CHILLING FACTS ABOUT COLD BEVERAGES
Th e problem with shooting a cold beverage is that
once you fi nalize the set and pour the cold liquid
into the glass, you have to wait until frost and conden-
sation forms before completing photography. Th en,
you have a very short window of time to capture the
perfect shot. By using the techniques in this chapter
you can fake the eff ects on the glass and have more
control of the appearance of the glass as well as
more time to achieve the shot! Th e fi rst time you
read the descriptions of these techniques, you may
think that they are a lot of trouble. But if you try
them, I believe you will not only appreciate the
eff ects, but also adopt them for future use. Th e tech-
niques described in this chapter will give you a good
foundation to send you down a successful path toward
achieving the look you want when photographing
“cold” beverages.Let’s start with a little common sense. When you pour a
chilled beverage into a glass, condensation will form on
the outer surface of the glass up to the fi ll line, giving a
frosted eff ect. Th is look is appropriate for any chilled
beverage without ice. When you add the element of ice
to a beverage, the condensation is enhanced and eventu-
ally drops, rivers, or runs develop on the outer surface of
the glass. Th is appearance can be appropriate for all iced
beverages.Sometimes condensation is created on the inside of a
glass. For example, if a hot beverage is poured into a clear
glass container, visible condensation will form on the
inside of the glass between the top of the liquid and the
top of the glass. You can achieve this appearance with the
techniques described in this chapter. Simply work the
techniques on the inside of the glass. It’s a little more
tedious process than when working on the outside of a
glass, but it can be done.
In many ways faking these eff ects is more forgiving than
working with natural physics. Th e techniques in this
chapter will give you a stable fi nish on the glass allowing
you unrestricted time for adjustments to the lighting, the
set, and other factors. Using techniques to fake frost and
create condensation on a glass also eliminates problems
on the set. If you want to use the real beverage with real
ice, by all means do so. But there are many instances
when using the actual beverage with real ice just won’t
work.TRICKS OF THE TRADE The stand-in or non-hero glass is an
extremely important tool in beverage photography. It will be the
guinea pig that allows you to determine many issues, such as the fi ll
line for the glass, the color of the hero liquid, and the timing to
capture bubbles and fi zz created by carbonation.