Pub/beer photos

jspruit

I take pictures as a hobby, but have been asked by some beer brewing mates to take a few shots of their beer bottles & taps in pubs. I'm not getting paid for this other than probably a couple of beers here and there-plenty happy with that.
I was thinking of some closeups on the bottles, taps, and also some nice setups with bottles and glasses and taps with some nice narrow focus on one or two items.
Has anyone have experience with type of shot or similar-maybe with other drinks or food? I know that food photography is a whole art/business of its own, but I don't want to get too detailed. Will I need a wider faster lens? Should I use a white plexi/sheet backdrop? Will I need additional artificial lighting since there is very little natural light to work with? Or does anyone have any specific ideas?
I'm working with a Canon 50d with a 28-135mm f3.5-5.6, 50mm f1.8, and 85mm f1.8 lenses; I have access to a tripod and 580 exII flash, but I don't have off-camera lighting options really.
Here is a shot that I did quickly in an off-licence, but along the lines of what I was thinking.

Borderfox

Did some work for brochures for specialty beers for a pub, used a 24-70L on a 5d with a tripod with natural light.




http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2362/2102071716_8c5419ca78.jpg

jtang

here's a few of mine, its a bit of a hobby to take pices of food that I eat and things I drink







I kinda like using primes for this kind of pictures, then again, i like primes in general

the_tractor

Drink a few beers, inspiration will come.....

Pivot_Al

One of mine

WindSock

jspruit

Thanks for the inspiration so far. Looking also for some commerical-type images.

thefly

jspruit wrote: »

Thanks for the inspiration so far. Looking also for some commerical-type images.

Where to start??????


YOU WILL NEED STUDIO LIGHTING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You should really shoot a bottle in 4 stages. The cap, the neck, the label and the base. Light each part separately and then put it all together in PS.

Remove the label at the back of the bottle. You should have NO bubbles in the bottle so leave the bottles to sit for a couple of days so all bubbles disappear.

Also you will need to spritz the bottle with fake condensation to make it look like the beer has been chilled.


These are a couple of simple tips. The lighting is massively important. You will need various light sources, see through paper and various clips and clamps (if your shooting alone)


You will also want a very very good solid tri-pod. Once you get you shot in position you dont want the tri-pod to move even the slightest.


Just a couple of tips. Hope it helps

jspruit

Thanks for the lighting tips too. I don't have studio lighting, but I will try to use some of those strategies to make things better.

jspruit

Have not completed this photo shoot onsite yet, but have been able to shoot a few bottles at home with a homemade light tent with the use of flash with wireless trigger. Still working on style and setup but it's kind of fun.

Thecageyone

Natural light with good glass/primes looks the way to go. fantastic examples above. Who needs lighting for still subjects??

kjt

If you can try get them outside and with an interesting backdrop.


A few more shots here...

CabanSail

jspruit wrote: »

With this shot I would think that you would want all three bottles to be sharp. You will need to shut down the aperture to increase the depth of field to acheive this.

Sleepy

the_tractor wrote: »

Drink a few beers, inspiration will come.....

Tell me you've contacted Miller's ad company with this shot?

Can easily see that on a billboard.

thefly

jspruit wrote: »

Have not completed this photo shoot onsite yet, but have been able to shoot a few bottles at home with a homemade light tent with the use of flash with wireless trigger. Still working on style and setup but it's kind of fun.

Still a lot of work to do. Firstly I can see you and your camera in the reflection of the middle bottle also the sensor on your camera and what looks like a window or tv behind you.

The lighting is still way off. The top and bottom of the bottles are two different tones and the lighting from left to right is also different. Try to get a nice even natural flow of light.

If you can't shoot sections of the bottle at least shoot one bottle at a time and bring them together in PP.

I was doing a bottle shoot myself the other day. It is not yet finished but it might give you some tips.

Firstly backlighting:



Then the side label



Then the main label



then the neck



And now some nice highlights on the shoulder of the bottle



And then you piece it altogether in PP and you come up with this




It's only a rough one at this stage. Still needs a lot of work. The cap could be a little brighter in parts and I don't like the colour of the drink. Don't mind the messy PP as it's not important at this stage. Cleaning up the image is the last thing to do and the most important thing is the bottle. The background can be anything

Anyway hope this helps

jspruit

CabanSail wrote: »

With this shot I would think that you would want all three bottles to be sharp. You will need to shut down the aperture to increase the depth of field to acheive this.

In this particular shot I had focus set on the first bottle with a large aperture of f2.8 intentionally. I did take another shot at f8 where all three bottles are in focus a bit more.

jspruit

kjt wrote: »

If you can try get them outside and with an interesting backdrop.

A few more shots here...

Nice shots-I think that I'll use the inspiration to get away from some of the more set studio-type shots too. I'm not sure if I'll be up at 5am like you though and I'm pretty sure that I'd get some major flack from my beer geek friends for getting anywhere near an MGD.

neilthefunkeone

the_monkey

Some of mine

thefly

jspruit wrote: »

Nice shots-I think that I'll use the inspiration to get away from some of the more set studio-type shots too. I'm not sure if I'll be up at 5am like you though and I'm pretty sure that I'd get some major flack from my beer geek friends for getting anywhere near an MGD.

so true

Simplicius

thefly wrote: »

Still a lot of work to do. Firstly I can see you and your camera in the reflection of the middle bottle also the sensor on your camera and what looks like a window or tv behind you.

The lighting is still way off. The top and bottom of the bottles are two different tones and the lighting from left to right is also different. Try to get a nice even natural flow of light.

If you can't shoot sections of the bottle at least shoot one bottle at a time and bring them together in PP.

I was doing a bottle shoot myself the other day. It is not yet finished but it might give you some tips.

Firstly backlighting:



Then the side label



Then the main label



then the neck



And now some nice highlights on the shoulder of the bottle



And then you piece it altogether in PP and you come up with this




It's only a rough one at this stage. Still needs a lot of work. The cap could be a little brighter in parts and I don't like the colour of the drink. Don't mind the messy PP as it's not important at this stage. Cleaning up the image is the last thing to do and the most important thing is the bottle. The background can be anything

Anyway hope this helps

Jaysus... all that work !!! Flash and studio is still a mystery to me.

could you not just take it outside on a bright day and use one or two reflectors to give balance to the ambient light direction ? Even an aimed mirror to give one edge zing?

ThOnda

Remember Boards Exhibition in DCC?

YeGods

My Top-Tip: Photo first then drink the Beer - or you'll end up with and empty bottle in a lop-sided photo (after a few Beers I mean)

thefly

Simplicius wrote: »

Jaysus... all that work !!! Flash and studio is still a mystery to me.

could you not just take it outside on a bright day and use one or two reflectors to give balance to the ambient light direction ? Even an aimed mirror to give one edge zing?

All that work is right but that's why commercial photographers charge €2500 per day :cool:

thefly

Some great examples I found on the web. I know it's a big size but it's even better as you can see the detail and the quality of the shots. This photographer knows exactly what he is doing and his understanding of studio light is clear too see. Even the fake condensation is perfect