Wine bottle with a unique decoration

[Mike Buckley]

I photographed this wine bottle because of its unique decoration -- the tassle hanging on the neck -- and to preserve the memory of first enjoying the wine at an invitation-only opening of a restaurant owned by a good friend. My wife and I finished the wine a few days later in our home.

Setup
The background is a floor tile. A small continuous-light lamp is above the bottle on the right side fitted with a flag made of black matte aluminum foil to limit the light falling on the background. A white reflector on the left rear side adds the reflection to the glass portion of the bottle. Another white reflector laying nearly flat on the tabletop brightens the lower left area of the label.

[Shadowman]

Nicely done.

[Wavelength]

Excellent; ready for a hoardings

[billtils]

Mike


The first thing that struck me about this was the excellent treatment of the label and adornment. The second, however, was the way that my eye kept returning to the background at the left (as viewed). I can't be specific but there is something not quite right about it (to my eye at any rate).

[bnnrcn]

Hi Mike Nice decoration and label. IMO the reflection on the left is a bit too bright and it competes with the decoration. There is a dark shadow next to the upper right edge of the bottle. It might be a very dark part of the BG. IMO it needs cloning as it looks like a PP artifact and spoils the look of the bottle.

[Mike Buckley]

Thank you, everyone!

Bill: I wonder if the "thing" you can't put your finger on is related more to the reflection (see Binnur's comments) and how it relates to the background on that side more than the background itself.

Binnur: It took me quite awhile to get the reflection this way, which is to my liking; for whatever reason, it doesn't compete with the tassel to my eye. The dark thing you mentioned on the right side is a dark area of the background. It works for me because of the other dark areas in the background. Regarding the possibility of it looking like an artifact, I've noticed that digital photographers knowledgeable of post-processing errors often tend to think of variations in a scene to be artifacts when in reality they aren't. The thinking that an artifact might exist when in fact it doesn't isn't motivation for me to make a change. Even so, I always enjoy learning the results of your eagle eye, so keep those ideas coming!

[billtils]

Mike, no it's not the reflection, but the mottled background. It distracts me - although I can see that others would find that the contrast emphasises the bottle. As so often, just a personal preference and not an absolute.