The Perfect Drink

Drinks images have always fascinated me partly due to their complexity.
The glass, color of the liquid, layers or mixtures involved, and garnishes are components that need to be addressed.
One of the most important components, however, is what is in the glass and how the light affects it.
Shooting live drinks with real ice can be very difficult. First, ice melts. The food stylist and photographer must work quickly to capture the image in the short window of time that it can be photographed. The drink rapidly looses color and liquid volume increases when the ice melts. The drink has to be remade often during a shoot with real ice and the outside of the glass must be re-dressed with the right amount of condensation each time. All of this takes time.
As food stylists, we use fake ice because it doesn’t melt, change shape, or cause the drink to lose its color.
Food Stylists need complete control of the liquid inside the glass, so that more attention can be directed to the garnish, bubbles, fizz and composition of the set.
Obviously, the trick to a great drink shot is to obtain fake ice that looks real. The ice should look completely organic with imperfect shapes and sizes. Molded ice looks fake, particularly in close-up shots and rarely sits naturally in a glass or container.
There are currently 3 companies that produce stellar hand made ice for close-up drink photography. The least expensive, and best, can be found at www.visualfare.com. which offers a selection of different shapes and sizes and is available for purchase.