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Katsiaryna Hurava

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Studio drinks: cans, glass, ice and garnish

Close view of a pink raspberry drink with frosted berries, mint and lemon.

The pictures in this set are not one drink. They are cans, highballs, crushed ice, a short amber pour and a glass teapot. A cola-in-a-tumbler brief does not describe them. What they share is studio control: the label or the garnish has to stay readable while ice melts, droplets run and herbs wilt. The notes below follow the frames that are actually here, using published drink-photography practice only where it matches what the picture shows.

Cans: metal, droplets, ice

An aluminium can does not glow from a backlight the way a glass of liquid does. The useful light is a large source from the side and slightly behind, so the cylinder gets a rim, plus fill so the printed panel does not fall into black. Condensation is the cold cue. Real droplets from a chilled can last only a few minutes under lamps; a 1:1 glycerin-and-water mist holds beads in place and can be kept off the logo. Ice is a separate layer: cubes and crush at the base, or a bed the can lies in. These Pepsi and Schweppes frames use that split — some are clean metal, some are beaded, some sit in ice.

Schweppes can, turquoise and yellow, isolated on white with a soft reflection.
Clean white cutout of the Schweppes can, no ice, no droplets.
Schweppes Bitter Lemon can with condensation on a dark green-black ground.
Same can family, now dark: Russian ‘Биттер Лемон’ and beads on the turquoise panel.
Three Pepsi cans in a row: white-red, pennant, and classic globe, all beaded on black.
Line of three cans. Odd count, labels turned toward the lens.
Blue Pepsi can lying on its side in a field of crushed ice.
Can on its side so the ice fills the frame instead of a black ground.
Frosted Schweppes can with lemon wedges, crushed ice, and a glass of pale drink behind.
Frost and crushed ice around the can; lemon wedges and a glass complete the cold set.

Glass: colour through the liquid

When the vessel is glass, light wants to pass through the drink. A source high and behind the glass lights the surface of the liquid and the far rim; a hard light next to the lens turns the glass into a mirror. White cards fill the dark gaps. The amber glass on the dark stone is that problem in one frame: the ice has to catch an edge or it reads as plastic. The tea set is the opposite temperature. Steam only shows against a dark ground with light through it; this teapot frame is on white, so the picture is the colour of the tea in the glass, not a plume of steam.

Short faceted glass of amber spirit and large ice on a dark stone surface.
Amber pour in a heavy glass; ice is the bright shape against a dark ground.
Glass teapot and a cup of amber tea on a white reflective surface.
Hot tea: glass pot and cup, colour carried by the liquid, no steam in this frame.
Ribbed glass of clear spirit beside an embossed bottle, pickles, bread and cured meat.
Still life around a clear pour: bottle, ribbed glass, pickles and bread, not a soft drink.

Garnish, ice and the short window

Cocktail frames here are built from fruit and herbs that name the drink: peach on yellow, raspberry and lemon, lime and mint, kiwi, orange peel, sugared cherries, a purple layered pour. Garnishes are placed for the camera — a face of fruit toward the lens, herbs still upright — and they go in last. Large clear ice lasts longer than small cloudy cubes; herbs frozen inside a block are a still-life of their own, which is what the white cube study is. Lighting and the stand-in glass are locked before the real pour. After that the useful time is a few minutes.

Ribbed glass of peach drink with ice, thyme and peach slices on a yellow set.
Peach highball: fruit in the glass and a cut peach on the table.
Close view of a pink raspberry drink with frosted berries, mint and lemon.
Detail of the raspberry glass: mint, lemon and berries on the rim.
Tall green lime drink with mint, lime wheels, sugar cubes and a shaker behind.
Mojito-style highball: lime, mint, brown sugar and bar tools in the background.
Clear ice blocks with green leaves and small purple flowers frozen inside, on white.
Ice as the subject: herbs and flowers suspended in the cubes.
Two stemmed glasses with a purple top, pale middle and red base, flower dust on the rim.
Layered drinks in stemmed glasses; a shaker is soft in the background.

