strange brew [C&C] - updated

[fuzzywuzzy]

Suppose I was trying to get a glamour shot of a beer bottle, suitable for a fairly large print.

All shots with bellows-Takumar 100/4.

1) lit from below. I was trying to get the bottle to stand out sufficiently from the black background, did I succeed? Alternatively, what color background would work against a brown bottle?


2) lit by a low winter sun. I like the sparkle in the lower left corner.


3) I was trying to show both sides of the bottle. Does this composition work? If it's worth doing I can always reshoot with a cleaner background.



Thanks in advance for any ideas or criticism, don't hold back

A little back story.

When I was in high school, our circle of friends had many memorable times at a buddy's dad's camp.

Our preferred brand beer came in painted bottles, i.e. no paper label, the logo and everything was on the glass.

Well, a few things have changed in the 20-ish years since we graduated.

They've long since stopped making those unique beer bottles, the brand now comes with typical paper labels.

Someone broke into my buddy's dad's camp one winter, and didn't bother closing the door behind them after they left. An enormous number of porcupines moved in, the place is thoroughly trashed, there are so many droppings it's impossible to clean up.

This fall my buddy started building a new camp. I think an appropriate housewarming gift would be a nice big print of a glamour shot of those iconic (to us anyway) beer bottles.

[Willem]

Of these three i prefer the first one.

How i would do it: lose the flash. The bottle will stand still so you can expose as long as you want. Use not only a black background but also a black underground. Let diffused daylight fall on the bottle but ONLY the bottle. I use two sheets hanging next to each other, almost touching each other so a little stripe of light comes through. Then fill in the dark side of the bottle with some white paper or so.

a result with this method, maybe the dark bottle might need a slightly longer exposure

[fuzzywuzzy]

[Willem]

Come on, nobody else has an idea?

[propellor]

Get more light in.

Put a strip of shiny silver or gold cardboard and place it behind the bottle. Trim the card as you look through the camera to see where it sticks out. The idea is to get a reflection through the bottle to show the beer. If you do it properly you will probably be able to see the bubbles in the beer.

That is the way we shoot Heineken in Holland.

Good luck.

[fuzzywuzzy]

[fuzzywuzzy]

Alright, I've done a few dozen more shots of this accursed bottle. Here's one I like -



I found photographing glass incredibly frustrating, I either had ugly highlights or couldn't see the bottle against a dark background, until I tried the technique explained here -

http://www.lowel.com/edu/lesson_lighting_glass.html
http://forums.popphoto.com/showthread.php?325932-Photographing-glass-objects

Now I realize that I've got hot pixels and sensor dirt to fix. I'm asking if the bottle is sufficiently visible against the background, is the whole thing too dark, are my highlights too bright, etc. etc.

[Himself]

First one in first post, the background is not pure black. Close to it.
Don't lose the flash. What light would you use for that longer exposure? Tungsten from the ceiling? Longer exposure = lots of noise. Getting rid of the noise gives a flat image, no sharpness.
Bring more light. Use diffusers, reflectors. Don't stick the bottle to that black background. Give it some room, let it breath. Half a meter should do it.
Redo the last shot. The background is brownish.
Where is that camp?

[fuzzywuzzy]

[Himself]

Fill up the bottle with something not transparent.
Move the lights to ged rid of the unwanted reflections.
Did I mention patience?