How to shoot wine bottles?

[ST1100]

My friend has a collection of more than a hundred wine bottles, some new, some empty. He has asked me to help him shoot them for documentary and catalogueing purposes.

Problem is, the bottles all have curved glass surfaces. So the reflection of the photographer, tripod, camera, and everything else in the room is in the picture.

Wondering if there's any way to get around this.

Methods i've considered so far:

- Software edit every picture. Possible, but i'd rather not. There're hundreds of them. i'm not too keen on this solution, though it's probably the best one so far.

- Polariser. Won't work. Polarisers only cut one plane of reflection. The bottles have curved surfaces.

- Light tunnel. Too expensive.

Current setup is camera, tripod with remote trigger (ST-E2) and two flashes.

Would welcome anyone with any more ideas. Thanx.

 

[Zerstorer]

Get one of those "light tents" from cathay. The type where you have a circular enclosure with a hole a the side where you can just stick the lens in. It should reduce and reflections from the environment to a minimum and ensure even illumination.

 

[vader]

How about lighting tents??

 

[pcwe68]

If it is too expensive to buy those, improvise one yourself.

 

[ST1100]

He not paying me, so i'm trying not to acquire another white elephant. Anyway, thanx for the responses.

 

[Newman]

Your friend should at least buy the tent. Tell him it's for the best effect.

 

[vince123123]

You can refer to those STill Life photography books on sale or in the library. I've seen many shots of bottles and they dont seem to have much problems.

 

[Pro Image]

My friend has a collection of more than a hundred wine bottles, some new, some empty. He has asked me to help him shoot them for documentary and catalogueing purposes.

Problem is, the bottles all have curved glass surfaces. So the reflection of the photographer, tripod, camera, and everything else in the room is in the picture.

Wondering if there's any way to get around this.

Methods i've considered so far:

- Software edit every picture. Possible, but i'd rather not. There're hundreds of them. i'm not too keen on this solution, though it's probably the best one so far.

- Polariser. Won't work. Polarisers only cut one plane of reflection. The bottles have curved surfaces.

- Light tunnel. Too expensive.

Current setup is camera, tripod with remote trigger (ST-E2) and two flashes.

Would welcome anyone with any more ideas. Thanx.

Get some white styrofoam, black cloth, black cardboard for cutting some of the lights, mid range lens (if you are shooting on 35mm, try a 180mm or longer), midrange light box (not the small ones).

You will not get reflect (which includes the room and blah....) if you set your camera speed faster. You studio lights must be powerful enough too to compensate for the increasing f-stops.

You need a table and once it's setup properly, it's bang away all the hundred plus bottles. Basiclly the setup looks simple but it's not. You need to use lots of cutters (which is your black cardboard). That is the difficult part plus not over expose one side too bright. So you need the white styrofoam as your reflector. Use one light first. Conpensate later with a secondary light if it is necessary. More light, more hassle. You have total control but you need to observe the reflections on the bottle carefully.

Check out some photography books on studio lighting from Bras Basah and Kinokuniya (PageOne)

Try to shoot one setup and see and post it on the net. From there we can rectify if there is the need to.

Peace Man!

 

[TME]

Wah..... so cheem!

 

[amateur_photographer]

Hi Pro Image, i still don't get the idea of how to place the black cardboard. can help with diagram or something?

 

[Pro Image]

Hi Pro Image, i still don't get the idea of how to place the black cardboard. can help with diagram or something?

I cannot really explain even if I draw a diagram. Black cardboards are to eliminate some lights. Let say you have a rectangular light box. When you should any objects which are highly reflective like glass or silverware, you will need a black cardboard to eliminate some light by blocking the light box. Understand now?

Placement of the card will determind the shape of the wine bottle relection. When you light up the whole a wine bottle which is green glass and red liquid, you must light in a way it looks like it has a curve from left to right or right to left. Dark to light. Understand now? If not, please go down to Kinokuniya(PageOne section-photography) you will find basic essential lighting skills.