Session frames

  • Slim blue Pepsi can with snowflake print, standing in crushed ice on a dark reflective surface.
    Winter can: crushed ice at the base, beads on the metal, logo kept readable.
  • White Pepsi can with a red vertical band and condensation, isolated on black.
    Classic can on black: droplets sit on the metal without covering the wordmark.
  • Red, white and blue Pepsi-Cola can with heavy condensation on a black background.
    Round logo facing camera; condensation is denser on the lower half of the can.
  • White Pepsi-Cola can with red and blue pennant bands and water beads on a wet black surface.
    Pennant can: beads and a wet table, label still the sharpest plane.
  • Three Pepsi cans in a row: white-red, pennant, and classic globe, all beaded on black.
    Line of three cans. Odd count, labels turned toward the lens.
  • Three Pepsi cans grouped on a wet black surface, white-red can in front.
    Same three designs, white-red can brought forward.
  • Three Pepsi cans with the classic globe can centred in front.
    Globe can centred; the other two sit behind it.
  • Blue snowflake Pepsi can standing in a ring of ice cubes on black.
    Can on a ring of cubes, cooler light than the white-can set.
  • Blue Pepsi can open at the top, packed into crushed ice and larger cubes.
    Open tab and a deeper ice bed than the standing winter can.
  • Blue Pepsi can lying on its side in a field of crushed ice.
    Can on its side so the ice fills the frame instead of a black ground.
  • Ribbed glass of clear spirit beside an embossed bottle, pickles, bread and cured meat.
    Still life around a clear pour: bottle, ribbed glass, pickles and bread, not a soft drink.
  • Tall pink berry drink with mint, a straw and ice on a marble slab.
    Pink highball: mint and berries inside the glass, straw and loose ice on the marble.
  • Pale highball with lemon, raspberries, mint and a raspberry pick against a tiled wall.
    Raspberry and lemon highball; a second glass of ice sits out of focus.
  • Similar raspberry-lemon highball with a straw, mint and a skewer of berries.
    Same drink family as the tiled highball, straw added, garnish shifted.
  • Stemmed glass of pale pink drink with frozen berries and a flower on a pink set.
    Pink set: stemmed glass, frozen berries on a pick, hydrangea petals around the board.
  • Stemmed glass of clear lime drink with mint, thyme flowers and a straw.
    Lime and herb highball; a cut lime sits behind the glass.
  • Clear ice blocks with green leaves and small purple flowers frozen inside, on white.
    Ice as the subject: herbs and flowers suspended in the cubes.
  • Two short glasses of red crushed-ice drinks with sugared cherries on a glass plate.
    Two red crushed-ice drinks; sugared cherries on the rims and on the plate.
  • One red-and-white crushed-ice drink with a sugared cherry, straw and cherries in the ice.
    Single red drink in a bed of ice, cherry and mint on the rim.
  • Orange crushed-ice cocktail in a hurricane glass with orange peel and mint.
    Orange drink against a dark interior; peel rose and mint on top of the ice.
  • Green kiwi drink in a can-shaped glass on a small wooden pallet.
    Kiwi slices in a green drink; mint and a skewer on crushed ice.
  • Tall green lime drink with mint, lime wheels, sugar cubes and a shaker behind.
    Mojito-style highball: lime, mint, brown sugar and bar tools in the background.
  • Two stemmed glasses with a purple top, pale middle and red base, flower dust on the rim.
    Layered drinks in stemmed glasses; a shaker is soft in the background.
  • Orange highball with citrus peel, mint and a star anise against a green wall.
    Orange drink on white, green backdrop, star anise in the garnish.
  • Ribbed glass of peach drink with ice, thyme and peach slices on a yellow set.
    Peach highball: fruit in the glass and a cut peach on the table.
  • Wider view of the same peach drink, yellow wall and bar spoon.
    Same peach set pulled back so the yellow wall and spoon read in the frame.
  • Short faceted glass of amber spirit and large ice on a dark stone surface.
    Amber pour in a heavy glass; ice is the bright shape against a dark ground.
  • Two glasses of pink raspberry drink on a white board with lemon and a bowl of berries.
    Two raspberry glasses; lemon wedges and a berry bowl set the flavour without a logo.
  • Closer pair of the same raspberry drinks, skewer of frosted berries in front.
    Same raspberry pair, tighter crop, frosted berries on the pick.
  • Close view of a pink raspberry drink with frosted berries, mint and lemon.
    Detail of the raspberry glass: mint, lemon and berries on the rim.
  • Glass teapot and a cup of amber tea on a white reflective surface.
    Hot tea: glass pot and cup, colour carried by the liquid, no steam in this frame.
  • Schweppes can, turquoise and yellow, isolated on white with a soft reflection.
    Clean white cutout of the Schweppes can, no ice, no droplets.
  • Schweppes Bitter Lemon can with condensation on a dark green-black ground.
    Same can family, now dark: Russian ‘Биттер Лемон’ and beads on the turquoise panel.
  • Frosted Schweppes can with lemon wedges, crushed ice, and a glass of pale drink behind.
    Frost and crushed ice around the can; lemon wedges and a glass complete the cold set.