Adam Voorhes is an award-winning photographer known for his exceptional creativity and artistic vision. This blog post delves into the captivating “Cocktails” project, which earned a prestigious Gold Award. This self-initiated endeavor stemmed from the treatment process for an advertising campaign for Herradura tequila. What started as a quest to express their vision and experiment with various ideas evolved into a stunning fusion of floral arrangements, prism effects, colorful lighting, intricate illustrations, and of course, cocktails. Join us as we uncover the behind-the-scenes journey of the creative process, where every element is meticulously crafted.
By Adam Voorhes
This project came about during our treatment process for an advertising campaign we later shot for Herradura tequila. We frequently create test images for treatments to help express our vision and test out any ideas we may have, but this project required us to create a unique visual style composed of a bunch of unrelated elements.
The creative ask combined inspiration from perfume ads with prism effects in the light, videos of colorful lighting in environments, wild illustrations with tons of intricately layered details, beautiful floral arrangements, and cocktails. There were so many varying components we decided it was necessary to experiment to see how we could put it all together.
We really like to make images for ourselves at night and on the weekends when the world is quieter. Our studio gets so busy during the day, and emails and phone calls are flying. The energy changes when the clock hits seven. So we turned on some music, made a couple of margaritas, and started playing.
We styled the scenes with flowers, cocktails, and some simple staging, but the light and lens effects were just as much part of the styling as the subjects were. We used prisms to create streaks of colorful light and optical distortion. We played with lens flare. Mirrors cast shadows on the background, and colored lights added a ton of personality. All these elements were layered piece by piece to create a look we could apply to the campaign.
These are just two images of what went on to be a much larger project featuring Herradura’s lineup of tequilas and a bunch of cocktails. It’s a rare treat to be able to make something so unique for a brand. It’s also a ton of work, both in time and creative energy. But looking back on it is hugely rewarding.
