Wine bottle in nude repose

[Mike Buckley]

It's so rewarding to imagine an image long before setting it up, much less releasing the shutter, and to have it turn out with absolutely minimal post-processing exactly as I imagined it. That happens with such exactitude rarely for me but it happened this time.

Setup
The tabletop and background are blue and green textured art paper, respectively. First capture: A medium continuous-light lamp is lighting the background from below to make a mostly bright field display of the glass. A white wall behind the background is reflecting part of the light toward the subject and creating the bright lines in the bottle that are the result of making a dark field image. Second capture: A small continuous-light lamp on the right side flagged to eliminate flare is lighting the tabletop. The two images were merged.

Please click the image to display it at a larger size.

[purplehaze]

Hmmm, can't criticize the technicals, Mike, but, at the risk of sounding sexist ( me??!!), might I suggest a shapelier bottle? I admit, the more I look at it, the more it grows on me, but I am not loving the blue; think I would prefer it if the entire image were monochrome.

[Shadowman]

Nicely captured, have you considered the same composition with a slosh of wine flowing through splashing off the bottom/right surface?

[Donald]

"OMG, she's naked!"

It's so rewarding to imagine an image long before setting it up, much less releasing the shutter, and to have it turn out with absolutely minimal post-processing exactly as I imagined it.

If that is indeed what has happened, then this image is an outstanding success. I agree that the satisfaction rating for such a thing, goes completely off the scale. The trick then is achieving the same outcome on a consistent basis.

[TonyW]

That's a fine image and you should be congratulated for your foresight. I don't think I have ever taken a picture where I knew exactly what he outcome would be.

[Rebel]

Its a great shot, but I'd convert it to B&W as the blue is distracting to me

[Mike Buckley]

Thanks, everyone!

For those of you would prefer a monochrome image, that could easily be done but I wouldn't use this image as the basis before converting; I would set up a completely different image designed from the outset to be a monochrome. This image would be a complete failure for me as a monochrome.

might I suggest a shapelier bottle?

My concept of the nude bottle has to do with the lack of labels and foil and that the glass is transparent. I've never seen a transparent wine bottle in any other shape.

have you considered the same composition with a slosh of wine flowing through splashing off the bottom/right surface?

I haven't considered that and the reason is that the bottle is not yet ready to have wine inside it; it has no foil or labels. I'm glad of that because it would be an exceptionally difficult photo to make.

EDIT: It just occurred to me that if the image was a close-up of the bottom area of the bottle, the sloshing wine would perhaps make sense because a lot of bottles have no label close to the bottom. Even so, I'm having a difficult time imagining why wine would be sloshing in a bottle that is lying down unless it has fallen down. In that situation, I would probably want to include something in the scene indicating that it had fallen. I'll continue to think about this, so thanks for the idea!

Its a great shot, but I'd convert it to B&W as the blue is distracting to me

I don't understand how an image that has a distraction can be great or how an image that is to be corrected by removing all color can be great. The thought process just doesn't compute for me.

[NorthernFocus]

I can see how studio work is rewarding for just the reason you state, Mike. And for the opposite reason early on when one is learning lighting technique. It must be interesting experimenting with various directions, diffusions, reflections, etc. I'm somewhat with the other comments regarding the blue.

[KimC]

I like the lighting in this one; however, I prefer the sexiness of your other recent posts. Mike, can you discuss what is causing that "dip" (looks like and indentation) on the top, about 3/4s of the way down the bottle (towards bottom)?

[Mike Buckley]

Thank you to Dan and Kim!

I prefer the sexiness of your other recent posts.

Such a nice compliment! I also really like the sexiness of some of them. Despite the nod to a nude concept in this image, I don't consider it sexy at all and didn't strive for sex appeal. In that regard, it's like a photo of a nude person that is not attempting to be sexy.

can you discuss what is causing that "dip" (looks like and indentation) on the top, about 3/4s of the way down the bottle (towards bottom)?

I can only explain what creates that bright light. I used both bright field and dark field lighting techniques in the first capture of making this image. That bright light is the result of the dark field lighting technique.

