Amarone Wine

[Mike Buckley]

Amarone is made in northern Italy by allowing the grapes to dry for a few months after being harvested until they are halfway like raisins. The result is a very rich wine.

I bought this Amarone because it is made partly from a grape species that is new to me -- Oselata. It would be my 158th grape if I were to drink the wine now. However, it might be years before I drink it and hopefully I will enjoy many new grape species in the mean time.

Setup
Two medium continuous-light lamps fitted with a diffuser sock are positioned to the left and right of the camera. They are pointed away from the camera and are bouncing light off black fabric onto the scene. A reflector on the left adds a reflection to the left side of both bottles.

[Barbara Ponder]

Nice!

[purplehaze]

Nice choice of fabric, Mike, and I love the play of light and shadow here.

[Donald]

That shot has got a commercial (profcessional shoot) feel to it (that's meant to be a compliment). It's the sort of shot I'd expect to see in my monthly 'Decanter' magazine. Good one, Mike.

[Manfred M]

Mike - my thoughts are along the same line as Donald's. If their wine sales go up, you should send them an invoice for this beautifully crafted image.

[Mike Buckley]

Thanks, folks!

Janis mentioned the fabric. I went to the fabric store thinking I was out of my mind for actually believing I might be able to find the perfect fabric for this shot -- a black fabric with gold flecks throughout it. Not only did I find it, but I found it in a cheap remnant.

However, the fabric proved to be exceptionally difficult to light. As an example, you wouldn't know from this image that the gold flecks are throughout the fabric. That's because the light has to catch those flecks just right to make them appear. Yet if the light catches them in a certain way, they appear as mirror reflections the color of the light source rather than as gold. I finally realized that the trick was to light the bottles and then to make very minor adjustments to the fabric until enough of the flecks appeared as gold in the ideal places without any of the flecks appearing as mirror reflections. Easier said than done!

[KimC]

Very sexy image of this wine; like everything about it. One of my favorites from your wine images.

[John 2]

Nicely done Mike. I don't know of a nicer way to combine two hobbies (although I suspect one of them is deadly serious).

[deetheturk]

Very nice Mike, looks expensive!

[purplehaze]

the fabric proved to be exceptionally difficult to light.

I was wondering how you managed to avoid a mass of reflective highlights... Sorry to hear there's no magic bullet, but impressed with your patience.

[bnnrcn]

Loved it

[Shadowman]

A couple of questions about the bottle. The octagon, round seal, and lettering (Della V), are these in gold? On my main monitor it has a copper look and on my thinkpad it looks gold. Also, are those sparkles on the fabric? Nicely captured.

[rpcrowe]

It's amazing how you keep producing excellent, but different, portraits of wine and wine bottles. This one is superb!

[Mike Buckley]

Continued thanks to all!

A couple of questions about the bottle. The octagon, round seal, and lettering (Della V), are these in gold? On my main monitor it has a copper look and on my thinkpad it looks gold.

I would describe them as gold on my profiled and calibrated monitor but descriptions of color mean different things to different people.

Also, are those sparkles on the fabric?

In rather than on the fabric. If you haven't yet read post #6, that post explains considerable detail about the fabric and those gold flecks.