Emma's creative talent crafts a visual feast for leading food and beverage brands

Meet Emma Pharaoh, a skilled lifestyle food and beverage photographer living in London. Emma has spent the past 8 years honing her craft as a photographer, and since 2021 has been a dedicated member of our Creatively Squared community. Throughout her journey we have admired her professional work ethic capturing stunning visuals for our customers.

Throughout the years, Emma's creativity has led her to collaborate on projects with major brands. At Creatively Squared, she has contributed to campaigns for iconic beverage brands like Nespresso, Jack Daniel's and Sprite, and even dabbling in product styling for Suave and BIC with amazing results.

Having Emma as part of the Creatively Squared creator team has always been a blessing. She is a creator we can rely on, her talent is undeniable and her creative energy is infectious.

Let's dive a bit deeper into Emma's creative journey and get the scoop on how she crafts those stunning images for top-tier brands from around the globe.

Let’s chat with Emma

Hey everyone, I’m Emma! I am a food, drink, and people photographer based in London. I graduated university in 2015 with a 2:1 in Commercial Photography.

I have worked as a full-time photographer for the last 8 years, and have had the privilege of working with some great brands such as Pret A Manger, Moët & Chandon, Harrods, Nespresso, San Miguel, and Shake Shack to name a few.

I love to describe my personal aesthetic as clean, fresh, and fun.

Journey with Creatively Squared

I discovered Creatively Squared when they emailed me and asked me to join their platform a few years ago. I think they were fairly new but I just thought, why not?

I loved working on the Nespresso campaigns. The photos I created were some of my favourite and having that delectable smell of coffee throughout the shoot was great.

Tools of the trade

For my photoshoots, I use a Canon R5, usually with a 100mm lens and Manfrotto tripod. For post-production, I use Lightroom and Photoshop.

When it comes to shooting locations, I usually work on location in a restaurant or bar. When I'm shooting from home or my boyfriend’s house, I'll either set up a mini makeshift studio or use my own furniture as a set.

But my favourite location would be a bar because you can have so much fun with the different ingredients used in a cocktail and make a splash with liquid in your photos.

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Finding inspiration

If I'm truly honest, I don't look up to any creator for inspiration. I try to avoid Instagram as I struggle with the comparison of my work. I will use client moodboards as inspiration and Pinterest if I really need help with ideas.

Emma’s creative process

Every time I have a photoshoot, I write a shot list with a description of each photo but I don't draw pictures. So I kind of plan it, and at the same time, wing it! And mostly, it’s just me. Sometimes I'll use my partner as a model, but if he's unavailable or it's just hand modeling I will use a self-timer and use my own hand.

When I want to get into the creative zone, I have to have a tidy house before I can start anything creative. Tidy house = tidy mind, or creative mind shall I say! And I will always put music on when I'm shooting or editing. I listen to happy upbeat music while shooting, and fast tempo music always speeds up my editing.

Top creative tip

Don't be afraid to make an (organized) mess. Play with ingredients / props and just have fun with it!

Lastly, what’s next for you?

I'd like to improve on my lighting. I usually use just one light, so I'd like to play around with more lights and see how creative I can get with shadows and different techniques. It always excites me when I deliver a new set of images with a lighting technique I haven't used before.

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Thank you Emma for being such an inspiring member of our community and loyal creator on our team! Your hard work in beverage photography and product styling is a source of true inspiration for us, and we appreciate all you do for our customers.

For more of Emma's creative portfolio, follow her on Instagram @emmapharaohphoto.

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