Study in Scarlet
May, 2020Views
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Awards
Chatter Award
Curator's Selection
Top Shot Award 21
Winner in Stillness Photo Challenge
Peer Award
Outstanding Creativity
Superb Composition
Top Choice
Absolute Masterpiece
Superior Skill
Magnificent Capture
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Behind The Lens
Location
I took this in Three O Studio in Lexington, KY. I've been at this studio for three years and love it.Time
I took it in the afternoon but with studio lights the time is largely irrelevant.Lighting
Shooting glassware is tricky. IT is going to pick up every bit of stray light it can. You need to shape your light to create the highlight you are looking for. This often involves position, modifier selection and flags. This image used 4 black flags cut from black foam core to shape the highlight the way I wanted.Equipment
Canon 5DM3, Canon 100mm 2.8 macro, tripod, 2 profoto 300 strobes.Inspiration
There is a really nice bistro on the floor underneath my studio and I often go down there for happy hour with my studio partner. The wine bottles stacked as they ready for the night provided the inspiration for the image. I wanted to learn more about gels and create the background with red light to mimic the red wine.Editing
It is a 6 shot focus stack. Each bottle is one separate shot and the glass was 2 shot-- one for the stem and one for the bowl. They were fcus stacked and blended in Photoshop.In my camera bag
5DM3, Tamron 24-70 and 70-200, Sigma 50 art, Canon 16-35 but my favorite lens is my 100mm 2.4 macro.Feedback
Glassware is hard. Shoot it and study the highlights. The highlights make the shot. They must be pleasing to the eyes of course but they cannot effect what =ever you put in the glass. Flags are needed far more often than not. There are a couple of really great books of lighting translucent objects that will help you. But there is no substitute for experience.
