Wine Photography

[Mike Buckley]

I always accompany my photos of wine with a description of the setup I used, but people understandably sometimes ask me to provide photos of the setup. It's just not practical for me to make that happen because my makeshift studio is so tiny and because, being so tiny, I essentially work inside a black tent.

So, I was happy to come across this short tutorial video, which is an excellent description of the techniques I regularly use.

One primary difference between the setup explained in that tutorial and the setups I typically use is that I almost always use continuous light. However, when stopping action or creating a gradient reflection in the wine bottle, I use speed lights using the same methods explained in the tutorial.

There are two details the tutorial doesn't explain about the gradient produced on the left side of the wine bottle: The first detail is that the width and position of that reflection requires a bit of trial and error unless you get really lucky and nail it on the first try; the distance and angle between the strip box-diffuser combination and the wine bottle will affect all of that.

The second detail is that when the wine label produces direct reflections, the gradient will be unattractively reflected in the label. When that happens, one easy solution is to make a separate exposure of the bottle without using the strip box-diffuser combination and then merging that exposure of the label with the other exposure of the wine bottle. Indeed, the first few letters in the brand name on the label in the tutorial produce a bit of a direct reflection that I find objectionable, so I would have captured that label separately if I had made the photo.

Notice that the branding on the foil in the tutorial is not centered above the label. I try to use a wine bottle that has that branding already centered as much as possible. When that's not possible, I then try to turn the foil, which sometimes works (sometimes not).

I got a kick out of the guy mentioning that his space is so small. The space displayed in his tutorial is at least three times as large as the space I use and it's clear that his tutorial doesn't even display the entire room.

[Shadowman]

Thanks for the link. Regarding space, the biggest concern for me is room to maneuver around my setup (mainly the tripod but sometimes the subject). On the other hand; if your studio is too large you end up trying to confine your work space to control stray light.

[Mike Buckley]

My space is so small that the issue is having room to place the tripod, the stand holding the materials being photographed and the light stands and still have room to walk around them without knocking them over. I wouldn't mind having a studio so large that I would have to control stray light, as at least I could walk around the setup without knocking stuff over and I would have room to set everything up.

[Shadowman]

My space is so small that the issue is having room to place the tripod, the stand holding the materials being photographed and the light stands and still have room to walk around them without knocking them over. I wouldn't mind having a studio so large that I would have to control stray light, as at least I could walk around the setup without knocking stuff over and I would have room to set everything up.

I typically use a 24cubic inch light tent but I'm working on a two object subject that requires at a minimum of three feet between each object. I suppose I could place one object inside the tent and somehow suspend or isolate the other in front. When I use a larger area to make the setup I have to contend with the stray light; so it is either shooting in a dark room or placing reflectors around each object and that is where the lack of space kicks in again.