Critique Champagne for a 70th birthday

[Mike Buckley]

My birthday isn't for nearly another 7 months, but I've got all of the wine to be served that night now that I bought this bottle of bubbly a few days ago. I don't even like Champagne, but I want to start the evening with this particular one. That's because the theme of the dinner party is a supper with Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson felt the best Champagne was not the wine the Benedictine monks in Hautvillers sold to King Louis XVI. Instead, it was the Dorsay Champagne made in Ay (not to be confused with Chateau D'Orsay making rosé today in Provence). It's possible that that vineyard in Ay is now owned by Bollinger, so I bought a Bollinger Champagne with an excellent reputation.

By the way, a big difference between this Champagne and the Champagne the king, Jefferson, and almost everyone in France drank is that this Champagne is sparkling wine, whereas those folks drank the still wine. France's vineyards made the sparkling wine for export to England because that market preferred it to the still wine.

Setup
The background is semi-glossy gold poster board. The tabletop is two fabrics. A small continuous-light lamp was above and a little to the left of the camera. A white reflector on the right added the reflection to that side of the bottle. The negative vignette was added during post-processing.

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[Mike Buckley]

The background is semi-glossy gold poster board. The tabletop is two fabrics. A small continuous-light lamp was above and a little to the left of the camera. A white reflector on the right added the reflection to that side of the bottle.

Notice the two bright, slightly curved lines on both sides of the name, Bollinger, in the foil. If anyone can explain what created those attractive bits of light, I sure would like to know because I'm clueless.

 

[Palouse]

Very well done, Mike. The backstory is fascinating. I'm 3 months away from 70 and have no idea what we'll be drinking.

 

[Mike Buckley]

Thanks, Nick!

I'm 3 months away from 70 and have no idea what we'll be drinking.

Get crackin'!

 

[MiriamJ]

It has a "soft" feel to it, very appropriate for the picture. Great job on the lighting and post-processing. I like the colors in this. Well done!

 

[MiriamJ]

I took a 2nd look and I picked up about 1 degree of rotation. Try using the word Bollinger on the neck for the guideline. (Unless it's deliberate for a more relaxed feeling).

 

[Binnur]

Beautiful image Mike. The negative vignette at the bottom left corner is a bit stronger and distracting . But it can be fixed if you want to.

 

[Palouse]

Beautiful image Mike. The negative vignette at the bottom left corner is a bit stronger and distracting . But it can be fixed if you want to.

Mike is mimicking his 70-year old vision

 

[Palouse]

Thanks, Nick!
Get crackin'!

If my son can make it up we will drink very well, if not we will drink.

 

[Mitchell]

Love it. Though I do not care for champagne.

 

[Palouse]

Notice the two bright, slightly curved lines on both sides of the name, Bollinger, in the foil. If anyone can explain what created those attractive bits of light, I sure would like to know because I'm clueless.

I've been pondering this for a while and the best I could come up with is a rather lame "it's a combination of light spill from above and reflections from either side"

 

[Mike Buckley]

I've been pondering this for a while and the best I could come up with is a rather lame "it's a combination of light spill from above and reflections from either side"

That's better than any explanation I've come up with (which would be easy considering that I haven't come up with an explanation), but there's nothing on the right side that I was aware of that could produce the reflection on the right. My thought was that perhaps one of the glasses was producing the reflection on the left but I have absolutely no idea how the reflection on the right was produced.

 

[Mike Buckley]

Thank you also to Miriam, Binnur and Mitch!

I picked up about 1 degree of rotation.

I think you're right about that but it might also be partly an optical illusion caused by some perspective distortion. I'll check it out carefully before settling on a final version for my archives. Thanks for mentioning it!

The negative vignette at the bottom left corner is a bit stronger and distracting .

For those that are interested, the negative vignette was produced by applying the same numeric values to both bottom corners. Notice that all of the bottom left corner has medium and dark tones, whereas the bottom right corner also includes the brighter tones of the background. As a result, the negative vignette on the left impacts a larger area of medium and dark tones than on the right. I think that leaves an impression that it's stronger on the left, but that's actually not the case.

Regardless, your point that the overall effect is different on the left than on the right is valid regardless of the reason. I'll take another look at that before deciding on a final version, so thank you!

 

[Palouse]

That's better than any explanation I've come up with (which would be easy considering that I haven't come up with an explanation), but there's nothing on the right side that I was aware of that could produce the reflection on the right. My thought was that perhaps one of the glasses was producing the reflection on the left but I have absolutely no idea how the reflection on the right was produced.

Is there a seam in the foil that is catching the light?

 

[Mike Buckley]

Is there a seam in the foil that is catching the light?

BINGO! Notice the crimps in the foil at the top around the cork. There are similar, longer though far fewer crimps in the foil at the bottle's neck that reflected the light. I would have to set up the scene again to know whether those two bright reflections would have occurred if I had used only either one of the two light sources rather than both light sources, but I'm certain that those crimps produced the reflections we're discussing.

Thank you! I don't know about you, but I sure do feel a LOT better now.

 

[Palouse]

BINGO! Notice the crimps in the foil at the top around the cork. There are similar, longer though far fewer crimps in the foil at the bottle's neck that reflected the light. I would have to set up the scene again to know whether those two bright reflections would have occurred if I had used only either one of the two light sources rather than both light sources, but I'm certain that those crimps produced the reflections we're discussing.

Thank you! I don't know about you, but I sure do feel a LOT better now.

Phew, that calls for a drink!

 

[pictureted]

Beautiful photo, particularly for a champagne lover. I love the Bollinger with oysters on the half shell. My favorite for quaffing is the Billecart Salmon Rose. The Egrot Brut is the best current value.

Happy birthday to all you youngsters! Just turning 70!

 

[Mike Buckley]

Phew, that calls for a drink!

I'm way ahead of you, and it's not because my time zone is three hours ahead of you.

 

[Mike Buckley]

I love the Bollinger with oysters on the half shell.

Thomas Jefferson might have preferred a high-end Chardonnay. Regardless, he absolutely loved oysters on the half shell. Once when he was in Amsterdam, he ate 50 oysters in one sitting. Then he ate supper immediately after.

 

[Palouse]

Ted, I'm with you, Billecart Salmon is indeed a special gift from god!
Sorry for being so young, but it's not a problem of my doing