Let’s Get Physical: 80s Aerobic Test Shoot with London Drink Stylist Alice Ostan

ph Cara Cormack

Body Builders, Baywatch, and Bangin’ Babes: An 80s Aerobic Fever Dream | Drink Styling by Alice Ostan

There are photographic tests for sharpness, contrast, and color accuracy—and then there are tests for pure atmosphere and challenge. This is unapologetically the latter, designed to push a camera’s ability to capture dynamic energy, colour, and attitude.

Welcome to Body Builders, Baywatch, and Bangin’ Babes, a drink photographic project that cranks the saturation, hits play on the boombox, and drops you straight into an ’80s aerobic fantasy where everything glistens, flexes, and moves in rhythm.

Venice Beach, Then and Now (Mostly Then)

It’s Los Angeles in the 1980s. Or maybe it’s present-day LA pretending the 80s never ended. The Venice Beach boardwalk stretches out in front of you like a neon runway.

On one side: a lineup of bronzed bodybuilders pumping iron with ritual precision. Muscles pop under the sun, skin slick with sweat and oil, neon budgy smugglers fighting for structural integrity. Every flex is a masterclass in form and highlight roll-off. Somewhere nearby, a battered boombox is screaming Van Halen, while Olivia Newton-John floats in from another direction like cardio gospel.

This is where shadows are hard, highlights are harder, and reflections tell half the story.

Motion, Mirrors, and Maximum Energy

On the other side of the boardwalk, motion takes over. Roller skates hum against concrete. Leg warmers blur into streaks of color. Walkmans are clipped to thighs, foam headphones sealing off the world and piping in pure synth-pop motivation.

Crop tops bounce in time with the beat. Mirrored aviators catch the sun and throw it back at the lens. Every glide, every turn, every flash of chrome becomes a stress test for motion rendering, color pop, and micro-contrast.

This is photography at full cardio.

At the Center of It All: Malibu

And at the center of this sun-baked spectacle—ice-cold Malibu cans, glistening like trophies. Beads of condensation race down aluminum as they’re cracked open between sets, laps, and poses. Coconut-sweet, impossibly refreshing, and perfectly on-brand for a beach where leisure matches fitness intensity. All beverage styling and can work by drink stylist Alice Ostan, a London-based food and drink stylist represented by Style Department, who specializes in creating photorealistic condensation, liquid motion, and product styling for commercial photography and motion.

Here, health isn’t just a lifestyle—it’s a performance: sun-drenched, camp, and unapologetically over the top, always delivered with a wink and a sip of Malibu.

This project

Body Builders, Baywatch, and Bangin’ Babes aren’t about data or lifeless images; it’s about:

• Skin tones under brutal sunlight
• Specular highlights on sweat, oil, aluminum, and chrome
• Fast-moving subjects with bold, clashing colours and fabulous drinks
• Reflections, mirrors, and motion blur
• Attitude you can’t fake

If a camera—or film stock—can handle Venice Beach at peak 80s intensity, with wild color, high energy, and reflective chaos, it proves its ability in settings where both technical prowess and creative flexibility matter most. This test’s unique stressors reveal character no lab chart can show.

A Love Letter to Excess

This test is a love letter to excess, confidence, and an era that believed more was always better. Louder music. Brighter colors. Bigger muscles. Shorter shorts. Colder drinks.

It’s Baywatch before it knew it was Baywatch. Fitness before it became content. Style before irony showed up.

So lace up the skates, hit rewind on that cassette, crack open a Malibu, and step into the sun. This isn’t just a photographic test—it’s a full-body workout for your eyes. 🥥☀️—

**About the Drink Stylist**

Alice Ostan is a professional stylist for commercial campaigns, editorial shoots, and advertising. Her drink styling portfolio includes work with major beverage brands, creating picture-perfect condensation, foam, carbonation, and pour shots. Represented by Style Department, Alice brings technical precision and creative vision to every project, from cocktail styling to canned beverages and specialty drinks.

**Services:** Drink styling, food styling, product styling, liquid motion, commercial photography and video styling

**Representation:** Style Department

credits

Creative Direction/ Photography @caracormack_
BTS shot and edited by @mishapanxv
Drinks Stylist – @aliceostan
MUA – @chamiltonpro
Hair / SFX – @victoriapolandmakeup
Hair / SFX Assistant – @loisharperbeauty
Wardrobe Stylist – @mairjoint_stylist
Wardrobe Assistant – @Elsie_vincent
Movement Director – @theweirdbird
Set and Props – @ma_gent
Props Stylist – @mrluisperal
Casting Agent – @cbacasting
Talent – @rebeccawarren and @elliott_minnett
Producer and beyond – @jamesbrewerphoto
Assistant – @hudsonjrippon
Digi Op – @sarah.wilso.n
Gaffer – @connortegan
Agent – @headofphotochris @kodemedia