As commercial product photographers in Glasgow we have photographed hundreds of different types of products over the years but this was the first time we’ve been asked to photograph one which was 50 years old!
The case and bottle were all new but the whisky inside this bottle of Tomatin was laid down 50 years ago. It was a little bit like stepping back in time, to think that this was produced just a few years after we were born. This was also probably the most expensive product we’ve photographed. It would be a bit impolite to say just how much but let’s say you could buy a new car or a very good second hand one for the same price. Fortunately we have specialist insurance to cover any products we have in the studio.
The whisky case was highly reflective which meant it had to be lit from different angles with all the images being composited into one single image.
Only 70 bottles were produced and all of them had been pre-sold, so the purpose of photographing these whisky products wasn’t to market them but instead as PR for Tomatin. After an initial meeting with the PR company we decided to give the photography a night-time feel with some lights in the background. This would give a hint of either lights from the distillery itself or a village somewhere in the highlands.
There were 2 stages to the product photography. The highly reflective surfaces of the bottle and box meant that they had to be lit from different angles with all the shots being combined later. The same process was applied to the case. Once the bottle and case were ready, these were then combined with the background which was also shot separately. This allowed us full control of how the different parts were lit and photographed.
A reflection of the case and bottle was added later in post production.
As commercial product photographers in Glasgow, we weren’t happy to just leave it there. The second part of the process involved extensive retouching of individual parts of the images to highlight certain aspects and make sure everything was just right.
As photographers, creating images like these is always hugely rewarding. The only downside was not being able to sample some of the whisky!