Wine as bold as an earthquake

[Mike Buckley]

Michael David Winery is located in California about 85 miles from San Francisco. Their line of Earthquake wines are big, bold wines. They are so-named because their first wine marketed under that brand, which was a Zinfandel, was made from grapes grown in a vineyard that was first planted at about the time of San Francisco's great earthquake of 1906.

This wine is made primarily from Petite Sirah blended with just a bit of Cabernet Sauvignon. The term, petite, refers to the size of the grape rather than the style of wine typically made from it. Indeed, a wine made primarily from Petite Sirah is usually very rich and masculine, not the characteristics most people would associate with anything that is petite.

Interestingly, this is only the second wine label I have seen that is designed to appear as if the label has been torn.

Setup
The background is black foam core. A medium continuous-light lamp at the right front lights the scene and a white wall behind the scene. The light being reflected by the wall toward the subject and camera creates the two thin lines of relatively bright reflections that define both edges of the bottle. A reflector on the left side adds a reflection to that side of the bottle to emphasize the spike in seismic data displayed on the label, to add a bit of an edgy look to the image that is consistent with the style of the label, and to help define the shape of the bottle. The camera is tilted.

[marlunn]

But does the earth move for you if you drink it ? techs are as expected excellent and a very striking image is the result.

[Shadowman]

Nicely done.

[bnnrcn]

'Black on black' is a great idea and those white thin reflections on the edges make a great job. The rest is excellent too

[Rita]

Stunning.

[Manfred M]

Another nice bottle shot, Mike.

I like the way you have run a thin rim light right along the edge of the label that nicely separates the dark bottle / label from the black background.

[Wavelength]

Stunning and superb

[Mike Buckley]

Thank you, everyone!

But does the earth move for you if you drink it ?

I haven't drunk it, but I sure do like your own expectation!

[NorthernFocus]

Nicely done, Mike. Very effective in achieving a truly black BG.

[TonyW]

Very nice and that rim light is quite clever.