Mmmmm, beer! - Lighting is in Layers.

I like to think of setting up lighting as adding a series of carefully thought out layers. I normally start out with a background, work out the lighting for it and then slowly add layers until I match the vision I had in my minds eye for the particular subject.

Here is a final shot of a glass of beer and the can and then I will show the various "layers" of light as I added them in my quest for this photograph:

First up, the background light shot which is a softbox aimed from behind the product:

Next, snoot only aimed at the label of the beer:

Now, snoot and a strip light from the right of camera:

Fourth up is the snoot, strip light and a large fill from camera left:

And finally, back to the final shot with all four lights firing at the same time:

Works for me!

The best part about photographing beer is consuming the product after the session is over! :-)