Wine: Rioja Gran Riserva

[Mike Buckley]

It has been two months since I have made a photo in Makeshift Studio Galactic Headquarters, so I've been in withdrawal. Making this photo solved that problem!

Rioja is a wine region of Spain that is most famous for its red wine made entirely or primarily of Tempranillo grapes. There are three regulated categories of Rioja other than the common table wine -- crianza, reserva and gran reserva. Crianza is stored the shortest amount of time prior to release. Reserva is stored longer and gran reserva is stored even longer.

This particular Rioja is a gran reserva made of 85% Tempranillo and 15% Graciano. I was thrilled to come upon it because it's difficult to find a gran reserva in America, which is where I live. That's partly because some wineries make a gran reserva only when the quality of the harvest merits making it. It's also partly because the supply of gran reserva is small enough that it so often gets sold out in Europe.

One reason I photographed the bottle is because I have never photographed one enclosed in the brass wire. The wire is iconic of Spanish wine bottles decorated in an old, traditional style but I don't know the origin of using it.

Set Up
The bottle of wine is standing upright on a tabletop (not displayed in the image). The camera is tilted and mounted slightly above the scene hanging from a boom. The background is textured black fabric inlaid with gold metallic flecks. A small continuous-light lamp fitted with a diffusion sock to reduce the brightness of the light is above and to the left of the subject. A flag blocks some of the light on the left to help define the shape of the wine label. A white reflector is on the right side of the bottle to create the reflection above the label. A torn black piece of paper is placed at the bottom of the reflector to add grunge so the style of the reflection complements the style of the wine label.

[Donald]

It's also partly because the supply of gran reserva is small enough that it so often gets sold out in Europe.

Quite a lot of it in Glenfarg!!

There are a couple of folks here in the village who are big into Rioja and we've done several Rioja tasting evenings at our little wine club.

I think your choice of background works very well. Just a plain matt ground would have made the image a bit flat. As it is, the flecks just give it that 'lift'.

[Rob Ekins]

It has been two months since I have made a photo in Makeshift Studio Galactic Headquarters, so I've been in withdrawal.

As have we Mike

My initial reaction to the torn paper reflection before viewing at a larger size and reading the set up notes was a muted...what the!

That little touch makes a lot of sense in the context of the background, well done.


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[Mike Buckley]

Thanks, guys! I'm especially jealous of Donald's easy access to gran reserva.

My initial reaction to the torn paper reflection

That was a last-minute change in my plan that I'm very happy with. I knew not to make a reflection as sophisticated as a gradient because it would have been so much more elegant than the wine label. So, I made a plain reflection and immediately noticed that it stood out because it was the only simple part of the image. I literally tore a piece of black paper from a larger piece and tried various arrangements until I settled on the look in the photo. Never used that technique before but it's definitely one that I'll remember from now on.

[KimC]

This is very pretty Mike; I love the wire on the bottle -- it gives it additional character and dimension. I also like the background with the bit of glitter and the reflection on the top right as it gives some shape to the bottle.

[Mike Buckley]

Thanks, Kim!

You mentioned that the reflection gives shape to the bottle. That was the only reason I added it (though in other cases I might add it also to add just a bit of character). When you photograph your friend's shiny ceramics, keep in mind that sometimes you might want to consider adding a reflection or multiple reflections for the same reasons. Even so, I recommend setting up the shot to include no reflections and then adding them but only if wanted as the last step of the setup.

[KimC]

I did have to think about it Mike as I know typically reflections are avoided. I actually held paper over the reflection to see what it would look like and that's when I realized it created shape.

Thanks for the tip :-) -- was heading down the no reflections road. That shoot was postponed until next week.

Thanks, Kim!

You mentioned that the reflection gives shape to the bottle. That was the only reason I added it (though in other cases I might add it also to add just a bit of character). When you photograph your friend's shiny ceramics, keep in mind that sometimes you might want to consider adding a reflection or multiple reflections for the same reasons. Even so, I recommend setting up the shot to include no reflections and then adding them but only if wanted as the last step of the setup.

[bnnrcn]

Very nice Mike

[Shadowman]

Although the wire is clearly visible it gives a cracked bottle look which makes me want to pour the wine quickly before its lost. Nicely captured.

[Mike Buckley]

Thank you to Binnur and John!

Although the wire is clearly visible it gives a cracked bottle look which makes me want to pour the wine quickly before its lost.

My guess is that anyone used to seeing the wire immediately recognizes it for what it is and that people who are not used to seeing it (relatively few bottles of wine have it) can understandably be taken aback. Even in the latter situation, I require far less motivation to justify quickly pouring the wine into my glass.