The glass
You do not really photograph glass, you photograph what surrounds it. The curve is drawn by strips of light and black flags placed out of frame, and that shape is built on the shoot, not in the cut-out.
Beverage and spirits photography
Glass, label and ice are three separate problems, and none of them is solved in post. Since 2016, from a single bottle packshot to an out-of-home campaign, for spirits houses, their distributors and their agencies.
Three briefs that get confused for one
A brand asking for photographs of its product is actually asking for three things, and the quote means nothing until they are separated. The packshot shows the bottle alone, on a neutral ground, and serves the product page, the catalogue and e-commerce. The serve shows the drink as poured, the one a customer has to recognise at the bar. The atmosphere shows the room, the bartender’s hand, the movement, and feeds social and press.
These three families share neither the lighting set-up, nor the tempo, nor the licence duration. Shooting them on the same day is possible and often sensible, but costing them as one block means paying packshot rates for atmosphere, or the reverse.
What glass, label and ice impose
A bottle is a difficult object for a simple reason: it is transparent, it is reflective, and it carries text that has to stay readable. Those three properties contradict each other under a single source.
The label
It wants frontal light to stay readable, which is exactly the light that flattens the curve of the bottle. That is the central trade-off of a packshot. It is settled by separating the sources, sometimes by compositing several rigorously identical frames.
The ice
Bar ice melts within minutes under the modifiers. Either you shoot fast, with a prepared stock and a written running order, or you work with ice cut for camera. Both are decided beforehand, never on the day.
What a production contains
The breakdown is the same as on a food production, but the weight shifts markedly towards preparation.
Before
A conversation about usage and distribution territories, the list of references to shoot, the choice of studio or venue, and clearing the legal constraints with the brand’s legal team where there is one.
During
The shoot, usually with flash, because glass calls for sources whose size and position you control to the centimetre. Twenty-five to forty finished frames on a studio day, twelve to eighteen on a brand evening shot live.
After
Selection gallery within five working days, retouching, then delivery in 16:9, 4:5, 1:1 and 9:16 from the same capture, within ten days. Where the brand asks for it, frames are delivered with its logo and strapline already set, in its own social formats.
The law shapes what these images may say
In France, communication in favour of an alcoholic drink is governed by the loi Évin. The message may show the product, but its content has to stay factual: strength, origin, composition, method of production, colour, aroma and taste. Anything belonging to celebration, seduction or conviviality falls outside that frame, and a health warning must accompany the message.
That shapes the photography before the first frame. A visual staging a group raising glasses will not be usable in France by the brand, however good it is. A serious production therefore settles this on the shot list, and often plans two sets of images, one for the French market and one for markets that do not carry the constraint.
I am not a lawyer, and final clearance always sits with the brand’s legal team or its counsel. My part is to arrive on set knowing the question exists, rather than discovering it at delivery.
Beverage and spirits photography
Packshots, serves and bar atmosphere. The full gallery also covers hospitality, food and cocktails.
One campaign, from studio to out-of-home
St-Germain at Galeries Lafayette shows the craft under a hard constraint: frames built for a digital carousel in a shop window, where logo and strapline are set into the image and the smallest crop cuts the message. The project page gives the brief, the real constraint, the deliverables and the exact scope of the licence granted.
What clients say
Reviews published on Ahoueke Hilaire’s Google listing, reproduced here word for word.
J’ai eu l’occasion de collaborer avec Hilaire sur plusieurs projets différents et j’ai particulièrement apprécié son approche du métier. Au-delà de la qualité technique des photos, il sait réellement comprendre un plat, mettre en valeur les détails et retranscrire l’intention, l’humain. Les échanges sont simples, professionnels et agréables, avec une vraie capacité à s’adapter aux contraintes d’une cuisine professionnelle. Un travail précis, créatif et toujours réalisé avec beaucoup de sérieux. Je le recommande vivement pour tout projet de photographie culinaire.
Nous cherchions un photographe capable de shooter à la fois nos chambres, notre spa et la carte du restaurant sur trois jours, sans mobiliser une équipe entière. Hilaire est arrivé seul, a travaillé en lumière naturelle le matin et au flash pour les ambiances du soir, et nous a livré 180 images retouchées en dix jours. Nous les utilisons depuis sur notre site, nos réseaux et nos supports de vente
« Nous avions besoin de packshots et de visuels d'ambiance cocktail pour un lancement national. Hilaire a construit les recettes visuelles avec notre ambassadeur, géré les fonds, les glaçons, la condensation, tout ce qui fait qu'un cocktail tient à l'image. Les visuels sont partis en PLV et en digital sans retouche supplémentaire. »
Je recommande fortement Hilaire. Nous avions un enjeu de cohérence : cinq adresses, cinq styles photo différents. Hilaire a proposé une direction visuelle unique et l'a tenue d'un établissement à l'autre. Il comprend vite les contraintes d'un groupe, il est autonome sur place et il ne perturbe pas l'exploitation.
Nous souhaitions des Reels de préparation, pas seulement des photos. Hilaire filme et photographie sur la même session, ce qui nous évite de bloquer le bar deux fois. Les vidéos de verse au ralenti tournent encore un an après et on grandement contribué à la visibilité de l’établissement! Un prestataire fiable auquel nous ferons de nouveau appel sans la moindre reserve!
Nous sommes une petite affaire, on ne pouvait pas se permettre une production. Hilaire a proposé une demi-journée avec une sélection resserrée, au prix annoncé, sans extras surprises. C'était exactement le bon format pour nous.
J'ai été client d'Hilaire pour de la photographie culinaire, son talent et sa passion ont rendu grâce à nos plats ! Un véritable professionnel avec qui j'ai hâte de travailler à nouveau
Je recommande vivement! Hilaire est professionnel, disponible et à l’écoute. Il a su s’adapter à notre projet, budget et a fourni un travail irréprochable! 5*
Frequently asked
Studio, or on location?
- Studio for packshots, without exception: the light has to be reproducible identically from one reference to the next and from one session to the following. On location for serves and atmosphere, when the bar is part of the message. Many projects do both, across two half-days.
How many references can be shot in a day?
- Between eight and twelve bottles as packshots on a studio day, if the bottles arrive clean and the labels sit square. Fewer as soon as a range mixes heights and glass colours, because every change of format restarts the lighting set-up.
Who provides the drinks and the bartender?
- The brand, usually, because the serve has to be exactly its official recipe. Where that is not arranged, it is quoted separately, just as a food stylist is on a food production. Either way you need doubles: a built drink rarely holds for more than ten minutes.
Can frames be delivered with the brand’s logo and strapline?
- Yes, and it is a common deliverable on social campaigns: vertical format, logo and strapline set in, ready to publish. It has to be planned at framing, because an image composed without that reserved space forces you to crop the subject to fit the text.
What does usage and licensing mean in practice?
- A photograph is not sold, it is [licensed](/en/image-licensing/) for a defined use, duration and territory. A packshot on a product page for two years in France is not worth the same as the same image in out-of-home and packaging for five years across Europe.
Something in the pipeline?
The brief form takes three minutes and asks the questions that matter: how many references, which distribution channels, for how long and across which territories.