Playing with the nifty fifty, thoughts on processing.

Im really looking to improve my photography so if there is any more feed back then that would be great.
 
a bit more light behind the sol one would have been good so you don't get that line where surface meets wall , or make an infinity curve out of a bit of cardboard sheet
 
Hi Rob,

The colour palette in the second is very good and it all ties together nicely, but the reflections on the glass are letting it down for me I'm afraid. It feels like you could have done with a little more control over the lighting - what was your set up for that one?
In terms of the subject matter, as a technical exercise the focus and exposure both look good but if we're looking at it as an image in its own right it could do with a bit more interest for me rather than just being the top bit of an empty bottle.
Perhaps with beer still in it and some foam bubbling over the neck of the bottle to give it a bit more oomph???

First one works much better for me.
The shadow and hint of an oof table edge in the background give it an extra level of interest.
Tricky colour palette to work with, with all the creams and whites but you've handled that well - and in fact the simplicity is very appealing.

In terms of improvements, I think you could have done with more light on the face of the bottle. See how the 'o' and 'l' are much darker then the 's'?
A simple reflector would have done the trick for you.
I'd also like to see it straightened so that the edge of the bottle is parallel to the edge of the frame.

I can see what you were going for with the processing to add some blur and brighten the bottle, but you need to be careful around the edges with that type of PP. I can see some slight 'haloing' around the LHS where you've blended it. Fiddly to get right, but you'd get a cleaner result by setting up for the effect you wanted rather than adding it in PP after the event.

Glass really isn't an easy thing to photograph though and I think you're definitely on the right track with these.
If you need any tips, there's an excellent tutorial on how to light glass in the tutorial section here - will try to dig it out for you if I get chance later.

p.s. Congratulations on the arrival of your son!!!
 
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big soft moose said:
a bit more light behind the sol one would have been good so you don't get that line where surface meets wall , or make an infinity curve out of a bit of cardboard sheet
Click to expand...

Posted while I was typing ;)
But it's funny how people can look at the same image and see completely different things!!!
Where you saw the surface meeting the wall and wanted to add an infinity curve, I saw a table edge to give the image some context and that was something that quite appealed to me.
Neither is right nor wrong, just interesting how perceptions can be so different.

@Bobby uk - It would be interesting to know what your 'vision' was for this shot and what you were aiming for with the background / wall.
 
my favourite thing to do with bottles (apart from drink out of them) is to put a flame behind them , or try to shoot a portrait reflected in or through one.
 
big soft moose said:
my favourite thing to do with bottles (apart from drink out of them) is to put a flame behind them , or try to shoot a portrait reflected in or through one.
Click to expand...

Now there's an idea for a rainy weekend (or maybe TP Day) !!!
Believe it or not, I've never tried shooting a portrait reflected in a bottle and that idea is really calling out to me.
I'm thinking something a bit more feminine than a beer bottle, but I can think of loads of creative ideas to try with that.
 
it works best with white or clear glass - green and brown are generally a bit too dark (unless its very dark green glass like a champagne bottle , and you've got a light subject , like a bride in a big white dress, then it acts like a black mirror )
 
SarahLee said:
Hi Rob,

The colour palette in the second is very good and it all ties together nicely, but the reflections on the glass are letting it down for me I'm afraid. It feels like you could have done with a little more control over the lighting - what was your set up for that one?
In terms of the subject matter, as a technical exercise the focus and exposure both look good but if we're looking at it as an image in its own right it could do with a bit more interest for me rather than just being the top bit of an empty bottle.
Perhaps with beer still in it and some foam bubbling over the neck of the bottle to give it a bit more oomph???

First one works much better for me.
The shadow and hint of an oof table edge in the background give it an extra level of interest.
Tricky colour palette to work with, with all the creams and whites but you've handled that well - and in fact the simplicity is very appealing.

In terms of improvements, I think you could have done with more light on the face of the bottle. See how the 'o' and 'l' are much darker then the 's'?
A simple reflector would have done the trick for you.
I'd also like to see it straightened so that the edge of the bottle is parallel to the edge of the frame.

I can see what you were going for with the processing to add some blur and brighten the bottle, but you need to be careful around the edges with that type of PP. I can see some slight 'haloing' around the LHS where you've blended it. Fiddly to get right, but you'd get a cleaner result by setting up for the effect you wanted rather than adding it in PP after the event.

Glass really isn't an easy thing to photograph though and I think you're definitely on the right track with these.
If you need any tips, there's an excellent tutorial on how to light glass in the tutorial section here - will try to dig it out for you if I get chance later.

p.s. Congratulations on the arrival of your son!!!
Click to expand...

Thank you so much for spending the time to comment on my efforts.

Its funny as i was reading it I found my self nodding and remembering what was going through my head at the time.
As so often it does with my photography the shot was completely out of the blue. I think i was sitting here reading the threads as i normally do and I had a cheeky beer on the go. As per normal I had soon drunk it so just sat it back on my desk. As it was the evening i had the lamp on and i noticed that the bottle gave a great reflection on the work surface. I grabbed the camera and tried to compose a shot. The first shot was my main target and as you suggested in your post the bottle was lit by a lamp but as not to loose the reflection and to centre the 'SOL' writing.
The main light is more prominent to the 'S' as it was closer to the light. I did try to correct this in pp but I wasn't to happy with the result so left it be. As is the label on the bottle the 'sol' is very prominent to the rest of the label and i wanted to reflect this as a whole in the picture. Not so much to try and make it as a 'selective colour' but more to make the bottle part of the background. As a sense to try and extend the bottles design in to its surroundings. The leading line off the edge of the desk just brings the image back in to reality so as not to loose the point that it is still just a bottle sitting on a table.
Also the image is not actually that far off being vertical and to be honest i liked the sense (in my opinon) of it making it seem as though the bottle is getting bigger as you look up it.
Again you are right about the 'halo' which im guessing is result of not only the pp but that the main light source which is to the left. But other then the technicality's I again liked the 'dreamy' effect that the halo gives it.



Again thanks to you guys for the feed back.
 
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