Wine & Popcorn

[Mike Buckley]

It is a very rare occasion that I buy a bottle of wine only because I want to photograph it, but this is one of those times. When I saw it in the store a couple weeks ago, it took about two seconds to imagine how to photograph it.

I read ages ago that Chardonnay and popcorn are an ideal pairing. Though that made sense at the time, I never tried it until today. I, my wife and our friends really enjoyed it! Ironically, we drank a different Chardonnay and still haven't opened the wine displayed in the photo.

I used my new photography toy for the first time explained in this thread to capture the popcorn in midair.

Setup
First capture for everything except the popcorn in midair: The background is gold presentation board and the tabletop is a floor tile. A small continuous-light lamp high above on the right side is fitted with a flag made of matte black aluminum foil to shape the light falling on the background. A white reflector on the left side adds the reflection to that side of the bottle and brightens that side of the foil and label just enough to add interest and help define the shape of the bottle.

Second capture for the popcorn in midair: Everything from the first capture was removed so the popcorn in the air could be tossed from below in the same area the popcorn was positioned in the first capture. The background is black foam core. A flash unit on the right side fitted with diffusion material to soften the shadows and a white reflector on the left side light the tossed popcorn. When the popcorn was tossed, the cell phone's microphone detected my voice command and the Bluetooth-based app released the DSLR's shutter.

The popcorn captured in midair in the second capture was merged with everything else in the first capture. The dark background made it especially easy to select the popcorn before moving it to the other capture.

[Donald]

Well done, Mike. Where a vision of an image is perfectly executed.

Glad to see that the new 'photography toy' proved to be such a valuable aid to the successful completion of this image.

[Shadowman]

Nicely done.

[Dave A]

Excellent executed shot and fun too.

Dave

[NorthernFocus]

I always imagined that wine enthusiasts would consider such a pairing as barbaric. Whodathunkit?

The image is nicely done.

[Mike Buckley]

Thank you, everyone!

I always imagined that wine enthusiasts would consider such a pairing as barbaric.

The trick is probably to make sure not too much salt is in the popcorn. That's because too much salt (or vinegar) in any food will ruin the taste of wine.

By the way, corn on the cob or a corn salad goes great with wine. I tend to prefer it with red wine as a contrast but it also works with white wine as a similarity. In that context, it's understandable why popcorn also pairs well with wine.

[bnnrcn]

Very nice shot Mike . Nice composition and contrasty colors . Enjoy your new toy

[Wavelength]

Haha.... that is a well done concept!!!

[Mike Buckley]

Thank you also to Binnur and Nandakumar!