London Brand Photography Archives

August 26, 2023 — Comments are off for this post.

Stunning Cocktail Photography – Shooting Lanique Spirit of Rose Cocktails at Bourne & Hollingsworth and Gaucho Covent Garden

Best Cocktail Photography in London — *A Rose a Day, Oysters Away Cocktail Shot for Lanique Spirit of Rose*

Lanique Spirit of Rose boasts 200 years of history, and is still distilled today using the same artisan method. I had the pleasure of shooting Lanique cocktails at Gaucho Covent Garden, Cocktails in the City and Bourne & Hollingsworth Street Bar.

Shooting a heritage brand: Lanique Spirit of Rose

Lanique Spirit of Rose has a rich history, originating from 1875. In this shoot, the client wanted to capture beautiful imagery, primarily for their social media channels. In the first part of the shoot, which took place at Gaucho Covent Garden, they wanted to highlight the bottle and showcase some of their key serves. The second part of the shoot featured their collaboration with Bourne & Hollingsworth, both at their Soho street bar and at the Cocktails in the City festival.

Lastly, looking at their audience, they recognised that the majority of their audience were male mixologists. As a result, they were looking to move away from their pink, light and bright aesthetic and incorporate action shots behind the bar.

The photography brief

The cocktail photography shoot for Lanique was split in three parts:

Firstly, at Gaucho Covent Garden, I shot the following key serves:

Rose Fizz
Rose & Tonic
Rose Sour
Rose-ito
Rose Negroni
Rose Spritz
Lychee Rose Martini

Secondly, at the Bourne & Hollingsworth Lanique street bar, I shot:

Rose & Grapefruit Margarita
A Shore Thing
A Rose a Day

Lastly, at Cocktails in the City, I shot:

A Rose a Day
A Shore Thing
Shell Tasting Serves

Lanique Spirit of the Rose Cocktails — *A Rose a Day at the Hollingsworth & Bourne Lanique Street Bar*

Lanique cocktail photography at Gaucho Covent Garden

The Lanique key serves were prepared by Simone Fabiani at Gaucho Covent Garden. To capture the brand's essence, I photographed the cocktails in different settings, both indoors and outdoors, as well as behind the scenes at the bar, and lifestyle shots.

Lanique key serves photography - indoors

Cocktail Photographer London Prices — *Lanique key serves cocktail photography*

Stunning Drinks Photography — *Lanique key serves cocktail photography*

behind the scenes at gaucho

Lanique key serves - outdoors

Product Photography in London — *Key serves shot outdoors at Covent Garden*

Lanique lifestyle shots

Commercial Photographer UK — *Lifestyle photos of Lanique in Covent Garden*

Lanique cocktail photography at the Bourne & Hollingsworth street bar

The Bourne & Hollingsworth street bar in Soho serves three Lanique cocktails. They are available all summer.

Cocktail photography Lanique — *Lanique cocktails at the Bourne & Hollingsworth street bar in Soho*

Lanique x Bourne & Hollingsworth at Cocktails in the City

The last shoot location was the Lanique x Bourne & Hollingsworth booth at Cocktails in the City. At the festival, which takes places over a weekend in July, August and September, the Lanique team prepared two cocktails, as well as organised taster sessions with drinks were served in oyster shells.

The nitty-gritty

This was a full day shoot over three locations. I used a Sony a7iii, with a 50-mm and a 24-70mm lens, and a Godox softbox strobe light.

The shoot was organised by Roche Communications.

Want to see more?

You can follow me on Instagram, Pinterest or TikTok to see more of my work.

For more cocktail photography, check out my previous shoots at Sabine Rooftop Bar. For more restaurant photography, have a look at my previous shoots at Benares Mayfair, Bonfire, Sabine Rooftop Bar, SlowBurn, Chuku's, The Haberdashery, and Pastore - or get tips on how to pick the right restaurant photographer for your business. You can also see some of my food styling gigs!

If you liked this post, drop me a line - I'd love to hear from you!

