Critique Wine label with beautiful embossing -- Revised version added

[Mike Buckley]

Almost all of my attention went toward ensuring that the label's gorgeous embossing is clearly displayed in the photo.

EDIT: The revised photo was added mostly to display greater separation between the subject and tabletop, which several people suggested.

Original

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Revised

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Setup: The two black things with small, bright, white things at the left and right edges of the frame are continuous-light lamps.

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[Walter]

I really like this. You captured the embossing quite well. I wouldn’t mind the background being just a tad lighter to let the bottle stand off from it a little more.

 

[drr1531]

You succeeded in bringing out the detail of the embossing. Nice job.

 

[Phil K]

Very very nice and beautiful detail. It would be even better if the bottle can be separated from the background a little bit more.

 

[Mitchell]

I really like this. You captured the embossing quite well. I wouldn’t mind the background being just a tad lighter to let the bottle stand off from it a little more.

Lovely label well photographed.

I agree with Walter, you need just a touch more light on the background for more separation. Also, it looks like the bottle could be rotated 5 degrees to get the lable centered. The foil looks centered in this photo.

 

[Mike Buckley]

Thank you to Walter, Dan, Phil, and Mitch!

I added a revised photo to the first post in the thread that provides a bit more separation between the subject and tabletop. Some people understandably may still prefer more separation, but this characteristic is only a matter of taste. I could easily go with the original or the revised version.

The label is also somewhat brighter in the revised version.

Also, it looks like the bottle could be rotated 5 degrees to get the lable centered. The foil looks centered in this photo.

That's an optical illusion that I noticed when I was photographing the bottle. The problem is that the label and foil are not aligned. Sometimes I can solve this problem by twisting the foil, but this foil wouldn't budge. I compromised a little bit in the revised version by rotating a little to the left. When I rotated it any more than this, the bottle seemed tilted. So, the misalignment between the foil and label still remains but is maybe a little less noticeable.

 

[Butlerkid]

Between the two images, I prefer for second due to the separation between the bottle and the background and the table and more even lighting of the label.

 

[gnagel]

In the setup photograph (which I find helpful that you included), there are two round white spots (hotspots?) on the bottle. I assume that those are reflections from the two continuous lights. If so, did you clone those out when creating the final images?

Thanks,
Glenn

 

[Mike Buckley]

Thank you also to Karen and Glenn!

In the setup photograph (which I find helpful that you included), there are two round white spots (hotspots?) on the bottle. I assume that those are reflections from the two continuous lights. If so, did you clone those out when creating the final images?

Correct on all counts!

When photographing glass lit from the front, I always position the lamps so the reflections of them appear in a place that is easy to clone. Doing so generally requires the lamps to be higher than the subjects. When photographing wine bottles, I also have to look for reflections of the lamps in the foil, which then means positioning the lamps so the reflections in both the foil and wine bottle can easily be cloned (as in this case). When a position doesn't work for both the foil and the bottle, I position the lamps for a separate photo of the foil and move the foil from the second photo to the first photo during post-processing.

 

[Binnur]

Very nice image Mike. I prefer the revised version too as the BG is more visible and suits the patterns on the label nicely.