A sad happening for wine lovers

[Mike Buckley]

As wine lovers all over the world open their cupboards over the holiday season, this is perhaps what they fear most to see. Each wine glass is so big that it would hold about three-fourths of a bottle of wine if it was filled to the top.

Please let me know how you feel about the manual darkening of the background on the top and sides. All other C&C also encouraged.

[Donald]

Mike - If you tell me those are Riedel glasses, I shall weep for you. That's horrible.

It's a very good image and the vignetting works well. I just wish the subject matter wasn't as it is.

[Andrew76]

I really like it Mike! Creative, and executed very well! I personally don't like the vignetting, with such a bright, white backdrop, I think it would look nicer entirely white, but that's my take. Plus, with your darkening, you can start to see the separation between the flat surface the glasses are sitting on, and the upright - which makes it lose that mysterious feel of a seamless background.

Very, very nice shot!

[Mike Buckley]

If those were Riedel glasses, Donald, I wouldn't be posting here because my wife would have killed me for spending so much money on them in the first place. These glasses cost about $10 each and the manufacturer provides a lifetime warranty that allows us to replace broken glasses at a 50% discount from the current manufacturer's suggested retail price.

[Mike Buckley]

Thank you for the detailed comments, Andrew. Very insightful response.

I actually wasn't trying to produce the exact style of image that you describe, especially in that I wasn't trying to have a totally seamless image with no definition of the tabletop. I intentionally left just a tad bit of horizon in the image. Interestingly, I also wasn't going for a "mysterious" look that you mentioned, so I wonder if others think it has that kind of look.

Thanks again!

[Andrew76]

Well, I think it's great regardless. Very nice job.

[AB26]

Now they are wine glasses - they can still hold 3/4 of a bottle, as long as it is held in your hand.

Agreed with the above. I is pleasing to the eye. I would however have liked to see more of the reflection.

[Mike Buckley]

they can still hold 3/4 of a bottle

I never thought of that! All is not lost!

[Dave Humphries]

Hi Mike,

It works for me - and the corner darkening looks quite natural as it isn't too equally balanced.

Good shot,

[Donald]

As the result of this sad news, I felt compelled to spend the evening working my way through the best part of an inexpensive bottle of Cotes du Rhone to quell my shared sense of loss. The picture now looks even better!!

[Mike Buckley]

Thanks for the comment about the vignette, Dave. I've actually got a dirty little secret to tell about that now. Most of the vignette was created by the falloff of my light source. I had to lighten a lot of it, not darken it, to get to the current look. I want to find a more powerful continuous light source that will produce an entirely white background when shining the light through the tracing paper and will have to ask experts about that in a separate thread.

Considering that you and Donald are moderators, I don't suppose you could have a private communication with him to let him know that I really don't believe for a nanosecond that he got out the Cotes du Rhone out of a sense of loss. Even though the Scots aren't celebrating Thanksgiving today as we Americans are doing, I'd like to think instead that the photo inspired him to be thankful that his wine glasses are still intact and to celebrate with a bottle of wine. However, please be sure to let him know for me that I absolutely do believe him when he mentions that the quality of the image improves considerably after drinking most of the bottle. Indeed, I look forward to begin testing that hypothesis momentarily.

[Sergio M.]

Beautifully clear and crisp image, Mike. Admirable work. You are certainly becoming very adept at this type of photography.

Unlike our esteemed Donald, I did not break out the wine or other spirits due to a sense of loss. As long as I'm awake and can walk, that's reason enough to consume.

[Mike Buckley]

As long as I'm awake and can walk, that's reason enough to consume.

Unlike you, the ability to walk would not be a criterion for me.

[Mike Buckley]

It has been over three hours since my post to Dave and indirectly to Donald (even if it has been just barely so). During that time I have consumed a Thanksgiving dinner, spent some casual time afterward, and have drunk slightly more than half of a bottle of wine. I can now confirm Donald's thesis that, thanks to the influence of the wine, the image has certainly improved. Apparently he and I have stumbled upon something: photography, like wine, improves with age, so long as other influences abound.

[Sergio M.]

unlike you, the ability to walk would not be a criterion for me.

lmao

[Sahil]

Lovely.

[Shadowman]

You had me at "wine lovers" and then to see such a sad yet beautiful image. Nice one.

[wtlwdwgn]

The only thing worse would be if the glasses had held the wine! Nicely done image.

[Mike Buckley]

The only thing worse would be if the glasses had held the wine!

That reminds me of a true story. My wife and I had been eating on the deck when she returned to the kitchen with stuff in both hands, including a glass of wine in her right hand. She somehow slipped and went sprawling face-down on the floor. It was the kind of incident that nobody would have been surprised if she had broken a bone. She and the glass of wine were just fine, with not a single drop of wine spilled.