Shapiro Beer is a family founded, award-winning craft brewery located right outside of Jerusalem. When the team wanted to create images for their new PR efforts and website rebranding, they reached out to Israel-based photographer Ronen Goldman for the job.

The goal of the project was to create images that echo the spirit of the brewery. Since the owner of Shapiro beer, Itzik Shapiro, and his five siblings, know Ronen and his amazing capabilities as a photographer, they knew he would be able to help them exceed their goals. Initially, the family wanted to capture only still photos, but Ronen suggested also creating cinemographs to be used on the website and to help their social media presence by having more digital assets in play.

The Shapiros outlined the type of photos they needed, from there Ronen discussed different options for how he wanted to utilize the space. After many back-and-forth discussions, the group mapped out ideas for how the images will look. The shoot took place in the brewery, a large warehouse housing floor-to-ceiling fermentation tanks. The natural lighting provided in the warehouse was not what Ronen imagined for his aesthetics, so he knew he needed to create his own lighting for such a vast space.

I placed two gelled, high-power Godox packs between the vats, one colored blue, and the other red. We then inserted a Speedlite in a softbox along all the front panels of the vats to enhance their specular highlights. The idea was to light paint the whole room and then composite all the pieces together.

Ronen shot images of the whole brewery crew, including the CEO, “surfing” down the warehouse floor on top of a dolly. Ronen wanted to utilize the high reflectivity of the surface of the metal vats inside the warehouse to convey the spirit of the brewery and its crew. The timing was a minor constraint, but luckily Ronen worked efficiently and was sure to squeeze in enough time to sample some of the beers following the shoot.

Everyone loves the images; the client was happy, and there has been a lot of positive feedback on social media. Shapiro Beer recently opened a pop-up pub for two months, where the brand displayed some of the photos printed and enlarged as artwork for the venue. The cinemographs have also received raving reviews and have lead Ronen to new and exciting job opportunities.

See more of Ronen at ronengoldman.com!

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