Behind The Scenes
Project: The Golden Glow | 2023 Vidal Icewine Study
The Vision
The objective was to capture the luxury essence of a 2023 Vidal Icewine, emphasizing the high-viscosity "glow" of the liquid and the elegant silhouette of the bottle. In beverage photography, the challenge is always the glass—managing distracting reflections while creating a sharp, clean outline that separates the product from a cinematic background.
The Technical Execution
Lighting Geometry: I utilized a multi-light setup with vertical strip boxes to create precise "rim lighting." This defines the bottle’s shape against the deep blue gradient.
The Glow: A dedicated backlight was positioned behind the bottle to illuminate the wine from within, showcasing its rich, amber translucency.
Refinement: Custom-cut scrims and diffusers were used to eliminate "hot spots" on the glass, ensuring the highlights were soft and consistent across the curve of the bottle.
Tethered Workflow: The shoot was captured tethered to Cascable, allowing for real-time adjustments to lighting and composition, a standard requirement for agency-level productions.
Project: The Golden Vessel
This project is an exploration of organic geometry and the interplay between opaque and translucent textures. The goal was to transform a common culinary object—a simple brown egg—into a piece of high-end, architectural art through precise lighting and minimalist styling.
The Vision
The creative direction focused on "Elevated Simplicity." By removing all distractions and utilizing a high-key, white-on-white environment, the vision was to draw the viewer’s eye exclusively to the "glow" within the shell. The warmth of the liquid serves as the heartbeat of the image, contrasting against the clinical precision of the white porcelain and the cool, matte finish of the eggshell. The composition was designed to feel both fragile and monumental.
Technical Execution
The primary challenge of this shot was managing three distinct reflective surfaces: the liquid, the eggshell, and the glazed porcelain plate.
Lighting: A single-point overhead softbox provided the soft base exposure, while a secondary, snooted light source was positioned at a precise rear-angle. This "back-surface" lighting was crucial to penetrate the liquid and create the internal luminosity without washing out the texture of the shell.
Styling: Symmetry was achieved using a professional egg-topper to ensure a perfectly clean horizontal break. The liquid was introduced via a syringe to reach the exact meniscus point, creating a surface tension that catches the light.
Optics: Shot at a narrow aperture to maintain a deep plane of focus, ensuring that the texture of the foreground spoon and the liquid's surface remained tack-sharp, emphasizing the "stillness" of the moment.
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