Photo Of The Day 01/05/09
Taking a photo every day is supposed to make me a better photographer. Make me learn things. Well today’s photo has helped me learn a lot. I had an idea for a cool back lit photo of my wife’s bottle of Bitch wine. (I don’t know if the wine is any good, we just like the name.) So I set up the bottle on the table with my Nikon SB-24 firing from behind. The flash had my Pringles can snoot to try to focus/control the light a bit. On each side of the bottle I positioned a white card to reflect light back onto the front. After all, when one is photographing Bitch wine, you gotta be able to read the label.
In my mind this is a fabulous photo. In reality, it has a lot going wrong. First, the obvious. I had the bottle on a black reflector that has some obvious wrinkles. The back lighting really helps to show that. Kinda ruins the look. I am also not real pleased with how the flash creates a hot red spot right above the label, although I like the little glow at the bottom. I thought about putting some black tape on the back of the bottle to fix that, but it was late and I had to put my girls to bed. I am also not real happy with the reflections of the white cards. I guess they are not a huge problem, but I am working on perfection. I am just not sure what I would do to fix this. But that is why I am practicing. Give me a few months and I will remake this photo. The other thing is at the bottom of each white card I used a little sticky tack to hold the card still. When you look at the full size image, those green & yellow blobs jump right out at you.
I am sure there is more, but it is late and I need to get some sleep. But I do consider this a very successful night, because of how much I learned. So I will be able to sleep well, knowing I am on my way to being a better photographer. After all, it how much worse can I be?
Camera: Pentax K20 50mm prime lens ISO 200 Aperture f/1.4 Exposure 1/90 with +0.5 exposure compensation (accidentally left on from previous day)
Lighting: Single SB-24 @ 1/64 power, Pringle can snoot from behind with a white card on each side, reflecting light back onto lable and front of bottle
Post processing: Yes, in Lightroom. Upping black levels a bit. Cleaning up some weird sparkles along the curve where the bottle becomes the neck. Plus some sharpening.
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