Having shot a number of cocktails margaritas in the last year or so, I’ve gotten the process down pretty well. Shooting the cherry margarita went a little something like this:
1 – Getting exposure set correctly, empty glass strategically placed over the barcode sticker on the poster board.
2 – Added a cocktail napkin that I scored from Etsy and cherries that I scored from HEB.
3 – Happy with exposure, I rimmed the glass with salt and poured the margarita in the glass. No ice yet – the clock starts ticking the second you add ice.
4 – Adjusted napkin placement and added more cherries. Happy with the composition and exposure of the shot, I added the ice and lime garnish and called it good.
5 – I pulled back to get a shot that would crop to a square/1:1 for submission to the “pretty food sites.”
6 – Not 100% happy with the fact that I couldn’t get those pretty splatter marks and pits in the picture shooting at 3/4ths, I shot from overhead. If I was going to ruin the poster board, I wanted it to count 
Plus, after shooting like 12 margarita recipes, they all kind of start to feel the same.
7 – Start of happy hour (not shown)
Some notable things about the photos:
– The shot is backlit.
– My work surface is my coffee table, which I’ve moved against the window overlooking the patio (as seen here).
– My “background” is simply the matte side of a white poster board sitting on top of my coffee table.
– Because the extra set of hands needed to help me with the reflector (also seen here) for this particular shot was working Toddler Crowd Control, I used the flash to add more light to the front of the glass.
I’ll show you how I work with back-lighting in an upcoming Photo Friday. ‘Til then, keep calm and make margaritas!
I hate shooting drinks for some reason so this was really useful, thank you!
I have a feeling I’ll be doing something very similar to this in about T-7 hours. Happy Friday, lady!
GIRL… i cannot get over your gorgeous photos!!!!!! When can I come take some lessons and have a Mexi-Margarita filled weekend??
Can we just call this the making of deliciousness? And samples would be lovely
Lovely pictures! Thanks for the walkthrough of how you ended up with the final shot. I love knowing how it works behind the scenes. Bottoms up!
I love the recap of your photo session. Very Cool.
I can’t wait for the post on back lighting. It’s something I’ve been toying with recently, and I haven’t quite found the right formula. I absolutely love these posts, thanks so much for sharing!
I definitely want to experiment with backlighting, this is gorgeous. I don’t feel very confident, though, so I’m looking forward to your post! I’m also impressed that you used the flash, as I always thought this was a big no-no in food photography.