Wine: Albariño

[Mike Buckley]

Due to a combination of circumstances, it has been so long since I had photographed wine or glass, much less both, that I felt as if I was in withdrawal. Fortunately, I was able to get my fix today during a session in my makeshift studio.

It's summertime in my part of the world and there's no better wine for a refreshing respite on a hot, humid day than a bright, acidic wine. If there's a more acidic wine than that made from the Albariño grape species, I've never had it. The Rías Baixas wine region of Spain is the most well known area of the world for making the best Albarino wine, which is where the wine shown below was produced. Considering that Albariño is so acidic, it's generally best paired with acidic food, such as seafood or light, white fish in a tomato sauce. It's strong acidity also stands up exceptionally well to full-flavored curry dishes.

Considering that I think of this style of wine as perfect for summertime (though I drink it all year round whether on its own or paired with food), I chose to make a light, airy photograph that reminds me of a bright, sunny day.

Setup
The rear label was removed from the rear bottle. The tabletop is white foam core covered with a glossy laminate. The background is white foam core with no laminate.

A medium continuous-light lamp on the right front lights the label. The lamp is within the family of angles to display most of the length of the "lute strings" in bright blue tones. (There was so little margin for error due to the curvature of the bottle that I had to position the lamp just perfectly to avoid some of the "strings" from becoming dark from top to bottom.) That lamp is flagged to eliminate its reflection from being displayed immediately above the top right corner of the label. A white reflector on the left side brightens that side of the label.

A flash is handheld above and behind the bottles to very brightly light the background. Doing so bounced enough light off the background to overpower the reflection of the continuous-light lamp that otherwise would have appeared in the left shoulder of the near bottle. The light bouncing off the background also created the shadow in the lower right corner.

The tone of the background and tabletop was changed during post-processing to a pale yellow color that complements the subjects.

[Shadowman]

Interesting capture, the partially visible print makes me feel like I just experienced a night of drinking. The tight crop on the edge doesn't work for me, nor does the visible crease in background or the partially visible blue strip. I think the lighting is a bit too intense for this type of label and background. Nice effort.

[Mike Buckley]

Thanks for taking the time, John, to explain your thinking in such detail. Everything about the image works for me, probably because the characteristics are so close to how I envisioned them in advance of doing the setup.

[terrib]

Since everything about the image works for you, then this is a quite successful image since that's what matters.

I like the composition and the soft transition from bottles to background. The only thing I don't like is that for me, it gets too bright where the strings meet with Albarino. I'd probably be squinting out in a "bright sunny day" too but it doesn't make me comfortable.

[LePetomane]

Mike, Thanks for the picture and details. Albarino is one of my favorite white wines.

[Mike Buckley]

Thank you to Terri and Paul!

it gets too bright where the strings meet with Albarino.

Ouch! That hurt!

Seriuosly, I'm always interested in seeing different reactions to the same photo or, as in this case, the same small detail of a photo. You can't imagine how hard I worked to position the light to display the effect as is exactly where the strings meet the word, Albarino.

[Wavelength]

Classic

[Donald]

... I chose to make a light, airy photograph that reminds me of a bright, sunny day.

Just exactly how a wine such as this should be photographed.

Match the wine with the food. Match the lighting with the wine. Perfect.

[terrib]

Thank you to Terri and Paul!



Ouch! That hurt!

Seriuosly, I'm always interested in seeing different reactions to the same photo or, as in this case, the same small detail of a photo. You can't imagine how hard I worked to position the light to display the effect as is exactly where the strings meet the word, Albarino.

So sorry! OK. I turned down the brightness on my monitor and now it's perfect.

[Mike Buckley]

Thank you to Nandakumar and Donald!

I turned down the brightness on my monitor and now it's perfect.

Similarly, I get rid of dust bunnies in photos by cleaning my monitor. It always works like a charm.

[bnnrcn]

Hi Mike, IMO you reached your goal . This shot certainly conveys the cold and refreshing feeling of acidic white wine in a hot summer day

Thank you to Nandakumar and Donald!



Similarly, I get rid of dust bunnies in photos by cleaning my monitor. It always works like a charm.