Wine: Meursault (my favorite chardonnay) Take 3

[Mike Buckley]

Thanks to a comment by Kaye about adding a wine glass to the scene, I got the idea for making this photo as a follow-up to the first and second scenes displaying Meursault.

This scene displays the three types of chardonnays I currently own made in Meursault -- two by Domaine Vincent Girardin and one by Maison Louis Latour. Perhaps an appropriate caption for the image would be "Which one to open?" Many of us following the thread would respond, "All of them."

EDIT: I added a sepia version later in the thread.

Setup
The background and tabletop are a painter's drop cloth. A medium continuous-light lamp fitted with diffusion material is positioned above on the front left but not directed downward. A small continuous-light lamp on the left front mostly brightens the corkskrew and diminishes its shadows created by the larger lamp. The small lamp is heavily flagged to prevent adding light to the top part of the far left label, which would have created a direct reflection that would have made it difficult to read "Les Vieilles Vignes." The reflections that appear on the wine bottles are of the tabletop and background material, not separate reflectors.

[bnnrcn]

Hi Mike The composition looks energetic with different colors and different elements and I like it very much. IMO the wine glass adds to the composition but I would prefer a plainer and rounder wine glass in order to see the creases of the cloth through the glass without getting distracted.

[Mike Buckley]

Thanks, Binnur! I tried a plain wine glass with no cut edges and it got lost in the scene because it was so easy to "look through."

[Donald]

Oh dear. Now I need 3 straws (see here) ... as you can't drink two different wines from the same straw.

The cloth now has nice rounded folds and curves. Love this one.

[Mike Buckley]

you can't drink two different wines from the same straw.

I always figured you to be a wine snob and that confirms it.

[tbob]

Not my genre, so it is a bit cheeky to even venture an opinion. However I was wondering if the cloth could be draped so the folds do not lead up and out of the image? Or have the sharp fold on the right cut off the other folds and provide a block to the eye leaving?

[Shadowman]

Nice composition.

[Mike Buckley]

Thank you to Trevor and John!

However I was wondering if the cloth could be draped so the folds do not lead up and out of the image?

I thought I was only making a photo of wine but I apparently made a photo of a Rorschach test. Gotta love it! To my eye, those folds lead down and toward the subjects with the one exception of the one in the bottom left area that simply adds balance to that side of the background.

Does anyone have any idea how to compose the folds to ensure that they mean the same thing to most everyone?

[tbob]

Thank you to Trevor and John!



I thought I was only making a photo of wine but I apparently made a photo of a Rorschach test. Gotta love it! To my eye, those folds lead down and toward the subjects with the one exception of the one in the bottom left area that simply adds balance to that side of the background.

Does anyone have any idea how to compose the folds to ensure that they mean the same thing to most everyone?

This is interesting. May be a reflection of the glass half full/half empty quandary. Not a major problem with the image, I may reading too much significance into the leading line theory of composition.

[Donald]

To my eye, those folds lead down and toward the subjects with the one exception of the one in the bottom left area that simply adds balance to that side of the background.

Does anyone have any idea how to compose the folds to ensure that they mean the same thing to most everyone?

It's all totally dependent on how much wine you've drunk at the time you're viewing the image!

[Mike Buckley]

It's all totally dependent on how much wine you've drunk at the time you're viewing the image!

I can accept that. However, is it my perception or Trevor's perception that indicates who has been drinking the most amount of wine. I'm hoping to win that contest.

[Mike Buckley]

Hmmmmmmmm. I generally think of making photos of wine in color because I like the various colors of the liquid, the labels and the glass bottles. Purely on a whim, I decided to try making this photo in monochrome and I like it better than the color version. I'm gonna have to start thinking in monochrome more often as a possible style of presenting wine.

[Donald]

... and I like it better than the color version.

It's going to be interesting to see the responses to this.

[tbob]

I can accept that. However, is it my perception or Trevor's perception that indicates who has been drinking the most amount of wine. I'm hoping to win that contest.

You win hands down. I am a dedicated beer drinker. Giving me fine wine would be casting pearls to swine. Besides; drinking wine in pint glasses seems to be frowned upon by wine aficionados. Plus it makes for a short evening out.

Would be interesting to see the monochrome as full on, without the sepia toning. The jury is still out for me.

[Mike Buckley]

drinking wine in pint glasses seems to be frowned upon by wine aficionados.

Lots of things are frowned upon by wine aficionados. I seem to be a rather rare exception to all of that; if you did want to drink wine in a pint glass, I would encourage you to go for it.

I don't drink beer because I don't like it. You don't drink wine because you don't like it. Not a thing wrong with that. I'd be happy to sit with you at the table, you with your beer and me with my wine.

[Donald]

I've been trying to think how to describe my thoughts about the B & W version after having been focused on the colour version. The best I can get to is: - If I was looking for a marketing/promotion image for the wine of Meursault, I'd pick the colour. If I was looking for a fine art print to put on my wall, then it would definitely be the B & W.

[Mike Buckley]

Exactly my thoughts, Donald. That explains why I added only the monochrome version to my website.

[bnnrcn]

I think the sepia toning created a plainer and more enjoyable image Mike. The colors, the creases and the glass with cut edges created a busier composition in the color version but the sepia toning solved the problem. I wouldn't need a plainer and rounder wine glass for the sepia version . The image look classy now

[mknittle]

I too like the b&w version better. I find it more pleasant on the eyes.

[Kaye Leggett]

Oh dear. Now I need 3 straws (see here) ... as you can't drink two different wines from the same straw.

Donald you promised you'd get your best glasses out for the Mersault !!!
So as we also shouldn't put different wines in the same glass, do we need three glasses ?

Very much like the B&W version - Binnur's synopsis is bang on