Cold Glass of Soda

I recently taught a food photography workshop for one of my students who owns a restaurant ( Luigisgourmet.com )in Johnston, RI.  One of the shots that was fun to do was a glass of soda.  It seems simple enough but there are a few things you can do to make the soda look better in the photo.

1.  Spray the glass with scotch guard or car wax before spraying with water.  This will help the water bead up on the glass.

2.  Make sure the ice breaks the surface of the class.  This shot uses real ice but fake ice could be used instead.

3.  If you are shooting a dark soda, fill half the glass with the dark soda and the other half with a clear soda.  This will make the soda lighter and allow the light to show through it more easily.

4.  Cut out a piece of cardboard that is smaller than your glass and wrap it with aluminum foil.  Put this reflector behind the glass so you can’t see it from your camera position.  This will kick light back through the soda.

5.  The main light for this shot was a 250 watt bulb shot through an umbrella at camera left (side light).  There was a second light at camera right pointing at the background and into the little reflector.