Architectural & Interior Design Photography, Corporate Commercial Photography, Advertising & Portrait Photographer | Ottawa | 613-558-7585 | justin.vanleeuwen@gmail.com
What a pleasure it was to walk into my local craft beer brewer – Beyond the Pale – one day and have them ask me to take updated photos for their website.
“You want me to do beer photography? Yes. Yes I will.”
They already had some portraits of the owners Rob and Shane, and I didn’t want to re-create anything that was still good to use, so I focused on capturing activities and the general feel of the small brewery. Having grown their business gradually ,and sometimes by knocking down walls in their current Hintonburg home, I tried to keep my images tight and focused on action. It was bottling day and I was fascinated by the small, almost alien machines they used to fill up their signature brews.
Despite my own affinity for beer, I hadn’t paid much attention to how it’s made. I mean, that’s what these guys are for, right? I take the photos. They make the beer. It’s a perfect friendship. I also needed to photograph their regular brews (they often introduce seasonals and limited releases as well) so they could accurately display the different beers on their website. With no space left at the brewery for a proper product shoot, I was forced to take several growlers home with me. Many suffer for their work and some of us are even forced to work over the weekend. The struggle is real.
As you can see at the opening of the post, we also shot a group staff photo in front of the shop. Who knows how long these images will be relevant though. Their success has been rapid and BTP has been working on a much larger space to brew more of their great beer. Still, it’ll always be documentation of their humble small business beginnings, and a chance for me to work with the producers of my favourite beer ever.