After my series of Easter Egg Photos, earlier this week, I decided to clear out my ‘collection’ of wine bottles. I keep them, to remind me which wines I liked. Some are quality, some are just a good value (consumable on the cheap).

Combining my desire to clear out a corner of my kitchen, and learn a little more about lighting, reflection and studio product photography, I put together this little experiment.

I quickly learned that shooting objects with high reflectivity, such as glass, is much more difficult to manage than other images. You’ll notice the lighting umbrellas, the wall colors, even a few have reflections of myself in the wine glass.

Some have a large bright reflection on the bottom of the glass. It turns out the white floor in the shop really reflects light well, and shows up on the glass. Putting down an extra black backdrop on the floor took care of that. But the sides and background beyond the camera remained an issue. I have white and yellow curtains there. I guess I need to get black for that as well. Just another set of lessons learned.

The photos are also uploaded to my Flickr account with additional comments on each wine. I’ll copy those comments, and add more info later. For how, I’ll just provide the pics.

McWilliams Cabernet Sauvignon 2007

Wine 2

Wine 3

Wine 4

Wine 6

Wine 7

Wine 8

Wine 9

Wine 10

Wine 11

Wine 12

Wine 13

As you can see in the photos, having a totally solid color, or black studio would produce a better image. That and adjusting the camera to a deeper field of focus. But, this why I’m doing this. To learn those lessons, hone my craft, and have a little fun at the same time.