Texture In Photography: 9 Ways to Photograph Texture in Drinks

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Drinks have all kinds of different textures in photography. It’s our job to communicate what the drink might feel like when it hit our mouths and it’s one of the main reasons I love photographing them.

Backlight can help emphasise texture with clear (or almost clear) liquids that have pulp, bubbles or another ingredient that needs to be highlighted. ⁠⁠Whereas the glass you use can emphasise or hide texture.

Your camera angle is another important element to either elevate or eliminate drink texture in photography.

Be sure to ask yourself, is the shape, colour or pattern of the glass hindering or helping texture? Play around with a variety of angles to find the angle that will exaggerate the best texture.

Let’s dive into the nine ways we can feel and see the textures in our photography.

When it comes to shooting drinks my top drink tip is to focus on highlighting liquid texture.

1 – Frozen Drink Texture in Photography

Add height and swirls to frozen cocktails with a small spoon to help the viewer understand the texture. With white frozen drinks, use shadows to enhance the textures.

2 – Thick Drink Textures

One of my favourite textures in photography when shooting drinks is the thick winter style of a hot chocolate. From the colour of the milk to the thick layer of foam. All of the textures give a feeling of heavy comfort.

3 – Pulpy: Provides a Unique Textural Feeling

Pulpy drinks, like a Lychee Frose, has a different feeling texturally to other thick drinks. Highlighting flecks of the fruit help reveal its pulpy texture.

4 – Impressive Creamy Textures in Photography

The billowiness of this Ramos Fizz can be seen as the cream is shaken to almost resemble meringue. Capturing the foam spilling over the glass with sidelight reveals the thick creaminess of this cocktail.

5 – Silky Textures: A Must Have

Chilled whiskey on the rocks is the ultimate silky smooth drink. Highlighting an ultra-smooth feeling, it feels and looks light as air.

6 – Icy Textures in Photography

Ice feels different from frozen. It’s grainer and crunchier. Crushed ice helps add a different feel to a frozen drink. Using clarity in editing helps enhance this texture.

7 – Smooth

Backlight shine helps give a cocktail a smooth feeling. This is especially important for clear spirit-based cocktails like a martini.

8 – Bubbly

Bubbles help cocktails feel alive! It adds such a fun and unique texture to drinks. Make sure to capture it freshly poured with a fast shutter speed to freeze motion.  

9️ – Drink Texture Show Stopper: Foamy⁠⁠

Foamy drinks are the show stoppers. Using sidelight can help to reveal the bubbles or foam. Capture the foam separating as the cocktail sits (within the first two minutes) for even more interesting textures. 

Is there a drink texture in photography I missed? Let me know what other textures you could capture in your drink shots in the comments below.

If you enjoyed this post on Texture in Drink Photos, make sure you also check out How to Layer Drinks. And for more ways to style photogenic drinks, be sure to grab my e-guide.