Today is National Hot Chocolate Day, which seems rather fitting looking out at the grey January weather. I’ve never been a huge hot chocolate fan myself, but it’s slowly growing on me. Are you a fan?
This is a shot I created a few years ago for a client, and it’s one that people often assume was quick and simple. After all, it’s just throwing some hot chocolate around, right? If only it were that straightforward.
The truth is, this single image took the best part of a day to create, followed by many more hours in post-production. But the result? An image that stops people scrolling, that communicates luxury and indulgence, and that does exactly what product photography should do: makes you want the product.
Let me take you behind the scenes of what actually goes into creating a shot like this.
The Planning Phase: How to create Flying Hot Chocolate?
This planning phase is where ‘easy’ ends.
Before we even brought props into the studio, this shot required serious planning. We needed to think through:
- The backdrop: I chose white, so the chocolate splashes would stand out dramatically against a clean background
- The crockery: Which cups and saucers would photograph well and suit the brand aesthetic without stealing the show. Again I went white.
- The suspension system: How to hold cups and saucers at dynamic angles mid-air.
- Floor protection: A large plastic tray to collect what would become a considerable amount of spilled hot chocolate.
- Camera positioning: Where the camera needed to be to capture the action while staying safe from splashes.
- Lighting setup: Fast enough to freeze motion while maintaining the rich chocolate tones.
- The shooting sequence: Critical – this had to be planned meticulously or the whole project would have to be restarted, but you’d have to clean up first!
That last point is crucial. Once you start pouring hot chocolate, you’re committed!
There’s no going back, no repositioning. Get the order wrong and you’ve destroyed your entire setup.
Setup of the cups on bamboo sticks suspended in air.
The Build: Structural Engineering Meets Photography
The behind-the-scenes photos show what most people never see: the intricate scaffolding that makes “floating” cups possible.
We used bamboo canes held in place with clamps to create our suspension framework. Then came the fiddly bit: hot gluing cups and saucers at precisely the right angles onto the canes, with the odd bit of gaffer tape to help, checking through the camera viewfinder repeatedly to ensure the composition worked from the lens’s perspective.
The product packaging needed to be positioned too – hot glued into place so it would appear to float naturally in the frame.
All the scaffolding would be removed in post production later.
This is why I have my studio space. You simply cannot do this kind of work in a domestic kitchen or in the middle of a client’s venue. The mess is spectacular, and you need room to work, to protect equipment, and to clean up properly afterwards.
View from behind the scene showing the gaffer tape and blocks used to hold the cups in place.
The Shoot: Order of Operations
With everything in place, camera settings dialed in (fast shutter speed and flash to freeze the liquid mid-air), and the hot chocolate prepared, it was time for the actual shooting.
Here’s the critical bit: you must start with the bottom cup.
If you start at the top, you’ll splash chocolate all over the lower cups, the backdrop, everything. The whole setup is ruined and you have to start again – which means disassembling, cleaning, and rebuilding everything. Can you even begin to imagine the work then?
So we worked bottom to top. Pour and throw chocolate at the bottom cup, capture multiple shots to ensure we had “the moment” frozen perfectly. Once we had those shots, we could move up to the next cup. And so on.
I also took some clean shots at the start, knowing I might need pristine cups or packaging in the final composite.
The camera needed protecting too – hot chocolate and expensive camera equipment don’t mix well. But you also need to be close enough to capture the drama and detail. It’s a tricky thing.
The aftermath of flying hot chocolate. Splattered hot chocolate everywhere and a pool beneath the scene, just out of sight of the camera.
Post-Production: The Art of the Composite
Once the shooting was done (and the monumental cleanup completed – seriously, hot chocolate everywhere), the real craft began.
This final image isn’t a single photograph. It’s a carefully constructed composite of multiple shots, each one contributing the best moment from each cup, the cleanest product packaging, the most dynamic splashes.
Hours of work in Photoshop. Meticulously masking and blending shots together. Ensuring lighting remained consistent across elements, making splash patterns look natural where they overlap, refining details. Then also of course removing all that scaffolding to ensure those cups really do appear to be floating in mid air.
The result looks effortless and spontaneous. That’s exactly the point.
The final setup before throwing hot chocolate began. Three white cups and saucers suspended in air in front of a white backdrop, each with a bar of chocolate at beside it, also suspended in air.
Why This Matters for Your Brand
You might be thinking: “That’s a lot of work for one photograph.”
And you’d be right. But here’s what this level of professional food photography delivers:
Stopping power: In a world where we scroll past hundreds of images daily, shots like this make people pause.
Brand perception: This communicates quality, luxury, craftsmanship. Your product looks worth the premium price.
Versatility: A hero shot like this works across packaging, websites, social media, advertising, point-of-sale materials.
Longevity: This shot still looks fresh years later because it was properly conceived and executed.
Authenticity: It’s real hot chocolate, real splashes, real product. Not AI-generated, not a cheap stock photo that a hundred other brands are using.
Could you throw some chocolate at a cup and take a photo on your phone? Sure. Would it achieve what this achieves for a brand? Not remotely.
Creating Your Own Hero Shots
This kind of photography is what I love doing – solving the creative and technical challenges that produce images brands can genuinely be proud of.
Whether it’s dramatic action shots like this, elegant plated dishes, cocktails, interior spaces, or team portraits, professional photography is an investment that keeps working for your business long after the shoot day.
Interested in creating something memorable for your brand? Let’s talk about what’s possible.
If you’re a hospitality business in Newcastle, there’s particularly good news right now. The Business & IP Centre North East (where I’m Expert in Residence) has new funding available specifically for professional photography for local hospitality businesses. This is an excellent opportunity to create the kind of standout imagery your business deserves.