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.

Persephone Queen of the Underworld

I recently worked with my partner Tim Brisko on a new still life photo.  We wanted to combine food photography with photo illustration.  In this piece, Persephone, we explore the symbolism of the myth of Persephone, the young maiden, daughter of Demeter, who found herself torn between two worlds, the underworld of Hades and the earth of her mother.  The pomegranate represents Persephone, split in two between her husband king of the underworld and her mother, goddess of the harvest and the seasons.  Three lone pomegranate seeds have fallen on the table, representing the three seeds she ate while in the underworld, which sealed her fate as queen of the underworld.  Hades is represented by the hourglass and Demeter by the shafts of wheat.  Foliage continues to grow, as nature always returns and takes over the earth.  The moth was a fun addition, with a nod to Dutch and Renaissance still life painters, who would often include a hyper-realistic living element, such as an insect, as a trompe l'oeil, or trick of the eye.  Thankfully Tim is a very talented retoucher and was able to add the moth in post production seamlessly.  We enjoyed working on this project together and look forward to future creative collaborations.

Studio Brisko, Portland Product Photography