Scottish Gin -- Take Four

[Mike Buckley]

This is my fourth and probably last version of the gin bottle, this time using a black acrylic tabletop and making an adjustment to the gradient reflection. This gradient is fine for me, but it's not what I expected and proves that I'm not yet in total control of how I get the gradient to look exactly as I plan for it to look.

[Paniaa]

Are you going to do more wine bottles Mike? This pic is great - what were you expecting/aiming for?

[deetheturk]

Another fine image Mike,well captured!

[Mike Buckley]

Thank you, Pania and David!

Paniaa,

I would give the same response to you asking if I'm going to photograph more wine bottles as someone asking if I'm going to continue breathing air.

I expected the gradient to be consistent from top to bottom and it's not. I want to eventually be in command of the factors that make the gradient consistent or inconsistent, depending on the look I want to achieve.

[Loose Canon]

I expected the gradient to be consistent from top to bottom and it's not.

So any idea what's causing this?

[Mike Buckley]

So any idea what's causing this?

Not a clue. Do you?

My immediate problem when it comes to understanding the physics of light at play in this scenario is that I don't understand what causes the gradient to go from the top to the bottom or not. When I raise the strip soft box so the bottom is at the level of the tabletop, the gradient doesn't go to the bottom. When I lower the soft box so half of it is above the tabletop and half is below, the gradient goes all the way to the bottom. Considering that I'm using an opaque tabletop, I'm surprised about that.

Lots of experimenting and careful record-keeping to do to sort this out! It's a good thing I have added a pencil holder, not just a cup holder, to my stand.

[Brownbear]

Simply stunning.

[TonyW]

This is certainly stunning. As with most of your images, I try to work out, mostly without much success, how the lighting is done. In this case there is one thing that really puzzles me. The light strip down the left side of the bottle stops short about a fifth of the way up. Its reflection does not match. I can't work that out.

Also, on take four - I am reminded of the short movie "Dinner for One". But this bottle is straighter than the previous one.

[Mike Buckley]

Thank you to Tony and Christina.

Its reflection does not match. I can't work that out.

I gave up long ago trying to understand reflections. They often make no sense to me and this situation is a great example.

[Mike Buckley]

After taking 35 test shots and making careful notes about the changes to the setup, I learned the causes of the inconsistent gradient on the bottle (as opposed to the reflection in the tabletop of that gradient).

The reflection did not go to the bottom of the bottle for two reasons: The bottle needs to be no more than 5 inches away from the diffusion material lit as a gradient and the height of the strip soft box lighting the gradient needs to be about half above and half below the tabletop. That's regardless of the height of the bottle, as the reflection always goes all the way to the top at least with the two bottles I used in the test.

I don't understand the angles of light (because I don't understand the angles of anything) enough to know why those two factors are so important but testing produced consistently controllable, empirical results. Interestingly and also impossible for me to understand, the results are the same whether using an opaque or transparent tabletop.

I was not able to reproduce the variation in density in the reflection displayed in the above photo but I do think I know the cause: The diffusion material is not stretched tightly enough on the frame. (I didn't know that is important when I built the frame and attached the diffusion material to it.)

I am certain that stretching the diffusion material tightly solves the issue of the slight, upward curve that occurs in the reflection. That's because manually holding the material as taught as possible eliminated all but a very slight part of that curve.

I'm going to have to figure out a way to permanently stretch the material so it is completely flat from edge to edge and corner to corner of the frame. I won't be surprised to learn that the guy who built the custom stand for me will have to get involved.

[FootLoose]

Fascinating, Mike. I admire your persistence in figuring this problem out.

Re the photo: have you considered attempting this shot with the reflection falling away to the right (or left) foreground rather than directly in front of it?

[Mike Buckley]

Thanks, Greg.

Whether you're referring to the reflection in the tabletop or the gradient reflection in the subject, nothing is coming to mind about how to make it fall to the left or right of the subject. Please run that by me again.

[FootLoose]

I was thinking of the reflection on the table top... not that I have any idea of how you would go about it...

[Mike Buckley]

The only way to affect the light to get the reflection to be to the left or right of the subject is to use a reflective tabletop that is not flat, such as using a reflective source used in a House of Mirrors that distorts the reflection.

Alternatively, you could use a tool or a combination of tools in a pixel editor to move the reflection in a way that either emulates using a curved tabletop or simulates defying the physics of light.

If that's what you meant, I haven't thought of doing either of those two things.