My guess (only a guess) is that the characteristic you mentioned is caused by a change in the glass, perhaps a flaw. Fortunately, I like this particular characteristic. Other times characteristics are produced that I don't like. In those situations, I resolve them by changing the position of the glass, changing the lighting or removing the unwanted characteristic during post-processing.

[bnnrcn]

I think the greenish color bothers me as it doesn't go well with the blue. May be a white BG would give a better result I don't know really IMO the green color gives the image a muddy look.

[Rebel]

Thanks, everyone!

For those of you would prefer a monochrome image, that could easily be done but I wouldn't use this image as the basis before converting; I would set up a completely different image designed from the outset to be a monochrome. This image would be a complete failure for me as a monochrome.



My concept of the nude bottle has to do with the lack of labels and foil and that the glass is transparent. I've never seen a transparent wine bottle in any other shape.



I haven't considered that and the reason is that the bottle is not yet ready to have wine inside it; it has no foil or labels. I'm glad of that because it would be an exceptionally difficult photo to make.

EDIT: It just occurred to me that if the image was a close-up of the bottom area of the bottle, the sloshing wine would perhaps make sense because a lot of bottles have no label close to the bottom. Even so, I'm having a difficult time imagining why wine would be sloshing in a bottle that is lying down unless it has fallen down. In that situation, I would probably want to include something in the scene indicating that it had fallen. I'll continue to think about this, so thanks for the idea!



I don't understand how an image that has a distraction can be great or how an image that is to be corrected by removing all color can be great. The thought process just doesn't compute for me.

I can't explain it, my eyes just tell me its not right

But we all have different tastes.

[Dave Humphries]

Hi Mike,

Disclaimer: I read all the posts in this thread before critically analysing the image, so my comments are obviously going to be influenced by (particularly) your responses to others - and may not reflect what I might have said if I had followed the usual protocol and thought about the image before reading the thread.

I can accept the image (almost) as an abstract with the colours you have chosen.

There are two aspects within it that 'bug me' on a technical level;
a) 'within' the bottle, the lower edge of the highlight at the top of the bottle has a very hard edge where it transitions to black - I think a 'finessing' with a suitable radius blur brush in a few precise areas might just (literally) 'take the edge off' the issue.
b) also 'within' the bottle, in the parallel sided part, at the bottom, there is what looks like a pale halo running along the top edge of the dark part.

If I were to guess, both 'technical artefacts' I mention might be an unfortunate combination of image elements of certain brightness levels and capture sharpness that have reacted badly to global sharpening applied late in the PP process. If you have the sharpening on a separate layer, it might be possible to reduce the opacity of that layer in the areas I mention to fix both.

Forgive me; I am being REALLY pernickty mentioning these minor aspects - there's some pixel peeping involved in order to identify the things I'm talking about - must be viewed in LyteBox and the "F" key hit to see at 100% (1:1 pixels).

It's so rewarding to imagine an image long before setting it up, much less releasing the shutter, and to have it turn out with absolutely minimal post-processing exactly as I imagined it.

That's because you thoroughly understand your subject, lighting and camera - because you have had lots of practice. This is a powerful example of why we say "practice, practice, practice" if you (anyone) want to be successful.

Hope those thoughts are helpful, Dave

[Mike Buckley]

Thank you to Binnur, Matt (again) and Dave!

I can't explain it, my eyes just tell me its not right

I'm completely comfortable with the idea that you feel that it's not right. The part that I don't understand is how anything can be great and not right at the same time. 'Nuff said!

There are two aspects within it that 'bug me' on a technical level;
a) 'within' the bottle, the lower edge of the highlight at the top of the bottle has a very hard edge where it transitions to black...
b) also 'within' the bottle, in the parallel sided part, at the bottom, there is what looks like a pale halo running along the top edge of the dark part.

You're thinking about that is fine with me. Perhaps it will be helpful for me to clarify that those details aren't in the realm of technicality for me; they're artistic details I like that were created by the lighting. As I mentioned in my first post, this image came out exactly the way I envisioned it.

[Wavelength]

hmm....not this time, sorry