Cocktail Photography Tips
A few weeks ago, Edible Brooklyn emailed me looking for the best tips to give for shooting cocktail photography. They interviewed another amazing cocktail photographer in NYC too – you can read their findings here!
In addition to that article, I decide to go ahead and pull a couple images to add another couple of tips. Anything you would like to add? Comment below!!
The first shot is all about the condensation. You can notice the focus point begins there and starts to fall off towards the back of the shot. I wanted the melting drink and the cool freshness of the drink to come through. Sometimes adding these additional ingredients on the side can be overdone. However, for this shot, my focus and crop is on the front cup, that I think they just add pops of color the background that nothing on the surface would make the slate blend into the black backdrop.
I think another big factor with shooting on location, is knowing your environment and what the restaurant is about. If they are a morning/brunch spot with big windows that let a lot of light into the restaurant, you don’t want a black dark background with moody lighting and vice versa. This photograph was at a late night cocktail bar. It they have velvet curtains and lots of lounge seating for the customer. I kept with minimal lighting to make it moody and even used the arm of a chair as the set-up shot. Giving the drink context is important.
Love to answer any other questions you may have about shooting cocktails?
