Wine photographed in a rare style

[Mike Buckley]

Continued thanks to everyone!

Binnur is correct that the lower rim in the photo is the rear rim. I checked the setup and it's still surprisingly difficult to determine even when viewing the scene in three dimensions.

Thanks for explaining the surface tension of the liquid, John. Any time you have some beakers and other glass objects that can no longer be used in your lab, I sure would love to be able to photograph them!

[Brownbear]

Hi Mike,

I didn't have time to comment yesterday, but indeed it is a belter! Another one of my favourites of yours to add to my long list. I absolutely adore all the lines of the highlights.

The one thing I see that I'm curious about is the little speck of green/turquoise blue colour seen at the top of the stem/base of the glass. It's a beautiful complementary colour but it draws my eye so I'm not sure how I feel about it.

[Mike Buckley]

Thanks, Christina! I was aware of the blue tones you mention but they didn't bother me until you mentioned it.

[Mike Buckley]

I started a new thread to display a new photo that addresses thoughts we discussed.

[Brownbear]

If the blue tones bother you now that I've mentioned it, I hope that is short lasting. It's different, and I noticed simply because I look at all of the beautiful details in your images which is what makes them extra special. I love colour and that is likely why it draws my eye. This image is gorgeous!

Thanks, Christina! I was aware of the blue tones you mention but they didn't bother me until you mentioned it.

[John 2]

Interesting one Mike. What does confuse me is the clearly horizontal evenly width'd top surface lines of the wine when we know the glass top was photographed at an angle. It's a sort of optical illusion.

No doubting the exquisite quality of this Mike and genuine thanks for the tutorial notes but like Grahame, the optical illusion aspect hits me. I think the problem is in the fact that optically, you can see the rim in two ways - either tilting forward or tilting backwards. If you can make yourself see it as tilting backwards, there isn't a problem for me but the other way around, as Grahame suggests, feels strange.

[Brownbear]

Hi Mike,

Just to say that I downloaded both images and I've decided that this one is my favourite of the two because I adore the optical illusion of the rim, and also because my personal preference is for the deep gold tones of the wine and light on the wine, and I especially the highlights in this one for the way they frame the glass.

Also, I've also decided that the little bits of blue are magical! The last time I viewed the image I missed the blue tones in the base of the glass, so I wondered if they were real. There must be some blue tones in the glass or the wine, or a small hole in the ceiling of your studio letting in some blue sky. Anyhow, 10 gold stars for this image, and 9 gold stars for the other one.

[Mike Buckley]

Thank you, John!

Christina,

If you've been following my thread about my weekly readings of Ansel Adams stuff, you might remember his comments about a portrait he made. People that dislike his portrait do so for essentially the same reasons he likes it. Similarly, you like this image because of the display of the rim and others dislike that aspect of it. Thank goodness we can think independently about such things!

I'm reasonably confident the blue tones are the result of prismatic refraction. When I photograph clear glass that is empty, I almost always make it a monochrome to eliminate the colors created by that refraction. It's especially interesting to me that glass is one of the few subjects that not only reflects color but also creates it.

[Brownbear]

Similarly, you like this image because of the display of the rim and others dislike that aspect of it. Thank goodness we can think independently about such things!


I'm reasonably confident the blue tones are the result of prismatic refraction. When I photograph clear glass that is empty, I almost always make it a monochrome to eliminate the colors created by that refraction. It's especially interesting to me that glass is one of the few subjects that not only reflects color but also creates it.

1. Indeed, but the optical illusion seems truly special whether one prefers it or not. I've never seen this in a glass image before, have you? If you haven't seen it before than this image is extra special, and perhaps it needs to be shared on some optical illusion website.

2. Thank you for the explanation. Makes sense, but why is it that only the colour blue is seen? ie;, red, green, all the colours of a rainbow should also be seen?

[Mike Buckley]

1. Indeed, but the optical illusion seems truly special whether one prefers it or not. I've never seen this in a glass image before, have you?

Yes, I regularly see it. It's not at all special to me.

2. why is it that only the colour blue is seen?

I have no idea. I'm not a physicist. I just now looked up the definition of a prism and apparently prisms don't always produce the entire spectrum of color.

If you saw the entire setup, I'm reasonably confident that you would believe the blue tones are being produced rather than reflected by the glass.