Wine Labels

[Mike Buckley]

The moment that I took these three bottles out of the box, I was intrigued by the labels and knew I would soon photograph them in a bold style.

Labels such as these that have some parts made of shiny, highly reflective surfaces would be difficult enough to photograph if they were laid flat. They become even more difficult to photograph once they are attached to the bottle. That's because the labels become curved, causing the shiny parts to reflect light differently depending on where they are positioned on the curve relative to the light source and the camera (relative to whether the shiny parts are in the family of angles). I solved the problem in this case by lighting the scene evenly as explained below.

Please click the photo to view the texture in the labels at a larger size.

Setup
The tabletop is clear glass though you can't see it by design because the background, which is presentation board, is being seen through the glass. First photo: Two medium continuous-light lamps fitted with diffusion socks are positioned at a 45-degree angle to the scene in the left front and right front areas. Second photo: White reflectors were added to the left and right sides of the scene to add reflections to the glass above and below the labels. The two photos were merged.

[joebranko]

Great work!

[ST1]

Nice work Mike
With a play on words where you "merged" two photos of a Blend2 wine bottle label IYSWIM

[Mike Buckley]

Thank you to Joe and Peter!

you "merged" two photos of a Blend2 wine

Yes, but unfortunately the wine is made from three, not two, species of grapes. Your play on words goes only so far.

[deetheturk]

Lovely shot Mike, well captured!

[Shadowman]

Nice capture.

[bnnrcn]

Very nice shot

[Mike Buckley]

Thank you to David, John and Binnur!

[Rob Ekins]

You nailed the texture again.. well done.

[Kaye Leggett]

Lovely shots and as usual fantastic attention to detail. How did you decide to place the right and left hand bottles?

[Mike Buckley]

Thank you to Rob and Kaye!

How did you decide to place the right and left hand bottles?

I settled on this composition because the three labels appear to be displayed with no glass showing between them, allowing for an uninterrupted horizontal display of the labels. That's despite that the label doesn't cover the entire front of the bottle, though you probably would not know that without me telling you about it. The left and right sides of the center bottle are reflecting the label of the adjacent bottles (at least that's what I think is happening), providing the seemingly continuous display of the labels. You'll be able to see that detail -- look for the slight interruption in the pattern of triangles -- if you click the image twice to view it at its uploaded size.