Case Study | Ernie Cafe | Hospitality

As a native of Williamsport, Pennsylvania, I often find myself in the same local cafes, dinner spots, and bars when I visit my sleepy hometown. Don’t get me wrong; I love the long-established haunts of this unassuming city, but I don’t often get to try the newly-opened restaurants of Williamsport because, well…there aren’t many.

So when Pat Fern, former client and owner of Joy Thai Cuisine on Fourth Street in Williamsport, reached out to me for photography services for her new Thai tea cafe, I jumped on the project and created a set of high-resolution images for Ernie Cafe.

To match the brand story of our previous shoot at Joy Thai, I wanted to create a moody set of images that can be used on both a printed menu and social media applications for Ernie Cafe. I opted for simplicity in this shoot, choosing a white background to amplify the color of the tea and to reflect the quality of the beverages.

Ernie Cafe’s menu items range from pre-packaged sushi to baked goods and coffee drinks. While this range feels less niche and more “coffee shop with a twist,” I wanted to create images that highlight the texture and soft feel of Pat’s offerings, homemade or not.

Highlighting the share-ability of Ernie Cafe’s beverage offerings was incredibly easy, given that each beverage had its own punchy color.

I also wanted to give Pat a set of images that captured the quiet aura of her shop. Board games, statuettes, and the warm wood tones of her Victorian-era storefront are attractive to both the curious passerby and the college student seeking a comfortable, yet fun, place to study.

Shot on a Canon 5DSR with varying focal lengths. All images taken at Ernie Cafe in Williamsport, Pennsylvania.