Go Behind the Scenes of This Coffee Photo Shoot That Melted an Espresso Machine

Splash photography is an art unto itself, and this is no exception. Shooting an ad campaign for Peet's Coffee, Commercial Photographer Bill Cahill walks us through his process on the "hottest set" he's ever been on.

Why was it so hot that the lights could "set your hair on fire"? It turns out that Peet's wanted six still and five moving shots for their 50th anniversary campaign, but shooting slow-motion video of dark mugs and dark coffee on dark backgrounds requires a lot of light — five 12,000-watt Mole-Richardson lights almost on top of the product, in fact. This allowed the motion to be filmed at 200 fps on a Red Epic, resulting in blistered hands and a melted espresso machine, but Cahill did indeed get his shots, and they're quite lovely. Thankfully, the stills weren't as difficult to capture, though they themselves had their own challenges, such as having to reset the entire setup after just a few shots in each series. Cahill used a Leaf back for these, and once again, the results were gorgeous. He also offers some great insight into his process and life as a commercial photographer. 

Be sure to follow Cahill on Instagram for more.