprinklesofcocoa.com

Instagram: @sprinklesofcocoa

Facebook: Sprinkles of Cocoa

Image Credits
Raquita Weathers of BelleRouge Photography Sprinkles of Cocoa Photography Mikyla Meckleson Photo