Wine bottle reflections

[ronlamarsh]

I have been experimenting with wine bottle still lifes and was very excited by my first tries only to find upon enlargement that my camera was perfectly portrayed on the front of the bottle! And insult to injury the neighbors house outside the window (my light source) was also quite evident. I took care of the hosue (covered the window with white cloth but my camera still shows up. Anybody out there have a stradegy for coping with this? The wine bottles are the darker green type so any other light in the room reflects off anything in the room and is perfectly morroed in the bottle which kind of spoils it. The only solution I have come up with so far is to use my 5X7 and contact print so it is so small it would take a loupe to really see the mirrored image.

 

[eddie]

A roll of vellum will help. Cut about a 2-3 foot length. Make a large circle, encircling the bottle, with a hole cut for the lens to poke through. If the lens is opposite the label, you should have no reflections.

 

[DWThomas]

You could also shoot through a hole in a piece of black felt or velvet or black foam core that just lets the front of the lens poke through, if the outer extremities of the black baffle don't screw up your lighting. I use that technique to shoot artwork under glass when I photograph winning paintings in a local art show. That might not work if your lens has polished brass or chrome surfaces on the front of the barrel.

DaveT

 

[Gadfly_71]

In addition to the other suggestions, I'd try a couple of other things as well. First, try changing your vantage point. Attacking from a different angle can minimize or eliminate your reflections. You might also try to change your lighting angles if at all possible. Lastly, you might try an old Hollywood trick, a light coating of aerosol hairspray or temporary dulling spray. This can reduce the reflectivity of your bottles by diffusing the light reflected by them.

 

[ronlamarsh]

Thank youu shall try all three

Thanks All I'll give these suggestions a try

 

[David A. Goldfarb]

To avoid the reflection of the camera, move the camera to the right or left and use front or rear shift to recompose, if you're using a view camera.

If you are using window light, flag the camera so it's in the dark relative to the rest of the scene and won't show up so prominently as a reflection.

 

[Mainecoonmaniac]

You can also light the bottle from the back. A lot liqueur and wine ads are shot that way. The most valuable part of this problem is now you'll see those flaw before you snap the shutter. You have to find the problem before finding a solution.

 

[epatsellis]

All good suggestions, I'd also add using a longer focal length lens helps quite a bit as well.

For 4x5 still lifes with any glassware, I lean towards 240-300mm personally.

 

[ronlamarsh]

All good suggestions, I'd also add using a longer focal length lens helps quite a bit as well.

For 4x5 still lifes with any glassware, I lean towards 240-300mm personally.

Am using a 240mm G-Claron on my 5X7 I don't have enough bellows draw for anything longer, but i could switch to my cambo 4X5 and get the camera farther away plus its black all over as opposed to my 5X7 woodie. Thanks again to all who have given suggestions