Wine Corks

[Mike Buckley]

Good friends gave me this board in the shape of a heart. 38 of its 130 holes are currently filled. This photo is the third in a series I have made for them to show the progress of filling the board. Rather than filling it with a cork from every wine I drink, I reserve the board for corks from special wines (special for whatever reason, not just quality) and/or special occasions.

Setup
The corks and heart-shaped board are on a piece of black foam core. I light painted the scene using a flash light fitted with diffusion material to make the shadows softer than they otherwise would have been. This image was the last of 33 captures I made until I got the lighting the way I wanted it. The image was tilted during post-processing because the capture was made to include plenty of spare negative space with that in mind.

[Shadowman]

Nice composition.

[Rita]

Very nice, really like the tilt on this. I wouldn't have thought the wine corks would all be so different. Guess I just never thought about it before.

[terrib]

Mike, I LOVE this image. I like the falloff of light around the edges. The corks are all lit perfectly. I also like the tilt, which gives some interest. And the choice of the "Erotica" cork in it's position made me smile. I'm sure that was intentional. Maybe because I have so many wine corks, it speaks to me. But again, great job!

[Mike Buckley]

Thank you, everyone!

Rita: One of the things that I really like about photography is that it offers us the opportunity so many times to notice details we had never before noticed. Your realization that you had not previously noticed the diversity in wine corks is a great example.

And the choice of the "Erotica" cork in it's position made me smile. I'm sure that was intentional.

You give me far too much credit, Terri. First, the cork doesn't display the term, Erotica (though I would be thrilled if it did!); instead, it displays the term, Eroica, which is the name of Beethoven's Symphony #3. Second, all of the corks are inserted in the holes in the order that my wife and I drank the related wines; I was just dumb lucky that the "Eroica" cork happened to be in that central position. My wife and I have degrees in music and classical music has been a particularly enjoyable part of our lives, so this pure coincidence is especially enjoyable for us.

I like the falloff of light around the edges.

Just in case you're interested in the details (probably not and understandably so), I had the choice of controlling that falloff purely with the light painting and accepting the compromise of hard shadows on the corks. Instead, I added the diffusion material to the flashlight to create the softer shadows. Doing so also spread the light around the heart-shaped board much farther than I preferred. So, my compromise was to control that falloff during post-processing rather than the capture.

[terrib]

You give me far too much credit, Terri. First, the cork doesn't display the term, Erotica (though I would be thrilled if it did!); instead, it displays the term, Eroica, which is the name of Beethoven's Symphony #3.

Now I'm really laughing. Perhaps my misreading of the cork was a result of the wine I'd already had tonight! Wishful thinking!

[Mike Buckley]

I can't imagine an explanation that would work better for me, Terri.

[ST1]

I seem to remember a previous post of this board Mike which had fewer corks and a different composition, possibly an image from above the board to show its shape.
As always with your wine related images I admire your creativity, well created, captured and processed.
Are any of these man made closures as opposed to natural cork?
The reason I ask is one in particular (6th left from the foreground centre cork, to the right of the cork with 2010 on it) seems not to have any natural looking texture, apart from the bright area at its junction with the board.


Best Regards
Peter

[george013]

I did a search for the meaning of Eroica. The Dutch wiki gives a more historical background.
Beethoven wrote this symfony in honor of Napoleon Bonaparte but when he declared himself as an emperor he changed his mind and named it "Sinfonia Eroica, composta per festeggiare il sovvenire di un grand' Uomo" meaning something as"Heroic symfony to remember a great man". Translated from the Dutch off course. The symfony was dedicated to Franz Joseph Maximilian von Lobkowitz. Beethoven seems to be very pragmatical.

Eroica is also a hop used to brew beer.

When I happen to see a bottle I'll buy it to try it. As far I've seen now it's an Amarican wine.

George

[Mike Buckley]

Thank you, Peter! There are at least four closures made of imitation cork including the one you noticed, the closure immediately to the right of it, the closure that is third to the right of the forward, center cork and the closure that is second to the left of the Eroica cork. My other photos of the heart-shaped board are the first one made mostly for documentary purposes and the second one made for more creative purposes.

Good research, George! The information you found is consistent with everything I have known about the naming of the symphony. Though the Eroica wine is made in America's Washington state, it's actually made as a partnership between Chateau St. Michelle and Dr. Loosen, a winemaker famous for his reisling made in Germany.

[Wavelength]

Well done

[Donald]

The Eroica is my 2nd favourite Beethoven symphony , after the 6th (The Pastoral). What was the wine like, Mike?

Clever idea and, as per usual, the image does it justice. Indeed, it's all about the lighting.

[Mike Buckley]

Thanks, Donald!

The Eroica wine is very consistent from year to year. It's a very fruity reisling, so much so that I believe that is the reason many people think of it as being off-dry or even sweet, though I think of it as a dry wine. Definitely a top-quality reisling.

All of this discussion about the Eroica wine made me realize that I've never photographed it despite that I make a point of keeping it in our household. I'll have to correct that oversight soon!