Published by Naf Castanas in Food and Drinks, London Brand Photography, Restaurant & Brand Photography

July 29, 2021 — Comments are off for this post.

Steak and Fries Food Styling – The HelloFresh Australia and New Zealand TV ad

HelloFresh Recipes — *Behind the scenes: Food Styling for the latest HelloFresh ad*

Whether you've tried it or not, you've certainly heard of HelloFresh. This meal-kit company has taken the world by storm. Founded in Germany ten years ago, HelloFresh now boasts operations across the world - from the United Stated to Australia. I was recently hired by Pink Banana Studios as a food stylist for the latest TV ad. If you've ever wanted to look behind the scenes at a commercial, this is your chance!

Food styling for the latest HelloFresh ad: The creative brief

The brief was to shoot a 30 second spot, highlighting the ease of using HelloFresh. In particular, the spot shows the entire process: from placing your order to serving the meal.

As a result, there were four set ups:

The living room
The pack shot area
The kitchen
The dining table

Food Styling HelloFresh — *From left to right: The living room, the pack shot area, and the kitchen*

The food styling brief

Since HelloFresh targets people with no professional cooking experience, the styling on their recipe cards is minimal. It should look like what anyone can achieve in their kitchen!

In the same way, the styling brief was to match the recipe card as closely as possible. The recipe I was recreating was the Fillet Steak & Fries with Lemony Greens & Béarnaise Sauce.

On the recipe card, the dish was clearly split between three equal parts:

The sliced fillet steak with the béarnaise sauce
The fries
The lemony greens

I therefore kept the styling minimal and maintained the same structure to the plate.

Little touches everywhere

Equally important was to convey the idea of freshness with the styling for this shoot. We therefore added fresh fruit and veggies that matched the brand colours, as well as drinks and a salad on the table.

In order to make sure they looked fresh, I sprayed them with a mixture of water and glycerine.

Food Stylist HelloFresh — *So fresh and inviting. Can you spot the use of the brand colours?*

Shooting a food commercial

Have you ever wondered if there's a kitchen in studios? The answer is often no! For this reason, I created a makeshift kitchen area on set in order to cook the food. I brought an air fryer and a portable induction plate, as well as all my kitchen essentials. And then I cooked the same dish again and again for different takes!

The HelloFresh Explainer ad

You've read about it, you've peeked behind the scenes. You can now watch the ad below!

The nitty gritty

The shoot took place in a London studio over a day. The ad has been released in Australia and New Zealand.

Director: Ben Spilling

Production Manger: Cait Lyn Adamson

Account Director: Emma Masding

Food Stylist: Naf Castanas

Production Assistant/ Art Director: Verity Kett

DOP: Anthony Lucas

Gaffer: Jasper Clarkson

Spark: Jon Prentice

Camera Assistant: Nicolas Stylianou

Sound Recordist: Andrei Leskovski

Cast : Jeffin Kunjumon

Production Agency: Pink Banana Studios

Stay in touch

I hope you've enjoyed this behind the scenes look. I'd love to know whatell me what you think below!

If you want to see more of my recent food styling work, check out my shoot with Kimberly Espinel of The Little Plantation. You can also read at my post about sourcing food styling props on a budget - it's really useful if you're just starting out.

For more of my work, have a look at my portfolio or my previous shoots at Chuku's in Tottenham, SlowBurn London, or at The Haberdashery in Stoke Newington.

Lastly, don’t forget! You can always connect with me on Instagram and Pinterest.

Published by Naf Castanas in Behind the Scenes, Food Photography, Food Styling, London Brand Photography

Tags: Behind the Scenes, Food Photography, Food Styling, London Food Photography, London Meal Kit

April 21, 2021 — Comments are off for this post.

Product Photography – The London Honey Company

Steve Benbow started with honeybees on his roof in London. He has now grown The London Honey Company to include honey from around the country, as well as Zambia and New Zealand. I had the chance to shoot four of their products in a really fun photoshoot.

