Work · 2025 · Valletta — Strait Street
Valletta Cocktail Bar.
Pre-launch press kit for a 26-seat cocktail bar in a vaulted basement off Strait Street. Tight schedule: press visits in three weeks, no signage outside, no website.
Client
Independent — owner-operator
Scope
18 final frames · half-day + return for evening · three retouches
"We had three weeks to brief the press and Lina got us the eight images that ran in The Times Of Malta, Lovin Malta, and a small spread in Eat & Drink Malta."
The shoot
The space is below ground with two skylights cut into the pavement above. Daylight is thin and warm — not enough for the food shots without supplemental lighting.
I went twice: the morning shoot for the room and the back bar, the evening shoot for the cocktails and the patron-friendly atmospheres.
The cocktail-glass shots were tripod-locked and lit with a single Profoto bouncing off white card overhead. The bartender hand-modeled the pour for the lead frame.
Three press outlets used different selections from the same 18 frames. The Times Of Malta led with the room, Lovin Malta with the cocktail close-up, Eat & Drink with the bar elevation.
Capture metadata
NIKKOR 50 f/1.4 · Z 7II · Profoto B10 + grid · F2.8 cocktails · F4 room · ISO 100-400
Ready?
Talk to Lina.
Briefs take 30 minutes. Lina takes calls Wednesdays. Or message her now from the home page.
Talk to Lina →