Wine: Martin Ray label and screw cap

[Mike Buckley]

My wife and I were given a bottle of Martin Ray Pinot Noir made in Calfornia's Russian River Valley. That area is very well known for its Pinot Noir and Pinot Gris. It had been years since I had drunk a Martin Ray Pinot Noir, so it was great to be reminded how enjoyable it is. I like the simple elegance of the label and the detail of the screw cap, so I decided to make close-up images of both of them.

There are two "firsts" for me in photo #1. It's the first time I have photographed a label on the bottle with no wine in the bottle. I did that because the green glass so nicely complements the dark green letters on the label; if I had photographed the bottle with wine in it, there would have been no green tones in the glass. It's also the first time I intentionally left finger prints on a bottle of wine. Considering that the bottle was empty, it seemed natural that the glass would have finger prints. Also, they add just a hint of interest. Look for them in the top left corner of the glass bottle.

EDIT: A second version of the first photo has been added later in the thread along with the explanation of the reason for making it.

Setup - Photo #1
The background is a floor tile. A small continuous-light lamp is high above and on the left. A white reflector on the right adds the reflection to that side of the bottle to add interest, to help define its shape and to brighten that area of the label in shadow. The bottle is standing upright and the camera is tilted.

Setup - Photo #2
The background is dark art paper. A small continuous-light lamp is on the left. A white reflector on the right adds the reflection to that edge of the cap and ensures separation between that area of the subject and the background. It also brightens the right side of the embossed lettering.

[Shadowman]

I often worry about photographing empty bottles, I'll sometimes fill with water and add food coloring; not the best idea when trying to capture the lushness of wines but does work well with whiskies. Nicely captured.

[Rob Ekins]

Mike,
Both great images as usual.

Do you think the CR side of the label could use another light source to bring out the texture that is lost in the fall off of the main CL source?

[bje07]

Nice texture rending, nice framing.

[Mike Buckley]

Thanks, everyone!

Do you think the CR side of the label could use another light source to bring out the texture that is lost in the fall off of the main CL source?

The texture is lost in that area because the reflector on the right side fills the shadows in the paper. That characteristic is a concern of mine because I don't yet have an opinion about whether I like it, dislike it, think it's important or unimportant. Glad to know that you noticed it also!

[Mike Buckley]

After Rob and I discussed the loss of texture in the wine label, I reviewed about 50 of my close-ups of wine labels. Not one of them displays that loss of texture so abruptly or so much. The more I studied my other close-ups, the less and less I liked the loss of texture and the more and more important it became to me. So, I shot the image again to display the texture at least to some degree throughout the entire label. That retake is shown below.

The details aren't exactly the same as in the first version because I had to set up the scene again. (The background had fallen and had knocked the bottle down.) I changed the position of the lamp to be more centered over the subject. That reduced the effect of the reflector on the glass part of the bottle; that reflection can now barely be seen and perhaps only if you're looking for it. The green tones in the glass that complemented the lettering in the first photo are also less present, though the brown tones nicely complement the label's background tones. So, I post-processed the background of the photo to have more brown tones and fewer green tones. I also lost the display of finger prints on the glass, which was a nice touch but certainly not important.