Lighting for bottles

I was looking into illuminating bottles from below. I came up with this design (via Open Office Draw) which seems to solve the problem....

Before I get stuck into building my magnus opus, has anybody any alternatives that might be easier and cheaper and less labour-intensive? All this is for is illuminating glassware/bottles from below, using my LED bulb mounted into a box onto which the bottle will stand (with a perspex/plexiglass top).

Hi Rhys,

That would seem to work! A small glass side table from Ikea or such, (and you probably own one), can work perfectly too. It's adaptable. Just add a sheet of translucent paper or plastic and a small flash below and you are done. You can trim the light from below or by placing black paper/colored gels before the translucent material.

Asher

Rhys, are you underlighting the bottle for the under lit effect, or just trying to illuminate the contents?

If the latter, a white, bottle-shaped reflector card, placed behind the bottle does a better job. Underlighting causes the glass itself to become illuminated, with interesting effect, but not to illuminate the contents.

Charles L Webster said:

Rhys, are you underlighting the bottle for the under lit effect, or just trying to illuminate the contents?

If the latter, a white, bottle-shaped reflector card, placed behind the bottle does a better job. Underlighting causes the glass itself to become illuminated, with interesting effect, but not to illuminate the contents.

Click to expand...

a stripe-backlight might be fin too, for illuminating the contents.

Charles L Webster said:

Rhys, are you underlighting the bottle for the under lit effect, or just trying to illuminate the contents?

If the latter, a white, bottle-shaped reflector card, placed behind the bottle does a better job. Underlighting causes the glass itself to become illuminated, with interesting effect, but not to illuminate the contents.

Click to expand...

I found that illuminating the bottle from the back worked well enough to differentiate it from the background although too much light fell on the front of the bottle with my initial setup. I'd been using a small flashlight behind and a florescent lamp in front. Now I want to use more power behind. I can't really stick my flash behind without it being visible. You could say that this is a time when radio slaves would be useful. Sadly, I can't really afford to spend money on slaves and I'd rather learn to do it properly in the first place so I'm doing it via trial and error.

For a straight on bottle shot, I'd put a narrow strip light just forward of 90degs off, so the reflection appears as a narrow stripe near the edge of the bottle (to show that it's round), and then use a card reflector behind. It both illuminates the contents and it provides a light-colored background behind the bottle for contrast.

Controlling the reflections so the eye sees a cylinder and yet isn't overwhelmed by the specular reflections is the art of photographing glass objects.

May I recommend "Light -- Science & Magic" Focal Press - ISBN 0240808193, as the best guide to lighting objects in the studio.

Charles L Webster said:

May I recommend "Light -- Science & Magic" Focal Press - ISBN 0240808193, as the best guide to lighting objects in the studio.

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Yeah. Got that one on order. Amazon claims it'll be delivered soon. I have no great expectations of that being the truth based on Amazon's past history with me.

Charles L Webster said:

May I recommend "Light -- Science & Magic" Focal Press - ISBN 0240808193, as the best guide to lighting objects in the studio.

Click to expand...

Hi Charles,

It's a great recommendation. I also got it via Amazon.com, just to see if there was something new to be learned or refreshed. It's a well written summary of the various lighting techniques, and the effect it will have on how subjects are rendered. I also like that the authors don't try to push a certain style, they rather explain that personal preference also plays a part in one's choices.

The principles also apply to outdoor photography, although we're more limited in the amount of control we have.

Bart

keep in mind, if you are just lighting the bottle, you're lighting the reflections and refractions of what the bottle 'sees', not casting diffuse light onto the bottle like you would a cork or some other less refractive/reflective object.

It might help to understand the effect you are looking for. If you know you want it lit from underneath, the device you illustrated could be replicated easily on a conventional shooting table with translucent plexi top.

Here is a lighting effect on a bottle shot of mine from some years back, single diffused source light quartering from left-rear (click if you want it bigger):

Great character lighting and a unique picture which must be in color!

Jack_Flesher said:

.....
Here is a lighting effect on a bottle shot of mine from some years back, single diffused source light quartering from left-rear (click if you want it bigger):

Click to expand...

Jack, of course I'd want it bigger. I really love this picture!



The bottle is lit impressively, but then so is the ? rusty curved structure. What is that BTW? The contamination of the surface of the bottle gives and iridescent almost ?oil slick on a rainy road at night"look, or maybe it's rather more like mother of pearl.

What other lighting did you use? Is that a tree trunk and where did you do this? Was this some abandoned mining town or perhaps you just set it up?

There is a tiny window of light above and to the right of the bottle. That I believe helps make the composition. That one point presents counterclockwise rotation and stabilizes the image. Is there any sub-division or detail in the dark area to the upper right. Not that this is needed.

Is this film and if so what technical details? Thanks for sharing. Well lit!

Asher

I'd also like to point out that this picture does get a very genuinely worthy quality from color. I doubt it would convey the same strength in B&W, however good the tonalities are!