Wine: Carnivor Cab

[Mike Buckley]

This is one of the three best values in red wine I know of. Despite that it costs only USD $9, it's so smooth that I would be happy to pay more than twice that amount. Great friends introduced me to the wine on Christmas day, so I made this image as much to thank them as for my own enjoyment.

I just love the label. It's the only label I've seen that is designed to appear as if it is torn. There is also a LOT of detail in the label, so much so that it can't be fully appreciated in the normal course of holding the bottle in the typical lighting of a home or restaurant. So, I lit it to enhance that detail and photographed it at a magnification that makes the detail easier to appreciate.

The slogan displayed at the bottom of the label is especially interesting. Sadly, it is so well hidden that I was not aware of it until I began examining every detail under extreme magnification as I was doing the initial setup. The font is so difficult to read that it took me awhile to figure out that the last word is “animal.”

I made this image using my newly acquired wireless device for the first time. It makes it possible to control the camera from a computer, tablet or phone. I used a small laptop. Viewing the image on the 11” screen while I refined the lighting setup was so much easier and more enjoyable than being limited to the small size of the camera's LCD to evaluate everything. The same was true for examining the captured image to decide whether more refinements would be needed.

Please click the image to view the detail at a larger size.

Setup
The background is black foam core. Two medium continuous-light lamps on the right front add light to display the curved shape on the right side of the label. A reflector made of translucent mylar positioned on the front left side at a 45-degree angle brightens the left side of the label and adds a reflection to the glass part of the bottle to further define the shape. A small continuous-light lamp shining through the mylar toward the subject provides additional brightness on the left side of the label.

[Shadowman]

Nicely captured.

[Wavelength]

Superb image....

[Kaye Leggett]

Lovely as ever

[Dave Humphries]

Great image Mike,

However, I'm struggling with the first few letters of the penultimate word in the lower slogan(?)

[davidedric]

Hi Mike,

Nice image and story.

I had a quick look, and the wine is even available in the UK, but at £10 a bottle

Dave

[IzzieK]

Very nice label, Mike...think it need a bit more light? Or will it ruin the drama of the shot? Just curious...

[Sergio M.]

Yes, very nice detail in the label. So much so that you can perceive a thickness to the label at the tear.
Well done, Mike. Your seem to have eased into your new equipment.

Sergio

[Mike Buckley]

Thanks, everyone!

Dave: The slogan is "man is a tool wielding animal" (lacking the hyphen that in modern language would have made the phrase grammatically correct). I'm quite proud that it's actually far easier to read in my photo than when holding the bottle in my hands in a typical situation.

think it need a bit more light? Or will it ruin the drama of the shot? Just curious...

That's a great example of the many choices any studio photographer makes when creating the setup and doing the post-processing. Someone else might have justifiably used brighter light, more light, or brightened it more during post-processing. Doing so would have brightened perhaps nearly the darkest tones and the mid tones, which would have gone against the style I had in mind long before I released the shutter.

[KimC]

Sexy shot Mike. The only thing I am wondering about is -- image right side - space between label -- I would like to be able to see a little glimpse of the shape of the bottle, otherwise it looks like nothing is behind the label in that area.

[bnnrcn]

Hi Kim I can see the shape of the bottle in the area you mention Do you think your monitor might be a bit on the dark side?

Sexy shot Mike. The only thing I am wondering about is -- image right side - space between label -- I would like to be able to see a little glimpse of the shape of the bottle, otherwise it looks like nothing is behind the label in that area.

[Mike Buckley]

Thanks, Kim!

Your suggestion might be a good one. My thinking is that if I had added a reflection to the glass where the label is "torn" I should have also added a reflection from top to bottom. I felt that more reflections appearing on the glass would detract from the primary subject, which of course is the label. I didn't try making that happen, so I might have changed my mind if I had seen it.

[Mike Buckley]

Hi Kim I can see the shape of the bottle in the area you mention Do you think your monitor might be a bit on the dark side?

If I understand Kim correctly and I'm reasonably confident that I do, she is correct that there is nothing displayed on the glass in the area she mentioned to convey the shape of the bottle. For me, sufficient information about the shape of the bottle in that area is conveyed by the lighting that conveys the shape of the label. Even so, as I explained in my response to her, conveying the shape of the glass in that area might have been an improvement.

[bnnrcn]

Hi Mike I think I'm getting Kim's point wrong. What part are you two talking about? I'm able to see the bottle properly

[Mike Buckley]

First, notice the display of glass between the upper and lower parts of the label. Now take a look at the right side of that area. Unlike the left side of that area, there is nothing on the right side to convey the shape of the glass.

[KimC]

Hmm, I enlarged it and you are correct, I can see it Binnur, but it's very faint. How noticeable is it to you?

Hi Kim I can see the shape of the bottle in the area you mention Do you think your monitor might be a bit on the dark side?

[Mike Buckley]

Kim and Binnur,

Are you using a calibrated monitor? (I am.)

My guess is that anything you are seeing in that area to convey the shape of the glass is an optical illusion brought on by the obvious shape of the label being conveyed so well and so close to the small area of glass.

[KimC]

I have a MAC monitor -- I checked this week to see if it needed calibration, and I could see the varying shades of white and black on the test item... but I am wondering. :-)

Kim and Binnur,

Are you using a calibrated monitor? (I am.)

[Mike Buckley]

I just now tested that area and can confirm that there is absolutely nothing there to convey shape. That area has a luminance value of 0 except for one tiny, tiny portion of perhaps only a few pixels that have a luminance value of 1.

[bnnrcn]

Ah, I see .. But if you lightened that area too, IMO it would be distracting . May be a very faint light would work I don't know . I like the image very much.

BTW , this is the cheapest Cabarnet Sauvignon I have ever heard of. It is impossible to find such a cheap and delicious one in Turkey! You are lucky to have it

First, notice the display of glass between the upper and lower parts of the label. Now take a look at the right side of that area. Unlike the left side of that area, there is nothing on the right side to convey the shape of the glass.