The Making of: The Shark Bite

I wanted to do a location shot of a drink that I’ve had in the past. I was thinking of what types of drinks I could shoot and thought of the Shark Bite from Joe’s Crab Shack because it was so memorable. I still remember the first time I tried it. The waitress came out with a glass of blue liquid, then she yelled out something along the lines of “Everybody look out! There’s blood in the water!” She poured a shark-decorated vial of grenadine in all the while, making it look like there really is blood in the drink. Not only did it taste good, it was a fun drink to be served with.

                When I first got seated at the restaurant, I told the hostess that I was going to order something but I was mainly there for a photo shoot. She told the waitress, who readily agreed to help. While I was setting up, I asked the waitress if she had a flashlight I could borrow. She brought it to me before bringing the drink over, which helped me calculate the exposures a bit better. I also told her which drink I wanted and requested that she hold off on the grenadine pouring until I was ready. I took some test shots of the lighting with the flashlight behind and to the side of the drink, then added the shark vial to the shot and positioned it and the glass. After a few different angles of shots, I asked the waitress to very slowly pour the vial. She went a bit too fast at first but once she slowed down, the liquid was falling at a good flow. I took shots at different points.

                I ended up with three shots I liked and they turned out to be at all different times and colors. Because of this, I chose to make the shots into a fun triptych with labels.