Beer Photography - Helping You Sell More Beer!

Das Schwarze - beer photography bottle & Krug

Beer photography needs to cover several important bases to be effective. Firstly, you need to create a sense of desire in the viewer. Secondly, the images must be true to the brand and communicate something of the lifestyle associations of the brand. Thirdly, it needs to be eye-catching enough for people to stop and look at the advertising image. Food and drink photography should ideally get the mouth watering in anticipation. It should make you want to consume the product. One aspect of this is communicating a sense of freshness (where appropriate). For a beer, this might be a pouring shot, an action shot of the bubbles in the glass or something that suggests it is chilled and refreshing, for example.

Close up of beer in pint glass with drop over the rim
Kronenbourg Beer Bottle Advertising Photo on blue background glow
pouring a pint of beer viewed from above
Bottle Pouring Beer

These types of shots are often created in the studio where it is easier to control all the elements of a shoot, especially the lighting. However, it may suit the brand better to have something more contextual. In this case, we choose a suitable location to shoot that will give us the extra elements. Sometimes this may make photographing the beer difficult due to the light and reflections off the glass. So, it may be necessary to composite a studio shot into a location. However, it may be possible to shoot the whole thing on site on location if conditions are right. For example, see the images below.

Boon Doggle beer being poured from a bottle into a pint glass with bar background
Das Schwarze beer bottle next to German style Krug
Beer Photography - drink photographed at The Norfolk Lurcher
Pint of dark beer
Beer Photography sample image of an ABK half pint

To show the true colour of a beer or to separate it a little more from its surroundings it is often a good idea to light the beer from behind. This can also give a cleaner look to the glass with less distracting refracting and reflecting elements. If it is a little lighter than the background it can also help the bottle or glass of liquid to stand out more in the image.

Glowing pint of beer in Beeston Brewery Glass shot at The Norfolk Lurcher

For certain types of beer photography there is no substitute for the studio. E-Commerce website images along the lines of the big retailers tend to be done on a white background. This is far easier to achieve in the studio. Similarly, if you want to create a particular setting with a particular colour set then again in studio can be easier. Wherever the images are shot, retouching to a high standard is extremely important for achieving the final polished look. This can often take longer than the shoot itself but is well worth the investment.

Brewdog Punk IPA - photo of bottle
Cobra Beer on Ice

All images © Joe Lenton, 2019, 2020 – all rights reserved

If you would like help with your beer photography, wine photography or to photograph any other beverage please do get in touch using the button:

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