I dig crafts beers, love designing and directing photo shoots and always enjoy a challenge. My October cover shoot for Southlake Style included all of these things. The subject of beer saturated the issue (yeah, I said it), particularly the cover feature, about a local brewery that was getting ready to launch its first of several delectable brews in the coming months.

While discussing possible locations with the owner and CEO of Grapevine Brewery, Gary Humble, I learned that his brewery was currently set up in a rented space as he waited for his new building to be completed. I decided that our best bet would be to create an old warehouse brewery feel in the studio, rather than go traipsing around in search of an abandoned building.

The studio would allow us more versatility and control. Mike Krause of Bludoor Studios, my go-to photographer, had recently acquired a large rubberized brick wall that we agreed would be key in creating our warehouse look.

The problem?

This rolled rubber facade weighed a ton, and no sooner had we clamped it onto the heavy braided metal cable used to hang backdrops that the cable snapped like a dried spaghetti noodle. After stringing new cable — using a super heavy-duty replacement (rated at 800lbs) that we found at Home Depot — the wall was finally up and ready.

The next step was to fill in the area with old wooden crates. Grapevine Brewery happily loaned us several mini kegs, glass bottles and other brewery items that really helped complete our scene. They even brought a keg filled with their first official brew, Lakefire rye pale ale.

Gary and the guys were a lot of fun during the shoot, and with a few wardrobe changes and scene adjustments, we were able to get some fantastic shots.

I planned to shoot a pint for the cover, but the beer wasn’t really cold enough to look frosty in the glass. I had the idea of misting beads of water onto the glass to give the illusion of condensation. We used one of the old wooden crates and shot it against the brick, which gave us a beautiful contrast to the frosty glass. Clean lighting plus a single kicker on the left side helped provide the illusion of natural light coming from a window.

After we wrapped the shoot, Gary offered my photographer and me a taste of the unreleased brew. I have to say, in all honesty, it was definitely worth the effort.

Cheers!