Experimenting with light and my cherished whiskey/bourbons

I love how these bottles can just be so easy to shoot and use for photo experimentation, they are just beautiful and full of goodness :P :P :P So I played around a little, tell me what you think.

I'm sure they go down like butter.

I like the concept but I think both of these pictures are over exposed and OOF.

saea501 wrote in post #17893489
I'm sure they go down like butter.

I like the concept but I think both of these pictures are over exposed and OOF.

I tried messing with the exposure but it would mess with the picture itself, I think I might try candles next time... rather than my off camera flash.

FreeSoul1987 wrote in post #17894493
I tried messing with the exposure but it would mess with the picture itself, I think I might try candles next time... rather than my off camera flash.

"I tried messing with the exposure but it would mess with the picture itself"............uh.​..gee, really?

I'm not sure what you mean by 'messing with the exposure'....I'm guessing you changed shutter speed and aperture. You don't need to try candles, you need to turn the power down on your flash.

I turned it all the way down, believe me I am not an idiot when it comes to this, I messed with everything and that is the best outcome of it. In that last reply, I was talking about messing with the exposure in post-processing, dialing it down without screwing up the photo. The area I was using is a bookshelf so it was a really tight spot, and no other other light source really.

You may not be an expletive deleted, but you aren't explaining yourself very well. Its certainly possible to use a flash to get that effect. What flash power and iso were you using?

gonzogolf wrote in post #17895965
You may not be an expletive deleted, but you aren't explaining yourself very well. Its certainly possible to use a flash to get that effect. What flash power and iso were you using?

I used my 430EX II flash, it was on the ETTL. My camera ISO was set to auto (I've found this to make things easier when in manual, to have the ISO on auto) and it set it to 3200 which could've been a big part as it was going off the amount of light before flash (which was very dim). I still plan to use candles as I think set a candle behind each will make for a really nice, intimate shot but I might try this shot again like this but instead of having my iso on auto I'll go through each iso setting and see which one comes out best.

FreeSoul1987 wrote in post #17896039
I used my 430EX II flash, it was on the ETTL. My camera ISO was set to auto (I've found this to make things easier when in manual, to have the ISO on auto) and it set it to 3200 which could've been a big part as it was going off the amount of light before flash (which was very dim). I still plan to use candles as I think set a candle behind each will make for a really nice, intimate shot but I might try this shot again like this but instead of having my iso on auto I'll go through each iso setting and see which one comes out best.

Never use auto iso and flash. You cant control the balance between ambient and flash if you have no idea which iso the camera selects.

FreeSoul1987 wrote in post #17896039
I used my 430EX II flash, it was on the ETTL. My camera ISO was set to auto (I've found this to make things easier when in manual, to have the ISO on auto) and it set it to 3200 which could've been a big part as it was going off the amount of light before flash (which was very dim). I still plan to use candles as I think set a candle behind each will make for a really nice, intimate shot but I might try this shot again like this but instead of having my iso on auto I'll go through each iso setting and see which one comes out best.

And you don't use ETTL for this. You do it manually.

And no one said you were an idiot.

gonzogolf wrote in post #17896187
Never use auto iso and flash. You cant control the balance between ambient and flash if you have no idea which iso the camera selects.

I'll definitely remember that next time.

I wasn't suggesting anybody said I was, just stating that I had though of everything... except.... for..... the ISO

FreeSoul1987 wrote in post #17900637
I'll definitely remember that next time.

I wasn't suggesting anybody said I was, just stating that I had though of everything... except.... for..... the ISO

Just keep in mind in the future that not all suggestions are hostile, and some people actually do have knowledge that you might not.

gonzogolf wrote in post #17900643
Just keep in mind in the future that not all suggestions are hostile, and some people actually do have knowledge that you might not.

I know that, which is why when it was brought to my attention not to have the iso on auto, I immediately realized that I didn't try everything.
This is one I worked on tonight. I believe the iso was set to either 200 or 400, then I believe it was 1/80 and f22. I also believe (I don't take notes) I had the flash set to normal (on the camera) rather than decreased to the lowest or highest power. And the flash is facing the bottles.

Make a flag, perhaps out of a paper towel and place it behind the center bottle to spread the light a bit. Also you can make a tin foil reflector in front on the left side to redirect a bit of fill toward the black labels.

Two more I found to be the best out of the shoot, I'm beginning to dislike just how tall the Wild Turkey is to the rest. But this is all being shot at home, on a book shelf so first chance I get to take all of these to my husband's shop where I've got a room set up for shooting, I will be doing so, maybe I can get some better shots.

gonzogolf wrote in post #17901232
Make a flag, perhaps out of a paper towel and place it behind the center bottle to spread the light a bit. Also you can make a tin foil reflector in front on the left side to redirect a bit of fill toward the black labels.

I'll definitely keep that one in mind, the wall behind it doesn't reflect the light near as well.