Product Photography - Shooting The London Honey Company

I'm always looking for great honey. So working with The London Honey Company is a natural fit. They promise honey that they produce with their own hands, from their own bees. Their range of pure natural British Honey includes honey from Oxfordshire, Kent and Salisbury to name a few. In addition to that, they have a collection of infused honeys, honeycombs, and beeswax candles. Sold on their own or in duo, trios and larger boxes, I bet anyone can find something to their liking in their product range.

I got the chance to shoot:

The Borage Honey
The Kent Honey
The Shropshire Honey
The Kent Honey

I loved the variety of the honeys, as well as the different flavour profiles. Accordingly, as a photographer, I love shooting product ranges that offer diversity - and I can't get enough of the play of light in the lighter honeys.

Honey in food - Blueberry crêpes

While beautiful on its own, honey really comes alive when used in food. So I jumped on the opportunity to style crêpes and really showcase the product. While there are few things that I wouldn't add honey to, crêpes and sweet treats are always the first to come to mind. Not only do the colours complement and strengthen the product's, they also look impossible to resist!

Moreover, I kept the colour scheme simple - using only orange, yellow and blue - to make sure that the honey got to shine.

It was a day of mess and fun. Personally, there are few things that I like more than spending a day covered in excellent honey. The London Honey Company definitely fulfils its promise of extraordinary British honey.

The nitty gritty

The shoot took place at my London studio, using products sent over by The London Honey Company.

If you want to see more of my work, have a look at my portfolio or my shoot for Scarpetta Pasta, also in my studio.

Lastly, don't forget! You can always connect with me on Instagram and Pinterest.

Published by Naf Castanas in Food Photography, London Brand Photography, Product Photography, Restaurant & Brand Photography

Tags: Food Photography, London Brand Photography, London Food Photography, Product Photography

April 8, 2021 — Comments are off for this post.

Pasta Meal Kit – Scarpetta Pasta

Patrick and Uberto grew up in Italy. After moving to London, they started Scarpetta Pasta to replicate the Italian experience of sharing food. They now boast three locations, which are truly beloved. This year, they launched their wonderful Pasta Meal Kit.

Scarpetta's Pasta Meal Kit

In 2020, Scarpetta Pasta launched their Pasta Meal Kits, with pasta made fresh every day. If you're craving pasta, all you need to do is visit their website, order your box or start a subscription and BOOM! Pasta is on its way.

I had the chance to taste and shoot some of the vegetarian options. There's so much to chose from; I had the Pici Cacio e Pepe, the Conchiglie Gorgonzola & Walnuts, and the Pesto & Mozzarella Gnocchi. There's also a selection of starters and desserts, so you can have a full meal delivered - from start to finish.

The Scarpetta Meal Kit Experience

I love this box for so many reasons. It’s easy to make and requires no cooking skills. That means that it’s accessible to literally anyone. You’ll get the sauces - which you need to reheat, the fresh pasta - which you need to boil as per the directions, and the individual garnishes for each of your dishes. For me, the garnishes are what take this kit from good to great. You get restaurant quality food in the comfort of your home.

Pasta Photography

On a personal note, it’s always such a treat to shoot pasta. It comes in all shapes and sizes, and there are endless possibilities. Pasta is also so photogenic just on its own, which makes macro shots so appealing. Lastly, it’s a food that requires specific finishing touches – like grated cheese and maybe herbs like basil – and I love to capture those.

As a photographer, I’ll never say no to shooting more pasta.

The nitty gritty

The shoot took place at my London studio, using the Scarpetta Pasta's meal kit. All food styling and photography done by me.

If you want to see more of my work, have a look at my portfolio or my shoot for The London Honey Company, also in my studio.

Lastly, don't forget! You can always connect with me on Instagram and Pinterest.

Published by Naf Castanas in Food Photography, Food Styling, London Brand Photography, London Restaurant Photography, Restaurant & Brand Photography

Tags: Food Photography, Food Styling, London Brand Photography, London DIY Kit, London Food Photography, London Meal Kit, London Pasta Photography, London Restaurant Photography, Pasta Photography