Wine bathed in gold light

[Mike Buckley]

After making this photo featuring the shadow of a wine glass, I decided to make a photo that displays a wine glass with several shadows. The photo shown below is the result of that thinking.

Please click to display the image in a large size to appreciate the details especially in the dark areas.


Process
I and probably most studio photographers usually set up a scene before setting up its lighting. Because the core of my vision was the composition of the wine glass and its shadows, I took the very unusual approach of mostly setting up the lighting first; the initial tabletop and background were so plain that they served no purpose other than to support the empty glass and to display the three shadows. Once I decided upon the composition of the glass and its shadows, I tried several tabletops before settling on the final one. Now that I knew I could leave the glass in place, I added the wine and was pleasantly surprised to see the roughly horizontal, striped reflections of it in the background. Last, I added the translucent paper in front of the original background to add both color and texture that complemented everything else in the scene.

If I was a good designer, I would have been able to envision the scene before setting everything up. I'm not, so this process, which was most definitely the reverse of my normal process, worked because it allowed the scene to evolve one step at a time.

Setup
The tabletop is gold, highly wrinkled art paper. The background is gold, translucent, textured art paper hanging about 1/2" in front of off-white art board. The art board in the rear reflected the bright light that created the mostly dark tones that define the outline of the transparent wine glass. The art paper hanging in front of it added color and texture to the background.

Two flashlights of the same model set to their lowest power were on the tabletop on the left front and right front area of the subject. They created the shadows on the far right and left, respectively. A third flashlight of a different model was in between the other two flashlights slightly on the right front to create the middle shadow. It was fortunate that the reflections of the three light sources in the wine glass were located where they could be easily eliminated during post-processing; if they had been located where it would have been difficult to remove them, I might have had to move some of the light sources, which would have changed the position of the shadows and, thus, that important part of the composition.

[Bobobird]

I have not been checking up on you lately (time and other issues) and wow! you have upped your game considerably.

Very well done shot imho.

[Shadowman]

Nice capture, has a good dimensional effect.

[madcrow]

Exceptional work, great lighting, shadows and detail.

[Jeff S]

The shadows and stripes of colored light on the background really make this photo something special, IMHO. I've enjoyed looking at it carefully and noticing lots of subtleties, which is usually a sign that the photograph really works. As a viewer, this is a treat.

[Wavelength]

It looks like a still life painting...Please pursue this style.... i really like this

[FootLoose]

Very nice. The background looks like you have applied a texture to it.

[billtils]

Very, very good Mike, enhanced by your narrative of how you created it.

[Mike Buckley]

Thank you, everyone!

The background looks like you have applied a texture to it.

I assume you are referring to a digitally applied texture. My camera was wirelessly tethered to a laptop. When I added the piece of textured material to the background, I turned in my tiny makeshift studio to view the image on my laptop and my immediate reaction was the same as yours.

[NorthernFocus]

The multiple shadow effect is pretty cool, Mike. Interesting concept.

[ccphoto]

I like everything about it except the irregularity of the line between the art paper and the white board. There are too many precise lines in the glass to allow this to work. there also must be to much detail (light) in the base of the stem as I find my eye going there too much.

[terrib]

Love this one, Mike. Very artsy. Very creative.

[bnnrcn]

I feel as if I'm looking at a wine glass which is standing in a cave. For me ,the image is a nice mixture of primitive and modern and I like it a lot . Those shadows look great in the BG (for me ,the wall of the cave)

[Mike Buckley]

Continued thanks to everyone, especially to those who took the time to be so very specific.

[Rita]

Mike, it seems to me that you have managed to incorporate all of the elements of design in this one image. Line, form, shape, colour, pattern, texture, and also a big dose of creativity. All of this makes this a fantastic image.

[Mike Buckley]

Thanks, Rita! Much appreciated, especially because I struggle so with design.

[Donald]

The photo shown below is the result of that thinking.

And it has resulted in a hugely successful outcome. Taking your work with glass and wine in a new and exciting direction.

[Mike Buckley]

Thanks, Donald!

[tbob]

Quite brilliant. Begs to be tried with differing wines and glasses.

Was the wine glass full when you started this? I see opportunities for multiple adjustments in level that could work both photographically as well as from a wine appreciation aspect.

[Mike Buckley]

Thanks, Trevor!

No, the wine glass wasn't full when I began the shoot. I poured the wine into the glass as shown in the photo. When I was done, I poured the wine back into the bottle. I still haven't drunk it.