Dawn V Gilmore Photography

Behind the scenes with CK Luxe.

Today’s challenge: metallic, reflective lenses.

Products like these can be deceptively difficult to photograph because the lenses reflect everything — lights, modifiers, the camera, the room, and even me if I’m not careful. Every angle and light placement has to be intentional to keep the reflections clean while still showing the shape, color and detail of the sunglasses.

For this setup, I wanted to keep the image feeling cool, crisp and winter-inspired, using ice, white tones and touches of blue to complement the lenses without competing with them.

This is one of the things I love about product photography: solving the technical problems while still creating something that feels effortless in the final image.

CK Luxe — currently in the studio

There are reviews that make you smile… and then there are reviews like this.

I’m incredibly grateful to Michael and C.R.A.F.T. for inviting me to be part of Frontline Tastings and giving me the opportunity to work with so many incredible veteran-owned brands.

My goal that evening was simple: give these emerging brands access to professional bottle photography that would immediately elevate how their products are presented.

What happened afterward meant even more to me — every brand I photographed chose to continue working with me beyond the event and trusted me with their bottles for additional photography.

That is the kind of feedback that means everything.

Thank you, Michael, for taking the time to leave such a thoughtful review, and thank you to the C.R.A.F.T. community for trusting me with your brands.

This is exactly why I love what I do.

Dawn V. Gilmore Photography
Luxury Product & Beverage Photography
Biloxi, Mississippi | Ship-to-Me Nationwide

This morning’s setup: clean, consistent, commercial-ready product photography.

Six brands from last night’s C.R.A.F.T. / Frontline Tastings event chose to have their bottles photographed on white, so today I’m back at work creating polished e-commerce images they can use across websites, sell sheets, distributor materials, social media and more.

A simple white-background image may look simple when it’s finished — but behind the scenes, it’s all about controlling the light, reflections, label detail and bottle edges so the product stays true to the brand.

Six brands signed up yesterday, and I may have a couple more joining the lineup today.

Now it’s time to work through the bottles one by one.

What a night in Tampa.

Tonight’s / Frontline Tastings event was exactly what I came here for — meeting incredible people, discovering the stories behind their brands, and getting to work with some of them while I was here.

Six brands took advantage of my event-exclusive e-commerce photography offer and will be receiving clean, high-resolution white-background images of their bottles/products:








And a few conversations tonight are already turning into opportunities for more creative brand photography once I’m back in the studio in Mississippi.

It was also pretty incredible to walk in and see Dawn V Gilmore Photography included on the Frontline Tastings Friends & Partners banner. Moments like that mean a lot when you’re building relationships in an industry you genuinely want to serve.

Thank you to Michael and the C.R.A.F.T. / Frontline Tastings team for bringing everyone together and for making me feel so welcome.

And of course, my husband came along as my plus-one and got a front-row seat to all the talking, networking, bottles and business that comes with being married to a product photographer.

Tampa was absolutely worth the trip.

Now I have some bottles to photograph.

WhiskeyPhotography BottlePhotography ProductPhotographer SpiritsIndustry CraftSpirits IndependentSpirits BrandPhotography EcommercePhotography FrontlineTastings CRAFT TampaEvents TampaFlorida MississippiPhotographer BiloxiPhotographer ShipToMePhotography

Tonight in Tampa!

I made the trip down for the C.R.A.F.T. Frontline Tastings Meet & Greet, and I’m excited to connect with so many incredible veteran-owned brands tonight at the Patio of Office Evolution.

I’ll also be photographing bottles on white for participating brands, and I still have a couple of spots available.

Each bottle is $25 and includes one professionally photographed, high-resolution digital image on a clean white background — perfect for websites, sell sheets, distributor materials, online stores and marketing.

If you’re attending tonight and still need a polished bottle image, come find me and let’s get your product photographed!

Looking forward to meeting everyone, seeing the brands behind the bottles, and supporting the people building them.

A little personal update — and an important business one!

We have officially moved into our new home on our little 2-acre piece of Mississippi in Lumberton, and I couldn’t be more excited to finally be settling in.

But for my Gulf Coast clients: I’m not leaving you!

I will continue to maintain my studio at The Sanctuary in Biloxi and will absolutely continue serving my clients throughout Biloxi, Gulfport, Ocean Springs and the Mississippi Gulf Coast.

While my business continues to focus primarily on commercial product photography, my Biloxi studio remains my Coast home base — and I’m still here for the clients and relationships I’ve built over the years.

So while my personal address has changed, Dawn V. Gilmore Photography is still very much on the Mississippi Gulf Coast.

Same photographer. Same Biloxi studio. Just a little more land to call home when I leave work at the end of the day.

Dawn V. Gilmore Photography
The Sanctuary | Biloxi, Mississippi
Commercial Product Photography | Serving the Gulf Coast + Ship-to-Me Nationwide

New Orleans — I’ll see you at Southern Pro Xposure!

I’m excited to be teaching “Liquid Courage: Stepping Into Product Photography” at this year’s Professional Photographers of Louisiana PPLA Southern Pro Xposure Photography Expo, October 23–25.

If you’ve been curious about product photography but aren’t sure how to actually get started, this class is for you. We’ll talk about finding clients, pricing your work, planning a product shoot, building a set, lighting bottles, and creating images brands can actually use.

And this won’t just be me standing up there talking — we’re getting hands-on with a live product photography setup, and you’ll have the opportunity to photograph the setup yourself.

Whether you’re looking to add product photography to your existing business or you’re ready to start moving into commercial work, I want you to leave with information you can actually put into practice.

October 23–25 | New Orleans
Southern Pro Xposure Photography Expo
“Liquid Courage: Stepping Into Product Photography”

Who’s coming? I’d love to know who I’ll be seeing there!

What the camera sees vs. what the set actually looks like.

A few days ago I shared the finished image of Acqua di Gioia — soft, atmospheric, fresh and almost dreamlike.

Here’s what was actually happening behind the camera.

I built the scene on a green surface and used a decorative cutout as a gobo to create the architectural pattern of light and shadow behind the bottle. A hard light placed behind it gave me those long shadows and helped create the bright, sunlit feeling.

Then came the atmosphere. My Smoke Ninja added the haze that catches the light, softens the scene and gives the final image that ethereal, almost watery quality.

Nothing about the set itself needs to be elaborate.

It’s understanding how light, shadow, color, texture and atmosphere will translate through the camera that turns a simple setup into a finished commercial image.

That transformation is one of my favorite parts of product photography.

Fresh. Airy. Aquatic.

Acqua di Gioia is a fragrance inspired by water, nature and freshness — so instead of simply photographing the bottle, I wanted the entire image to feel like the fragrance.

Soft green tones. Reflections. Diffused light. A little atmosphere and movement surrounding the bottle.

That’s one of my favorite parts of product photography: taking the personality of a product and translating it into a visual that makes you feel something before you ever pick it up.

Because beautiful product photography isn’t just about showing what the product looks like.

It’s about showing what the brand feels like.

Commercial product photography created in studio by Dawn V Gilmore Photography.