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How I shot my first product shot

May 28, 2025

Crafting Cinematic Iced Coffee: Simple Setup, Clever Tricks

Capturing that high-end, cinematic look for product shots like an iced coffee doesn't always require a massive, complex setup. This guide demonstrates how a few key pieces of equipment and some clever techniques can yield impressive results. Let's dive into how this specific cinematic iced coffee ad shot was created.

The Core Setup: Slow Motion, Movement, and Control

The foundation of this shot was capturing movement in slow motion. The camera used was the FX3 shooting at 120 frames per second. To achieve smooth, controlled movement, an Edelkron Slider with a motion control module was employed. This setup also included the vertical module, which allowed the track to be tilted. Tension rods were added to counterweight and balance the camera depending on the track's angle.

For movement with slow motion, the camera needs to move as fast as possible. While the Edelkron slider isn't specifically designed for speed, setting it to its fastest setting was deemed barely enough for this type of product shot, highlighting a limitation of the system for this specific use case.

The movement itself was set up by defining a starting point and an end point. The camera was then set to "ping pong," repeating the movement back and forth. Instead of a wide-ranging angle from the bottom to the top of the cup, the movement was a shallow travel across the height of the cup. This allowed the focus to be on the coffee seeping through, rather than showing the less appealing top of the glass. The entire move was quite small, estimated to be about five seconds in total.

Creating the Look: Staging and Special Effects

To make the glass look refreshing, a few key staging elements were used. Fake ice cubes served as a base for the glass to sit on. Coffee beans were also placed around the cup.

Fake ice Cubes

Spraying the Cup

A classic technique for drink ads is the "sweaty glass" look. This was achieved using a simple sprayer to apply water onto the cup. While other product experts might add gelatin to the water to make droplets stick more, the preference here was to see the water droplets slide down the glass, which spraying water alone facilitates. Spraying the bottle just before rolling camera ensures fresh droplets are present, and continuous spraying can keep them sliding during the shot. This simple trick was used to create the feeling of something refreshing.

The Ice Dilemma: Real vs. Fake

Inside the glass, the initial attempt used real ice cubes, but this presented problems. Real ice cubes in milk looked very yellow, which was not appealing, likely due to how light reflected off the ice. Additionally, real ice was more compact, filling gaps and slowing down the coffee's ability to seep through towards the bottom of the cup once poured.

Switching to fake ice cubes solved these issues. Because they are more square, they don't fill gaps as much, allowing more space inside the cup. This extra space meant that when the coffee was poured, it could sip down through the cup rather quickly. The primary downside of these particular fake ice cubes is that they don't float; they sink. While this might look realistic for a drink with only a couple of cubes at the bottom (like a whiskey), it's not realistic for a full glass where ice would typically float to the top.

Background and Depth: Layering Shades

Figuring out the background was one of the harder parts. It needed to work for both the initial state (white glass with milk) and the final state (brown glass filled with coffee). A background that was a little darker was desired so the cup would stand out. However, it couldn't be too dark, or the brown coffee would blend in with the brown background.

Depth was created using various elements in the background, including a window, a blue wall, a mirror, and a white countertop. These different materials and shades of shadows created a more dynamic background, preventing it from looking flat. The shot was exposed for the background to control its darkness.

Choosing the right depth of field was also crucial. An initial lens created too shallow a depth of field, resulting in the entire glass not being in focus. The chosen lens was slightly more "closed off," allowing the entire glass to be in focus while still maintaining plenty of shallow depth of field in the background.

Lighting the Scene: Key and Edge

Lighting played a vital role.

Key Light: An Amaran 200x was used as the key light, set to full blast. The goal was maximum intensity hitting the ice cubes and cup. This created harsh shadows on the counter, but these weren't an issue as the shot was close enough to the cup, and the shadows simply appeared as another layer of shade. This harsh key light was responsible for the bright, reflective highlights on the ice cubes.
Edge Light: A GVM 1x1 panel was used as an edge light. This battery-operated light was placed on the counter and set to be quite harsh. Its purpose was to create a very harsh, sharp edge light on the side of the cup, adding a nice, defined line. Only one edge light was used on the same side as the key light to avoid the shot feeling flat if lights were placed on both sides.

Execution: Timing and Focus

The final execution involved coordinating the elements. The process involved spraying the cup, setting the slider movement to ping pong, waiting for the camera to reach the desired starting position (at the bottom, beginning to move up). Then, the liquids were poured into two glasses, and focus was quickly tapped to ensure the glass remained sharp.

The setup was relatively simple, involving just a couple of lights, a spray bottle, the motion control track for the camera, and careful timing for pouring the liquids. The result is a compelling, cinematic shot achieved through thoughtful planning and execution with accessible tools.