Resources on bottle photography

[Totti]

Hi guys,

Does anyone have any good resources / links to information and tips on bottle image photography?

I am shooting wine bottles, and my current gear includes
- Light Tent
- 2 lamps
- Tripod
- Speedlite for fill

But help regarding better techniques would be great, as dealing with reflections and light bouncing off various parts of the bottle is tricky!

 

[alexanderferdinand]

Very helpful: "Light Science & Magic" by Focal Press. Bought it by amazon.

 

[Trevor]

Very helpful: "Light Science & Magic" by Focal Press. Bought it by amazon.

+1

This is the book to read on lighting

 

[CHR20000]

Im doing my bottles on an Photo-Table with an white half transparent bottom and 2x 100Ws studio flashes, one from the right/back and one under the Table, works well.. The rest is some post process..

Here an example :

Shot with 550d and Tamron 90mm macro

For special refelctions i experimented with 2 or 3 narrow stripe mirrors... (not this picture)

 

[7enderbender]

Very helpful: "Light Science & Magic" by Focal Press. Bought it by amazon.

+1. That book is a requirement.

 

[chauncey]

Take your pick...they're free as well. http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=bottle+product+photography&oq=bottle+product+photography&gs_l=youtube.12...5644.18652.0.23364.26.25.0.1.1.0.86.1732.25.25.0...0.0...1ac.1.LYEl5Ne_1QU

 

[gbchriste]

Several people has already beat me to it but I'll add my huge endorsement for Light Science and Magic. Great resource not just for glassware like crystal or bottles, but pretty much any kind of reflective surface. Discussion on rendering metals is fabulous and I relied on it exclusively to figure out how to do a job for a local artist that wanted 30 or 40 framed and glass-covered art pieces photographed.

 

[David Hull]

Hi guys,

Does anyone have any good resources / links to information and tips on bottle image photography?

I am shooting wine bottles, and my current gear includes
- Light Tent
- 2 lamps
- Tripod
- Speedlite for fill

Several here have recommended the following book:

http://www.amazon.com/Light-Science-Magic-Introduction-Photographic/dp/0240812255/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1364792450&sr=1-1&keywords=light+science+and+magic

As they have said -- this is the first place to start on the science of lighting. Additionaly, Syl Arena's book:

http://www.amazon.com/Lighting-Digital-Photography-Snapshots-Portrait/dp/0321832752/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1364792551&sr=1-1&keywords=syl+arena

Has an entire section dedicated to your exact problem -- lighting a wine bottle (or a whole collection of them). It sounds like you have the right gear. You want to light what the bottle can see with the equivalent of a strip light on the sides of the bottle to define its shape. The light tent should do this perfectly.
Post your bottle shot when you get it, it will be cool to see what you come up with.

Be sure to clean the darn thing first and make sure that there are no other extraneous light sources that the bottle can "see". You want to define the sides and the shape of the bottle with strips of light (which will be the reflection of the sides of your light tent in the glass). It won't look good if the reflection of the kitchen window is there. This is best done in a darkened room so that the sides of your light tent are the only thing your bottle can "see".

No fair emptying the bottle until after you have a proper image .