Product and Beverage Photography for Oak & Eden Whiskey

One of Tim's and my favorite things to do is play around with beverage photography in the studio.  We love trying out special effects for frozen drinks, condensation, different types of ices, drink splashes, you name it.  So when we were approached by craft whiskey Oak & Eden to shoot their product photography and cocktail recipes for their website, we were excited to put our drink styling skills to the test. 

It's always a pleasure to work with the amazingly talented graphic artist and designer Wes Wooddell who worked on the branding, artwork, and website for Oak & Eden.  Wes introduced us to Joe Giildenzopf, one of the founding brothers of Oak & Eden.  Joe and his brother developed a patented process for finishing their whiskey and rye products with a charred oak spire, which gives their whiskey a unique, rich profile.  We incorporated their signature wooden spire in some of the drink shots and created a complex studio lighting set-up to ensure that the wooden spire features prominently in the bottle shots.

Shooting a good number of beverages in one day was an especially fun challenge.  We really got to put our skills with precision and styling to the test (as well as balance carrying drinks to the set and pouring without spilling a drop; nobody breathe!)  The client was thrilled with the results, and so were we.  Of course we celebrated by sampling some of the product.  Oak & Eden will be commercially available in early 2018.  Check out their website for more info.

Liquor bottle photography in studio.  Hero image for commercial and advertising photography.

Above and below: product and cocktail photography for Oak & Eden's website.

High Brew Coffee Product Shoot

What a pleasure to have High Brew Coffee over to the home studio for a product and lifestyle photo shoot.   High Brew wanted their colorful cans to stand out boldly against a neutral, yet stylish background.  During the drink photography preproduction meeting, we came up with the idea of shooting on a concrete surface with a white background.  Additionally, it was important for the image elements (the can, flavor indicators, surface and background) to be flexible and moveable for future use.  Fortunately Tim, our master retoucher, is able to create layered Photoshop files with each element, including shadows, on a separate knock-out layer.  In a few weekends Tim and I got busy creating a custom concrete surface to shoot on and mastered the art of applying condensation drops to the cans by hand.  All the hard prep work paid off, as the client was happy with the results and the two day shoot went off without a hitch.  One of my personal favorite varieties is the Salted Caramel, below.  It not only tastes delicious and indulgent, but the flavor indicators next to the product turned out gorgeously.  Tim also had fun playing with some of the images with splash photography and some experimental compositions.

Drink Photography Condensation

Product Photography Family Line-up

High Brew Lifestyle Photography

Studio Brisko, Food and Product Photographer

Food and drink photography for Freebirds World Burrito

There is nothing more satisfying than seeing the fruits of your labor up on display for all to see.  It was a pleasure to shoot the digital menu board photography for Freebirds World Burrito late last year.  They needed images for their backlight digital menu boards.  The photo shoot was held overnight at one of their restaurant locations, so we had the whole restaurant at night which was definitely an adventure.  Thank goodness I love the music selection of 70s and alternative rock at the restaurant which kept us going all night. Food stylist Kristina Wolter kept us on pace with her amazing food styling (and time management capabilities!)  Images were shot on black plexi background with slick, pronounced product lighting, thanks so much to my partner Tim Brisko to help with the lighting and Rachelle Bendixen as first assistant.  It’s so satisfying to see the end result up on their menu boards and we can’t wait to shoot one of their world famous burritos next.