A bottle is an object made of glass: it has almost no surface to light, only reflections. A packshot is therefore not a matter of putting a light on it, but of building around it what it is going to give back. That is what separates a catalogue frame from an image that holds a full page.
“Packshot” covers needs that share neither cost nor lifespan. The cut-out on a neutral background serves e-commerce and product listings; it has to be neutral, repeatable and interchangeable. The packshot on a set serves the brand; it shows a use and it ages with the campaign. A launch visual is made for a single release and is built like an advertising image.
Knowing which of the three is being asked for changes everything: the number of sources, the time per reference, and above all the scope of the licence. It is the first question I ask, before the number of bottles even comes up.
Label straight, glass clean, margins consistent from one reference to the next. That is the point of shooting a range in one session: twenty bottles match because they were made in the same light, on the same day, at the same distance.
The bottle sits in a context that belongs to it: a counter, a laid table, a material. These feed the brand site, the press and social, and they survive cropping.
An image built for a defined use and a defined duration. Here the price does not come from time spent but from the licence: a visual going to out-of-home or DOOH is worth what its exposure is worth. That conversation belongs in the first exchange, not at delivery.
Glass returns only what you give it. A bright surface set to one side does not light it, it draws a bright edge; a dark surface does not darken it, it gives it an outline. A packshot is therefore an assembly of bright and dark bands decided one by one, which is why a bottle takes longer than an opaque object.
Two constraints are specific to spirits. The label has to stay legible, which rules out letting it disappear into a reflection; and the colour of the liquid has to be true, because an aged rum turns red or yellow at the slightest approximation. Both are settled on set, not afterwards.
Frosted, opaline and screen-printed bottles follow further rules again. The lighting logic for glass is set out in the journal, on the subject of built drinks: ice sets the schedule.
A brand nearly always needs both: the bottle alone, and the drink it serves. Two different uses, two different formats, but the same set and the same team. Splitting them into two productions means paying for the set-up twice.
Across a day, a range of bottles and two or three signature serves sit together without clashing, provided the order is settled beforehand: bottles first, because they do not degrade, glasses after, because they melt.
The work on drinks is covered on the cocktail photographer in Paris page, and the beverage practice as a whole on beverage and spirits photography.
For a packshot on a neutral background, your presence adds nothing to the image, and moving a crew costs more than shipping a few boxes. Brands and their agencies can therefore send the bottles straight to the studio in Marseille. The shipping address comes with the quote.
It runs in four steps. You approve the quote and the brief, with the list of references, the brand guidelines and the output formats. You ship two units per reference, packed as for sale, by tracked parcel. The selection board reaches you within five working days of receipt, the final files within ten. The bottles then go back in the same box, or are destroyed on request for a product not yet released.
It is the right format for ranges, for new bottles that need to be online before a launch, and for brands based outside France that need visuals for the French market. Packshots on a set and serves remain productions on location or in studio with you, because the context is part of the message.
From you: at least two units per reference, one of them unopened and free of handling marks, plus the brand guidelines if they exist and the output formats expected. A creased label or a scratched capsule shows at the size these images are viewed, and retouches badly.
From me: the lighting, the shoot, the selection, and a retouch that cleans without rebuilding. I do not recompose a label and I do not redraw a liquid; a packshot has to look like the bottle the customer will receive.
Part of the beverage work produced since 2016, spirits and no-alcohol alike.
Seven sparkling grape juice references photographed for Alain Milliat, in studio, with the constraint of a range that had to hold together bottle after bottle.
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*
Tell me what the images have to do and over what period they will serve. That is what makes it possible to quote a packshot production without a polite range.