Making Drinks and Lattes Pop — Sorting Out Light and Composition

Drinks are all about transparency and latte art, but they tend to come out “plain” or “murky.” The causes are light direction, level and background. Even on a phone, being mindful of light transforms them.

Use semi-backlight for transparency

Front light makes a drink look flat and murky. For clear drinks — iced drinks, tea — shoot with light from the side or back-diagonal (semi-backlight) so the ice and liquid glow with transparency. Find a stance with the window to your back-diagonal (→ Making the most of backlight).

Level it with the grid

A latte or cappuccino looks instantly “almost there” if the cup’s level is off. Level it with the grid, and to show latte art, shoot from straight overhead to slightly above, at an angle where the pattern reads straight.

Keep the background simple

Props on the table creep in and blur your main subject, the drink. Aim the camera toward a direction with plenty of plain background space, and the glass’s outline stands out (→ Negative space).

Composition guideNegative spaceSee the full guide for this composition →

Composition tips

Bring a slanted line into the frame — a straw, a spoon, rising steam — to add movement (→ Diagonal composition). Place the cup on an intersection and leave a little of the café’s mood on the open side for a relaxed shot. The same light and level rules apply when you line a drink up with sweets (→ Photographing sweets).

Composition guideDiagonal compositionSee the full guide for this composition →

BeforeAfter

Start with just this

Clear drinks: semi-backlight for transparency. Latte art: level it and shoot from overhead to slightly above. Keep the background simple. That cuts down a lot of “plain and murky” in drinks.