There’s something about photographing a good cocktail that makes you slow down and really look at it.
This is Smokin’ With The Reverend, an Old Fashioned-inspired cocktail I photographed at The Local Drive Hangar. The drink itself has plenty going on: Elijah Craig Bourbon, smoked orange bitters, smoked honey, and cherry wood smoke. But what caught my attention was the atmosphere created by all of those elements coming together.
The smoke was especially fun to photograph. It gives the image movement and makes the cocktail feel like more than just a drink sitting on a bar. You can almost imagine the aroma coming through the photograph.
The original photograph was then taken into my design workflow and turned into a social media graphic. I always enjoy that second stage of the process because the photograph becomes the foundation for something completely different. Composition, typography, cropping, and a little visual storytelling can change the entire personality of an image.
I’ve spent a lot of time photographing cocktails, food, spirits, and the places where they’re served. They’re surprisingly challenging subjects. Glass creates reflections, dark spirits can disappear into a dark background, and smoke has a mind of its own. Getting everything to cooperate in a single frame can take some patience.
For this one, though, the smoke did exactly what I wanted.
A little bourbon. A little fire. A little photography.
And apparently, one very photogenic Old Fashioned.
What do you think of the shot? and the after?
