Hi all,

I don't have a soft box nor any fancy lighting; nevertheless, I wanted to shoot a couple bottles of wine before we downed 'em this evening. The glare on the bottle was a problem I could not figure out how to solve - what's the trick to reducing glare on the glass?

Anyhow, this is the M 50mm at f/2.8 with natural light coming through the two windows behind me. Some indoor lighting behind the bottle to add a little "halo", and yes, a string of Holiday Lights to amp up the Bokeh a little. I had to try this after seeing the guy who posted the parking meter shot earlier this week!

Well, gotta go pour another glass of the vino...


[Photo #1 removed from gallery]
User Photo Gallery - Miscellaneous

Photo #2

User Photo Gallery - Miscellaneous

Great OOf colors and nice shots of the bottles... were they as good as they looked?

hallucinogenic 'plants' and now two bottle of wine... sounds like the start to a good weekend in SF to me...

[JHfwp]

Those are very good--very creative on your part too (I liked that parking meter shot also). I see what you mean about the glare. It would be nice to cut it down, but I think a little might actually be a plus in this case. I guess if you really want to get rid of it you get out the tripod and...

[KrisK10D]

I know a filter will prevent reflections (in windows etc.) but I'm not sure if it will work with reflected flash. Maybe using natural light?

I think they're both great shots.

[mikeSF]

...
hallucinogenic 'plants' and now two bottle of wine... sounds like the start to a good weekend in SF to me...

whatever it takes...

[mikeSF]

Great OOf colors and nice shots of the bottles... were they as good as they looked?
...

Thanks. and yes, Miner Family Vineyards in Napa Valley makes dynamite wines!

I know a filter will prevent reflections (in windows etc.) but I'm not sure if it will work with reflected flash. Maybe using natural light?
I think they're both great shots.

thank you - well, i didnt use any flash; the windows were causing the reflections. this. yeah maybe a filter of some sort. all i have is a circ polarizer and i didnt try it.

Those are very good--very creative on your part too (I liked that parking meter shot also). I see what you mean about the glare. It would be nice to cut it down, but I think a little might actually be a plus in this case. I guess if you really want to get rid of it you get out the tripod and...

much appreciated.

[KrisK10D]

thank you - well, i didnt use any flash; the windows were causing the reflections. this. yeah maybe a filter of some sort. all i have is a circ polarizer and i didnt try it.

I didn't mention a polarizer but it's the one I was thinking of. You should give it a go.

[gawan]

I my eyes these are really good, nicely captured surface of the bottle, do you have one without the holding hand?

[mikeSF]

I my eyes these are really good, nicely captured surface of the bottle, do you have one without the holding hand?

Yes, i took some but the challenge was the excessive background to either side of the tall narrow subject - it was overpowering, especially with the brightness of the lights. In the attached photo below, i cropped the bottle to show mostly the label but didn't like that. My solution was to angle to bottle in a pouring position to fill up more of the lateral space of the frame.

Also attached is the setup shot, showing my low-tech approach to the background. a string of white mini-lights wrapped around a chair and a vase of roses in front of that. the pillow was there to catch the bottle in case i dropped it on the white carpet - yikes! i did have a close call.

[mikeSF]

Well, I had left everything set up today and it was very overcast, so i figured i would re-take the shot since the window light would be softer. Also, I popped on the circular polarizer to see if it would reduce the glare.
Well, I could visually see through the viewfinder that the polarizer did not have any effect on the window reflections, but it did reduce the bright reflection of the chandelier on the upper right shoulder of the bottle. Moreover, the window reflections were much less pronounced due to the rainy day. The whole exposure is darker, but i kind of like that better now. Also, I added vignetting in the corners to bring down a couple of hot spots from the X-mas lights.

Do you like this one better?


User Photo Gallery - Miscellaneous

[jezza323]

very nice

you inspired me to take a photo of a bottle ive been wanting to drink for a while! (also needed an excuse to try an off camera flash for the first time)