Another shape that caught my eye... Wine rack

usayit · Dec 19, 2003

Just purchased a new 85mm f/1.8 prime lens but the weather outside was not cooperating for a test shoot. Looking around the house, I realized that my wire wine rack and the bottles of wine had a nice appealing look to it. Shot it a few times, with a fill flash and I like the results. Funny, I passed it several times each and every day never really paying much attention to it.

Tyjax · Dec 20, 2003

Good eye. I like the play of color. A softer flash from the left rather than straight on would alleviate the harsh shadows on the wall. I would also like to see the whole frame slid just to the right so the first row of bottles is lined with edge of frame. All that being said. Good shoot, please shoot it again with some laid up lighting and angle. Woot.

photoman · Dec 20, 2003

Nice photo, very pleasing to the eye.

I would also like to see less flash in the photo.

Maybe you could mount the camera to a tripod and use ambent light for the photo.
Where did you focus on?
The photo could turn out very differently if you try focusing on differnt aspects on the bottles. (just something to try)

Very good eye.

Keep shooting

cowbert098 · Dec 21, 2003

Nice shot, I really like the nice simple pattern.

usayit · Dec 21, 2003

Thanks for the comments..
Thats some great constructive feedback.

Definitely a reshoot should be a good learning experience. A little to the right and some more experimenting with lighting. I think I'm going to have to take photoman's advice and figure a way to get more ambient light into the picture. As of right now, I really don't have an off-shoe flash unit as I rarely use flash. I mostly shoot outdoor and/or natural lighting. I originally tried several flash settings ( using the builtin flash ) as well as tripod long exposures. Most of the other settings resulted in even more harsh shadows on the white wall or dull colors from the bottles.

Perhaps I should even take the time to dust off the wine rack itself....

Thanks again..

captain-spanky · Dec 22, 2003

it's just a really silly thing, but i would have liked the top right bottle to be the same as the top left....

But it IS a very nice pic... and i like the colours too

bogleric · Dec 22, 2003

very nice shot, I too would have liked no flash and used an even lighting to eliminate the shadows.

Very nice shot though.

terri · Dec 22, 2003

The resident wine slut had to check this image out.... :wink:

I would agree that softer lighting would only enhance the photo, and I guess I am the only one who wants to see the actual labels.

Sometimes they can be mini-artworks, or are they too busy and you thought they'd detract from the overall image? :scratch: A soft focus filter would help with that if you have one.

If you're going to re-shoot, spin a few of the bottles to show the labels and let's see the image that way, as well. Just a thought.

usayit · Dec 22, 2003

I found some time for a little more experimentation this evening ( little tired from Xmas shopping )....

I do not have any type of "studio" lighting or "off-shoe" flash units so I had to be a little creative. I used a halogen worklight reflecting from the ceiling to help add to the existing lighting. The top row of bottles really blocked a lot of light turning the rose table wine into a drab brownish red. Came up with the idea of using a spot light to help bring the luster back into them. Its really difficult to control the lighting with a work light and a handheld spot light but it was fun. Hope its not too obvious or unnatural

I also had to learn all about white balance ( I'm new to the digital game ). Tried all sorts of settings and ended up doing a custom setting off of the wall. After shooting a few frames, I started to realize that the bottles really started to look like fakes... simply looked liked water filled glass bottles. As terri kinda pointed out, the bottles did not look like nice tasty wine until the labels were showing. So a little rearranging was in order. I also didn't get to pan over to the right as much as I had hoped. Doing so would have brought the edge of the wire wine rack into the fame which I found distracting. Oh yeh... I also took the time to clean the dust off too....

Still want to try other things but it will just have to wait until the holidays. I've got to pack tomorrow to catch a flight. Thanks again for the input.

Tyjax · Dec 22, 2003

What a great improvement. Tons better and what a creative use of existing materials. Big kudos on the creative lighting. And for good use of freindly crits. You really popped this one in the kisser. I hope you took a big RAW image so you can manipulate and print this one. Its a keeper.

motcon · Dec 22, 2003

glass 'generally' should be backlighted with no flash. angle of incidence/reflection....

http://id.mind.net/~zona/mstm/physics/light/rayOptics/refraction/snellsLaw/snellsLaw1.html

try bouncing a light off a gold reflector (poster board works just fine) onto the wall behind the bottles as to not create any shadows. you will not be able to matrix meter this; you'll have to expose properly. any lighting that comes from the back of you that hits the front of the bottles should be approx. 1/2 the amount of light hitting the back.

try it.

also try a silver reflector.

bogleric · Dec 23, 2003

Wow. Now talk about a great improvement. You did a wonderful job with the reshoot. The labels were a nice touch, but isn't it amazing at what some lighting can do. There is still a little shadow on the back left of the bottles that I think should go. But the picture looks great and I really think you learned alot too.

Excellent job :!: :!: 8)

terri · Dec 23, 2003

Cool! I love seeing those labels and I think it really enhances the whole image. I'd have to agree that reflection here is still a bit of a problem but still a great improvement. Gotta love that air bubble in the top bottle, too.

Good work!!!

usayit · Dec 23, 2003

Thanks for all the comments everyone. Really enjoyed shooting the picture and picked up a good amount of experience in the process. I'd like to try another reshoot sometime in the future but I'm happy with the results thus far. Its a big improvement. I'd like to try out using a silver or gold reflective board as motcon pointed out. Should make for a different effect and eliminate what little shadows are still there. BTW, the shadows are from the spot light I used to try and illuminate the rose wine on the second row. Perhaps my maglight with a narrower beam would do the trick ( now were did i misplace that darn thing? ).

This digital slr ( canon d30 ) is turning out to be a great learning tool.

As I was going throught the shots of that night, my wife said she really liked this next shot. Same settings as the previous but with the halogen work light shining directly on the wine rack and a little over exposure was allowed. Makes for a more dramatic effect. Let me know what you think...

photoman · Dec 23, 2003

I like the washed out backgroud, but not the shadow. is their any way you could just overexpose the shoot instead. I think this shoot is so powerfull because of the great contrast between the highlighted backgroud and the dark, rich colors of the wine.

Very nice job though. I think the only way you will learn to take pictures is by taking pictures and learning from you mistakes :shock:

Very nice job on all of these pictures and keep shooting.

(I wish i could just take pictures without costing me film and chemicals :lol: