On Shooting Drinks

The week was abuzz with so many things at hand. Accompanied my wife for her monthly prenatal and my daughter for her first root canal which she passed with flying colors. That's my Girl! Finally, I had to do a quick shoot for new drinks for the restaurant Spice Fusion. With all new purchases which could have made me poorer by a year, it was my first true test for my creativity both as in the actual shoot which includes setting up the lights correctly as well as layout the final output.

Not that I was a bit anxious but giving good results was always and has always been my standard for anything I do. Its not going to be the best compared to the beautiful picture you see in coffee books but its going be be a result where I give my best. I was prepared, I knew that all along. In fact I never really though about the shoot. After setting up the lighting ratios and positioning the studio lights where I felt would give the best results, I was ready to rock and roll.

Just a word of guidance; Shooting drinks is a little different from shooting food. Where in food you can just rely on natural light and perhaps one or two flash light and a couple of reflectors, this is not possible when shooting drinks. Natural light although still the best for almost all food shots would not be enough to light the liquid to reveal the textures and colors. Drinks needs a little more of the hard lights from every angle so you may need 3 or more light source to do this. The result is a spectacular revelations of the colors and texture of the drink from the inside. See unfinished output below:



I'm still stuck with the layout which I find a more difficult task than shooting. Maybe I'll try to learn more about this field from a short term course in the malls. But I'm happy with my first results. Its was not an easy setup but with money not an issue, it made it easier to do with the new purchases.