Learning how to balance the five elements of flavor — umami/salt, bitter, sweet, sour and spice — is one of the fundamental tenets of both cooking and mixology. For many cocktail lovers on Instagram, seeing a reel of a drinks influencer cheekily sprinkling microplaned parmesan cheese atop an Espresso Martini may seem like pure chaos, but it is, in fact, the opposite: It’s a quintessential example of umami from the cheese balancing the bitterness of coffee.

While photographers agree that shooting near a window and using natural, diffused light is ideal, what happens at night or when inside a dark bar or restaurant? Jordan Hughes, also known as High-Proof Preacher, is a drink recipe developer, consultant, and photographer in Portland, Ore. He specializes in cocktail photography and knows a few things about shooting in the dark…”