Behind The Scenes at Earnest Bar and Hideaway Cocktail Shoot For Native

Native Cocktail of The Month BTS

I think most of my readers know by now that shooting cocktails is one of my favorite things. Each cocktail has its own story to tell and its own unique set of challenges. For this assignment I got to go back to one of my favorite spots in Nashville Earnest Bar and Hideaway and work with bar manager Jay Gore to photograph this “Are We Cross” cocktail which features Smith and Cross rum.

Place

For this photo I wanted to capture a bit of the vibe of Earnest Bar and Hideaway. To do that I used their stone wall and also brought in the type writer that they have sitting in the entry to the restaurant. I wanted them to both be out of focus but be recognizable. I wanted to still be sure to highlight our subject which is the cocktail.

Lighting

The lighting in this image is coming from three lights. Two of the lights are visible in the photo above. Our key light source and the one that is responsible for the highlight on the left side of the glass is the Paul C Buff Strip Box on camera left that is powered by a Paul C Buff Einstein. The light that is doing all the work on our liquid is the reflector with the grid on it coming from camera right and behind the subject which is a Paul C Buff Digi Bee. I have one more light just outside of frame that is lighting our background. The third light is a 64in Paul C Buff PLM powered by a Paul C Buff Einstein.

Wrapping It Up

Well that is about all there is to tell on this one! I hope you all had a great time reading about this cocktail and my lighting set up!