What’s more American than apple pie? Our favorite, bourbon.
Okay, maybe that’s not 100% correct, but we still love it. Shooting it, talking about it, and sipping it. So, when we got the call from our friends at Sequitor and Tombras we were thrilled to shoot a campaign for Smooth Ambler.
The creative brief was centered around their beautiful facilities, including incredible textures and the grit and determination of West Virginia.
Whiskey photography just might be our favorite thing.
These painted barrels outside of the distillery were really cool. I love good art.
We tagged along with the video crew for this photo.
The founder of Smooth Ambler John Little. We snuck this portrait in when we had a few down minutes.
So what is whiskey made out of anyway?
We had a bit of a rain shower so took these inside while we were waiting for the shower to pass.
It always amazes me the way the whiskey seeps though the barrel. The texture on an aged whiskey barrel is always unique.
Credits:
Production Company: Sequitr Cenima
Agency: Tombras
Stylist: Selby Knoblock
Assistant: Tyler Clark
This is one of our key images for still photography. We were able to do this set up with each of the bottles.
After two days of intense shooting the results speak for themselves. We captured the essence of Smooth Ambler in every frame. From detail shots, bottle photos, portraits, and machinery we capture it all.
At Reactor Media we love beverage photography. We partner with both agencies, beverage brands, and marketers to create compelling photos and videos for the beverage sector.
Need photography for your whiskey brand? Give us a shout on the contact page!
Fire in a glass. I love the way the whiskey looks tumultuous in this glass.
How We Did It!
2 days of corn, rye, stainless steel, and oak barrels. We photographed bottles, we shot barrels, it was amazing.
Bonus fact: some barrel houses don’t have power. So, we had to bring a generator along with our lights. Now, go grab some Smooth Ambler, sit back, and enjoy some whiskey. Oh and some whiskey photos.
Photographing an bottling line is a ton of fun and very fast paced. We tried to capture the energy of the bottling line.
This is a fermenter. It is essential to whiskey production. Getting a great shot of one of these is tough.
It's about to smell really good!
Emptying whiskey barrels is my favorite part of a distillery shoot. The sound and the smell of whiskey coming out of the barrel is next level. It really is about the smell. You only have a few moments to capture the peak action in this shot.
The lighting in a barrel house is both glorious and challenging. The light levels in most barrels houses are pretty dim towards the center.
While we had a long shot list this is an example of a "found photograph". While we were waiting on the video crew to finish a set up I saw some amazing natural light. So we borrowed a bottle and got this photo.
Portrait photography is a key part of telling the story of any whiskey.
