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How to Photograph a Beer Ad

Updated on July 3, 2013
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Beer can be said, is consumed in many of the world's households. Beer has been around since the ancient Egyptians, so far as we know, made it for everyday consumption it also appears that poems were even made on its behalf. So with this much popularity why not use beer to conduct a photographic project?

"Ale is one of the oldest beverages humans have produced, dating back to at least the 5th millennium BC and recorded in the written history of Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia. As almost any cereal containing certain sugars can undergo spontaneous fermentation due to wild yeasts in the air, it is possible that beer-like beverages were independently developed throughout the world soon after a tribe or culture had domesticated cereal. Chemical tests of ancient pottery jars reveal that beer was produced about 7,000 years ago in what is today Iran, and was one of the first-known biological engineering tasks where the biological process of fermentation is used in a process. In Mesopotamia, the oldest evidence of beer is believed to be a 6,000-year-old Sumerian tablet depicting people drinking a beverage through reed straws from a communal bowl. A 3900-year-old Sumerian poem honoring Ninkasi, the patron goddess of brewing, contains the oldest surviving beer recipe, describing the production of beer from barley via bread."Wikipedia

Most early beer ads were aimed, like today, to men since they were and still are the largest consumers. But beer ads have always relied on showing elements that compliment their product and catch the attention of its main consumer and if you have seen any beer ads lately you can probably guess that beautiful women play an important role.

Off course showing an image of a beautiful lady has anything to do with the beer itself, it's just a simple gimmick to get a man to pay attention and although women do consume beer, they still lag far behind men in the number of beers that are consumed.

This is not exclusive to any one country, in fact more beer is consumed by men in countries other than the US, even when we tend to think that the US is the beer capital of the world or at least that is what Anheuser Bush, the makers of such brands as Budweiser, would like us think.

Although the trend towards more simplistic commercial is moving fast, companies still rely on using other eye catching and enticing techniques in their commercials.

So if you want to do a beer ad there are some things to take into consideration for beer ads are a combination of various photographic techniques; product photography is the main technique used as the product has to be portrait in ways that makes it appealing to whomever is prone to buying it.

That is why beer photos show the product as if it just came out of the cooler all dripping with refreshing drops of dew not to mention a golden color which is often digitally emphasized to make it look even richer.

Next to the product or at least close by adding an image of a gorgeous looking lady, sometimes scantily clad, adds to the excitement that a consumer may develop from watching it. This involves portrait photography as the lady in question has to appear flawless in the photos.

Take for example Germany and the fame for great beer making tradition. You have noticed if paying attention how the barmaids in any traditional German establishment where beer is served as well as in many October Fest festivals, are always wearing low cut tops and seem to be "bulging."

What the person who serves you beer has nothing to do with the product, the marketing ploy is that a man is more likely just to get one more with the excuse of getting the barmaid closer, a crude but effective technique.

Other ads feature "real" life bar scenes or BBQ's or any festive occasion where beer may fit the menu. You will see nicely prepared scenes as well as pleasing details all around it and although this is also product photography it fits more a scenic style than anything else. The scenes, just like the actors, have to appear flawless too.

So if you want to make a beer ad that may become part of your professional portfolio you need to approach it from a product photography, a portrait photography and a scenic photography standpoint.

Al aspects of the shoot have to be meticulously set up and examined from various angles and perspectives to choose the best ones. Different gear may have to be employed for each portion if doing each scene individually when you plan on digitally merging them although it works best if you combine all disciplines and do a single setup shoot.

The final images have then to be looked at in Photoshop or any other digital program and you have to be your own worst critic. If the images are not great, then start all over again.

What can you do with these images after you are done shooting? They can be used for your portfolio to show companies that you can do product photography they can be used by individual companies if you feature their product and they can be used for some greeting card applications as well. Don't forget that you can also use them to showcase photography techniques too.

Check out these two funny beer commercials

Beer photo shoot

working

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