Photographing Wine Bottles

[Shashin]

Hello!

I have been given my first photo assignment and need some advice!

I have been asked to shoot wine bottles for a website catalogue and am not quite sure how to do it. I think they want individual bottles and the only equipment I have is my Canon 7D, built-in flash (not a good idea), a speedlite that can go on top of the camera or elsewhere, a little diffuser that can go on the speedlite and large reflectors (white, gold, silver, black). Can anybody give me some tips, please?

Thank you!

[Andrew76]

Is the objective to capture the information on the label? Or what are you trying to achieve?

[Andrew1]

One of the biggest problems with wine bottles and glasses is the reflections you are going to pick up. Unless you're proficient at post processing you'll have to deal with the problem ahead of time. With minimal equipment at your disposal I'd suggest building a small tent out of a white sheet and placing the subject within it. The light coming through the sheet should be diffused enough but you'll still need to think about the front reflections. Closing the front of your "tent" with the sheet and shooting through a small slit opening will help. You will need to make it large enough to incorporate a background which you should use. For light, build the tent close to a window on one side at a 15 - 45 degree angle and use your flash for fill on the other. Or the other way around if it works better. You'll need to play with it. Let us see how it turns out and explain what you did that worked, or didn't. Check out some magazines for hints on the layout. Good luck.

[allenlennon]

hi, not sure if this is what you exactly want but may help http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SsPYqxXNMJ0 this bloke shows you how to shoot the bottle and glass with lights from around the home. Aswell as reflectors and cards you can use to help with the reflection and outline the bottle. hope it helps.

PS Also check out his video "introduction to still life photography" he explains what lights from the house you can fid useful.

[Donald]

Have a look at something like BBR's website to get ideas. You'll note that going in close on the label and not trying to get the whole bottle, has become a fashionable way to shoot for a website. You'll also note the white backgrounds.

Use natural light if you don't have a full-blown studio set-up.

If you go for the whole bottle, get a catchlight on the shoulder of the bottle in order to help give it (the bottle) shape and definition.

Remember that the bottle ain't going anywhere, so you can use slow shutter speeds (I'm assuming a tripod is going to be used) to ensure you get a small enough aperture to get sufficient depth-of-field to pick up all the details on the label. Blurred details on the label would be the ultimate sin.

[Shadowman]

Also, if the particular client already has a website look at what they already have displayed, if not check out a few other online catalogues. What were the specific instructions or desires when you were given this assignment? Did you ask any follow up questions and if so what were the questions and answers?