Wine: Shiraz in a Frame

[Mike Buckley]

Good friends brought the bottle on the left of the 2013 vintage as a gift when they came to dinner. I didn't know the brand, Blue Eyed Boy, so I only expressed a typical "thank you." A few days later I realized that the brand comes from the Molly Dooker winery, a highly regarded Australian winery. So I thanked them profusely, made a photo of it (not the one shown below), and invited them and mutual friends for dinner to drink it. Considering that there would be six of us, I bought more. I was only able to get the 2014 vintage, so I bought two bottles of it to make sure we had at least two from the same vintage. The dinner will take place soon, so I had to make the new photo shown below before we drink the wine.

Setup
The background is black foam core. The tabletop is black and grey fabric. The top of the black picture frame is leaning against a boom beyond the image area. A medium continuous-light lamp is above and to the right of the scene's center. A white reflector on the left side creates the reflections on that side of the bottles.

Even though the scene including the wine labels, foil and screw caps is almost entirely black-and-white, the image was desaturated to eliminate all "color." This is a rare situation when converting using a color filter would have been unhelpful.

[Rita]

I like this image. I like that it is not rigidly put together in that the labels are at different positions. One thing I am curious about is that the top of the bottles the are all a different shade, is this my monitor, a result of the lighting or....? I would think that 2 would be the same with the other being different.

[Mike Buckley]

Thanks, Rita!

The tops of the bottles are different distances and angles from the light source, which is fairly close to all of them. That variation produces the different tonalities. You might then wonder why differences in the labels are less pronounced. The explanation is that the tops of the bottles are made of foil, which produces more of a direct reflection, whereas the labels are made of paper that has no coating, which produces more of a diffuse reflection. The materials that produce more of a direct reflection than a diffuse reflection will vary in tonality more with each change in the relationship between the light source, the subject and the viewer/camera.

[Shadowman]

Nicely framed.

[Donald]

Never heard of it, Mike. Enjoy it when you do open. And it's a good image.

[Stagecoach]

Very effective Mike.

[TonyW]

That's a nice picture and I like the way we get to see the whole of the label.

I hadn't heard of the Mollydooker winery ( it's a little more expensive than our usual tipple), but it seems to get a good rating. Let us know how it flows.

[Mike Buckley]

Thank you, everyone!

[Rita]

Thanks for the explanation Mike. Helps in my learning.

[bnnrcn]

Great image Mike, I love the composition Going for B&W was also a great idea

P.S. Do you remember I wasn't looking at your images at all when I first joined CinC , because I didn't like seeing bottles and glass? And now I'm addicted to them

[Sunray]

Hello Mike,

this is a fine picture. Reflections and tones of labels and tops look pleasant and very natural. Thanks for sharing your setup.
Robert

[Wavelength]

Excellent shot

[Mike Buckley]

Thank you, everyone!

Do you remember I wasn't looking at your images at all when I first joined CinC , because I didn't like seeing bottles and glass?

No, I don't remember that. Sorry to have dragged your otherwise good taste down into my gutter.