Line 39 Wine
Tried doing this shot with a lighting setup that's a little different from the way bottles are typically shot. Any comments appreciated.
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6 Comments
nice!
Thanks Brian, that means a lot coming from you. I love your work.
Can you explain your lighting a bit, and how it's different from the typical way they're shot? Just because there are so many ways bottles are shot, so we know what you mean.
Sure Carlos. Most of the bottles I see are shot with multiple lights in one setting. This image was shot with one side light, and a reflective white card on the opposite side pushed way back to give the near hairline highlight on the opposite side. Many photographers look to light evenly on both sides to make sure they communicate the depth and dimension of the bottle. I tried to achieve that depth with only one major gradient from one light. In addition I took multiple shots to composite, which is often done but not as typical as a multiple light setup is for bottles, particularly wine bottles. I also did not shoot a background highlight, which I see in many of the bottle shots I've studied, which is intended to separate the bottle, especially really dark bottles, from the background. I chose instead to create a tension between the bottle and the background supported by only the highlights around the bottle - and one of them near hairline. It's intensified by placing the bottle on a wet black grounding. I'm not saying it's totally unique, it isn't, just saying it's not what I usually see. You may disagree. I half-way expected criticism, especially with no background highlight, so I just wanted to say that it's all intentional. Just kind of tire of seeing the same types of shots with the same formula. I was looking for a shot that communicated class, depth, and quality for the product. Thanks for your interest.
Thanks for taking the time to explain your thinking. I agree with you, is not the most common way to photograph a wine bottle, but also not unique. I like your way of thinking about the problem, if you didn't want to use a background light for separation, the contour white lines would be the way to do it. No criticism there. What I would say, and this is only about choices, is your image is a little distracting on the right side because your gradient, although small, is the strongest light in the frame, and calls your eye a lot. The way you lighted the logo (you didn't explain how you did this) gives a gradient for the bottle shape, so you don't really need the right side white gradient quite so strong, so this could be either smaller or a lot larger and less intense. You mentioned you wanted to create tension between background and the bottle, but you got it between the logo and that gradient white line.
That's the only thing I would say about it, otherwise you got a nice image.
Edit: the white line, does it have anything to do with the name of the wine?
Thanks Carlos. The bright white gradient serves as the main separation from the background and as the depth defining element of the bottle so it's brighter. In my mind it's a matter of taste as to how bright the other side should be, and often both sides of a bottle are lit evenly, but I chose to tone down the camera left side of the bottle. I might try it again bringing that side up. Yes, the "Line" wording is part of the title of the Wine. I think that could have been a bit brighter, but the focus was on their "Excursion" red blend. Thanks so much for giving your suggestions and thoughts. I really appreciate it.