Wine: My favorite everyday zinfandel

[Lon Howard]

I'm on board with Ronny, not sure if the reasoning is the same. I'm not real big on sweets but in the right mood I could dig into the cake in color, but not the mono version. At least I'd not be downing the bottle on an empty stomach. I'm also a Merlot guy so maybe he struck a nerve there too!

I enjoy the mood, either way.

[Mike Buckley]

Continued thanks to everyone!

American chocolate cakes are often too sweet and that kills the wine.

And everything else. This particular cake is so sweet that once I got over the first taste of wine after eating a bite of cake, it was clear that the wine is so much better for what it is supposed to be than the cake for what it is supposed to be. My pride in my cooking skills compels me to mention that I bought the cake.

I think the colour version is better...Only kidding!

Don't ever do that again, Donald. Please remember that some people viewing your posts have a weak heart that can't take such a jolt no matter how temporary.

You and I are of the same mind when it comes to California wines, not just zins.

I enjoy the mood, either way.

Your comment made my day, as the mood was the most important aspect of the image for me. My plan was to use limited depth of field to slightly blur the cake and blur the wine glass more. That, along with the lighting, created the mood I had hoped for. I made the exact same image keeping everything in focus just in case that plan didn't work and it was amazing to see how much more appealing the mood is when only the wine bottle is sharply in focus.

[Mike Buckley]

This photo or one that is very similar is used in the full-page advertisement that I regularly see in magazines. I've never understood the point of the bottle laid on its side. If it makes sense or seems appealing to you, please explain.

[Lon Howard]

This photo or one that is very similar is used in the full-page advertisement that I regularly see in magazines. I've never understood the point of the bottle laid on its side. If it makes sense or seems appealing to you, please explain.

Just a couple of guesses:

1. The photographer believes that as long as we choose to wonder about it, that will confirm that it really is art. (That's the impression I get every time I go to the Art Museum.)
2. The photographer placed an invisible man who is embracing the empty bottle on its side, to imply that one bottle was all he could handle.

I'm leaning 60/40 toward #1. Well Mike, you did ask ...

[Mike Buckley]

Well Mike, you did ask ...

And I got a very good laugh thanks to your response.

[Mike Buckley]

Ahhhhhhh. I just now figured out the best possible reason for the bottle being on its side. For people who don't trust screw caps, the photo proves that it doesn't leak...so long as you're willing to believe that the bottle being photographed actually has wine inside.

[Brownbear]

Quite the humourous thread! I still prefer the monochrome, but I think that if you had a slice of white cake with strawberries on top that image would look best in colour. I'm still dreaming of chocolate cake and still searching because it has to be just right! (not too sweet but truly decadent)

[ClaudioG]

Mike, i need to be serious now.....who made that cake??????? And why hasnt it been eaten??!!? Nevermind that, im still amazed you get images of full bottles of wine!!! Thank goodness i dont go into that genre. I'm really njoying my red wines lately,i get so many that i think i should try what you do, then i have a glass and wonder about it....then...well...you know...i have another...and well....then...hmmmm, this Alto rouge 2011 is prety damn good...yum..now where was I ???

[Mike Buckley]

About the cake, Claudio: It was purchased at the bakery section of a large grocery store. My wife and I ate the piece displayed in the photograph the same day that I made the photo. She took the rest into her office and all but one slice of it was eaten the first day. I assume the last piece was eaten today.

I understand your workflow when it comes to photographing wine. It got to the point that I had to put a blinking red neon sign on the door of my makeshift studio (more formally known as Makeshift Galactic Headquarters) indicating that it is an alcohol-free zone. Psst. Don't tell anyone that my new cup holder can be expanded to hold a wine bottle.

[wlou]

This photo or one that is very similar is used in the full-page advertisement that I regularly see in magazines. I've never understood the point of the bottle laid on its side. If it makes sense or seems appealing to you, please explain.

Mike it looks to me that there is a big empty white space at left of the standing bottle and under the cake. his space is created by the hight of the cake holder. As the cake itself and the bottle standing are dark, that create out of balance image. Correction? Lest put a bottle laying on its side to fill the void!? What do you think?

[Mike Buckley]

That's better than any explanation I've come up with, Louise. However, to solve a problem by introducing a new problem isn't the sort of thing a pro photographer should ever do, especially for an image that will appear on full-page advertisements of international magazines. Moreover, my understanding is that almost all of the scenes in major ads are first designed by someone with the term, "creative," in their formal job title and then turned over to the photographer to make it happen. My point is that the major compositional elements wouldn't be determined by the photographer.