I was lucky enough to have been able to borrow some specialist gin bottles from a friend, to photograph. The first bottle is fairly plain, but with some lovely floral design on the back of the rear label. I stood the bottle on a pane of glass and a red gel, and shone the light up from underneath. Inspired by Menno’s minimalist champagne bottle and flute, I mostly went for pictures of parts of the bottle and labels, as the design of the labels is more exciting than the shape of the bottle!
The lighting from underneath makes the bottom section of the cork glow, and the neck of the bottle in the left hand shot looks like a lighting filament in a bulb. Both of these look better as bigger images – they look rather insipid and uninspiring this small! The detail of the cork and label has come out well, and the red against the pitch black background is striking.
I find the composition of this one pleasing, with a black strip of background to the right, the front label and a section of the bottle in the middle right, and then the detail of the rear label, illuminated red, on the left half. I considered using an aperture size that would have allowed the front and back labels to be in focus, but decided that, as the main focus of the image is on the back label, bringing the front one into focus would be distracting. The colour is not as vibrant as some of the later images, which I would change in a re-shoot.
The pool of red light on the neck of the bottle is striking and provides good contrast to the softer light that illuminates the label. The shoulders of the bottle are not strongly defined against the background, but the focus is on the label so I’m happy with that. I like the eerie glow within the rest of the bottle. The composition is pleasing with the image being split into three sections, although looking at it again I might crop it slightly so that the left edge is against the edge of the label, and the bottom is raised slightly to get rid of the hint of leaf that can be seen.
I find this very striking; the colour is vibrant and the contrast between the bright red/orange and the black is strong.
Again, I find this image striking because of the strong red/orange colour and the contrast between that and the black label. A reflector was used to highlight the label, otherwise it would have been dull against the vibrant red. I purposely made the writing on the bottom of the label slightly out of focus, to focus the attention on the brand name. It is a slightly different angle of looking at it, rather than a standard straight on view, and I find the composition pleasing, with the bulk of the interest in the bottom right hand corner of the image.
This is another image that looks much better bigger! I might use post production to remove the vertical lines down the middle of the bottle. Again, the vibrant red against the black is very striking, and the shape and position of the label provides interesting contrast against the red. The sketches of the plants that are at the bottom of the back label are distorted by the liquid, and resemble aquatic creatures to some extent. I am also pleased with the shapes created by the surface of the liquid, and the sharp contrast between the sides and bottom of the bottle is striking.
With this one, given another attempt, I would like to highlight both of the labels – I only had one light source during this shoot so I would bring another in, and use my gooseneck clamps to hold and direct them as required. I particularly like the way that the plant on the top label is highlighted. The silver ink stands out very well against the black. I am also pleased with the way that that plant is replicated directly below itself on the back label. Again, the surface of the liquid provides some interesting shapes from the design on the label, and the contrast between the colours is striking.
From this shoot I have found that I appreciate the vibrancy of the red and the contrast of that against the black label and background. I took inspiration from Stuart Heir’s Obsession fragrance bottle from earlier research, and looked at the bottle from different angles rather than straight on.
Phoblography with Debra Allen 