Thanks for the input! I built the light-box on an impulse buy at Target on Tuesday. So this is my second round. Still playing with light placement and such. I figure I can keep trying.
out of curiosity, what are you using to diffuse the light? In fact, what is your lighting set up in general? bottles, and cars are probably two of the more difficult things to photograph thanks to the reflections... beatable, but tough at times. For the second attempt I personally think you did a great job.
Well, so I remain respectful, I do not mean to hijack that thread or at the very least I am inspired this to share my thoughts. I do not have equipment to take the pictures I would like and I am by no means a professional (I do have a DIY attitude so I would not go to school but learn myself). Since I am a musician before a craft beer drinker, music, art, cinema, and much more can be crossed and understood. I would love to take more photos as I have a knack for good angles and composing photo thoughts. That is why I was inspired by someone on this forum to make beer videos with a flavor of music that I enjoy: There is many great photos on this thread which are truly spell bounding so I really tip my hat and glass to you for sharing your art!
Coincidentally, automotive photography makes about 95% of my paid photography, but now that I've started doing more graphic design for breweries (logos and labels), I've been trying to improve my beer photo skills for when they finally go into production.
Two 60W clip lights diffused thru some white fabric, and then a fairly cool bright LED light wash on the back to give a little pop. The camera is a Nikon D7000, I'm running with the aperture maxed out, and then adjusting the exposure time as necessary. I think that's what giving the slightly overbright look. I probably need to futz my settings a little more. A million years ago in college I got a degree in theatrical lighting, so I'm trying to combine what I remember of that, with a desire to learn photography and my love of beer.
I brought my camera with me to lunch today, the light was crap but still a decent capture. Barrel Aged Old Rasputin XV
I can't compete with any of you, but this is probably my favorite shot from my brief career in the beer world:
I shoot automotive stuff, and some weddings, but my love of good beer and photography certainly overlap at times..... http://www.smugmug.com/gallery/23542766_hxmZc2#!i=973494967&k=Sn65XHN
If i were you, I'd come up on a Thursday and stay the long weekend. HT 99% of the time sells out the day after canning (in your case, Thursday). Just fyi.
Really? That's shitty, I was originally planning on going up on Friday. I guess I'll have to figure something out. The pictures are good and all, but if I can't try any Heady then what the hell am I going there for...
I got a DSLR last month for the holidays. Also got a nice fast prime lens (35 mm f/1.8) for my Nikon D5100. I have always taken photos of all of my reviewed beers, but I have to say the quality went up a billion times. I don't use flash anymore(had to use it with the Nikon S5 I had for 6 years), I have a standing lamp behind me now. I use a moderate aperture so the depth of field isn't reduced to nothing. I don't get artsy, but I do enjoy the results. Then VS Now: I have over 1200 beer pictures on my flickr pro acct. I am trying to refresh a lot of them as I go. There are quite a few varying shot styles and backgrounds because I took them all the way back to when I was still living with my parents and shit. The most recent shots are the best quality. http://www.flickr.com/photos/superspak/
If there was one picture of a brewery I would love to professionally take, and also print to have on my wall it would have to be my absolute favorite brewery: Birrifificio del Ducato!
I'm no photographer or artist of any kind for that matter but I'm passionate about my hobbies and I like to make artsy shots that reflect my passions (beer & fishing). I only have an iPhone so I use the apps to"artify" my shots. Here's some of my beer shots. Not the best but I enjoy it. I studied photography a long time ago maybe I should get back into it. This thread is inspiring me
Took this today and am pretty pleased with how it turned out. Just got it in the mail along with other greatness a couple days ago.
very nice! great post too because it get's to something i think should be addressed. i have a basic understanding of how to use my cameras + things to compensate what i don't know. what i don't have is an abundance of time & energy to devote to beer porn. i have 2 young kids & other responsibilities, so i'm more likely to be hangin' out at "uptight" . . . rather than Upright. i also find we minimize the actual effort put forth giving the average Padawan the impression that they just need to work on their Jedi Knight skills, learning how to use their weapons & "The Force". mostly, what i find is when someone says: "just set the camera up correctly" they've eliminated time from the actual results as if the whole episode was: "less than a minute to get the shot". i realize to the hobbyist this is simply expected so it's par for the course, but to the novice what's missing is; "set the camera up correctly" probably means: i've been here before & know my settings. (prior time spent not mentioned that helps make 1 minute shots more realistic). if i have been here before - i probably have some idea about my "spots", lighting situations, and what settings i might want to go with. (prior time invested making 1 minute shots more likely). or if not 1&2 above, it neglects to mention i spent time attaching my camera to a tripod & adjusting it to my preference, i adjustied multiple settings like exposure comp. +/-, shutter speed, aperture, iso, took multiple test shots & angles etc.etc.etc. if i had time to throw at it, i would have tried to make these look more decent, but that's the thing, time isn't on my side for this particular venture. my quick & dirty,,, imaginary visit to Upright courtesy of AxesandAnchors:
There are some great shots in the thread so far and I am enjoying going through them. I have a few more shots to add from the past week. This one isn't really a beer shot per say but I decided to include it anyway. I was at the beach taking a few pics of the sunset and had a beer while I was doing it. I set the beer on the rock and snapped a quick one with the thought of posting it here.
I love this one. Great soft background and the bottle is lit perfectly. It helps that it is one of my favorite beers.
Brewing Room by bonscope, on Flickr Tasting Room by bonscope, on Flickr Jack's Abby by bonscope, on Flickr
Nothing at all wrong with that pour. The straight down the middle pouring method removes excess CO² resulting in a less-filling, softer tasting beer.
Nice work Ryan. I love the way the label pops off of the black while the highlights shape the glass perfectly on the shot of the tulip. I shot my BT shot in two separate shots and combined them afterword. I used two umbrellas at 2:00 and 10:00 plus a third light over the top to give the touch of lite on the top of the bottle. I then used four umbrellas to wrap light around the label to make sure there was no fall off on the sides. It is normal to spend two hours taking a single picture of a bottle of beer before you drink it right?
You sir could use some soft-boxes, probably would cut your lighting time way down. What kind of flashes/strobes are you using?
For some reason I have a dozen different umbrellas and no soft boxes. They are on my list as well as a couple of strip boxes but for now I am using only shoot throughs. I have a few Nikon flashes as well as several yn560's. I fire them all with alien bees triggers or as optical slaves. My thin budget is usually spread between beer, brewing equipment and camera gear. Lately there has been very little money going to camera gear. Normally I would not have used so many lights for a shot like this but I happen to have them all set up form a shoot earlier in the day so I decided to use them.
Looks good. I like the low angle and the reflection in the marble. One suggestion would be to sett up the bottle and glass next to a light source like a desk lamp or a window to help light the bottle. If you have the light source just out of the frame and in front of the bottle it will highlight the bottle and separate it from the background more.
Jesus, this thread is great. I never have my camera when I need it, so I try and get the best use of my phone camera when possible. Here are some phone caps I thought we're good and/or interesting.
