From the heart of Pennsylvania, Justin Wheeler immaculately captured this "Cuppa Joe." The photographs were originally intended as a present for a colleague of Justin’s who had just moved to Southern California.
Justin decided to create these sunny, and optimistic scenes of coffee for her because he explains, “I had spent more time carousing around the coffeemaker with her than actually working.” Which is fair enough given his job - a commercial food photographer and stylist.
When styling food, Justin takes a unique approach. He explained to me he tries to use as few tricks and substitutions as possible: “I don't use glue for milk, plastic lettuce or anything of the sort, although I do have a super secret killer recipe for fake ice-cream involving vegetable shortening... Instead I start with the best possible looking food for the shoot, take my time styling it, and use ‘stand in's’ for lighting and composition purposes so things don't wilt or melt.”
For this series Justin brewed several pots of coffee, adding milk or water to them to get the desired color. He used three different espresso machines for producing varying levels of froth. He remembers it as one of the most enjoyable, best smelling shoots he has ever done, saying “I love the smell of coffee all hours of the day and night.”