If I were Ernesto Guevarra, What should I do?

How I Shoot: Capturing Cocktails with @danielkrieger

For each How I Shoot, we ask an Instagrammer to tell us about the process behind their photos and videos. For more of Daniel’s pictures of food and drink, follow @danielkrieger on Instagram.

For Daniel Krieger (@danielkrieger), a photographer in New York City, the recipe for an enticing cocktail photo includes “beautiful composition, atmosphere and the best possible light.”

Though he also regularly documents dishes at restaurants such as Estela (@estelanyc) and Maison Premiere (@maisonpremiere), Daniel said that cocktails have something special going for them that most dishes don’t: their ability to transmit light. Captured correctly, “that glass just pops and creates an instant focus for the viewer.”

Here are Daniel’s tips for capturing the perfect cocktail photo:

Camera

"iPhone 5."

Vantage Point

"A 45-degree angle is nice because it shows the different layers of the drink and glass. And try backing up a bit. When you fill the entire frame with a dish of food or, in this case, a cocktail, the frame feels cramped and the iPhone camera doesn’t do as well. Put the drink against a wall, using some of the wall in your frame to create a nice composition. Watch your peripherals. If there’s a crumpled cocktail napkin behind your drink, move it out of the frame. If some guy is in the background of your frame maybe move a little bit to get him out of it. If he keeps following you around maybe go to another bar!"

Shooting

"Either use a cool glass—a coupe is a sexy choice—or a spirit with a rich, beautiful color. As with any type of mobile photography, natural light is a large chunk of the pie chart that makes up a good photograph. I will often use direct sunlight late in the day.”

Editing