Critique these bottles

Keep in mind this was my first attempt at actually trying to set up a shot. The only lighting I have is a new 430 EX and ambient lights. The main thing I notice is the reflection on the bottle of the flash itself, and the walls around me. The flash was bounced off the ceiling to my right. I know I have a lot to learn, so that's why I'm posting this.

Would a direct flash with a mini soft box over the flash head help?
Would moving further away from the surrounding walls help, or would the reflections still show up?
Would moving the camera further away from the subject help?

Granted, this was in my dining room, which is nowhere near a studio environment.

Both shots were taken with a 50mm f/1.8 lens.


First image exif… 50mm, F/2, 1/30th, ISO-400

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That bad huh..? Yikes.

In my opinion, you need a controlled environment with nothing around that will be illuminated to reflect off the bottles. In other words, you want everything around the set to be totally dark (relative to the exposure settings you are using, that is). You have to control every ray of light.

Shooting this sort of thing in a normal living environment is probably going to cause the sort of problems you noted.

I must add, though, that I have not played with lighting of this sort of thing enough to be able to tell you HOW to light it. I just understand the problems with stray light, etc.

I agree with Skip that you definitely have to control the environment. Photographing reflective glass can be challenging.

Shooting the light through diffusion panels will help eliminate reflections. I use an enclosed box with translucent sides for the object. You can build one or buy one for about $100 depending on the size. The one I use has a zippered front which can be closed around the lense.

With some objects, like a glass globe, there is nowhere to hide from the reflections so it has to become part of the photograph or removed in software.

Take a look at some web sites of glassware vendors and you will get some idea's of how it can look.
Dan

Would this type of shot be an examples of using the technique described in this thread?

Before & After ... Polarizing film + CPL

The ambient coming from camera left in the first pic is getting there, but the environment is (as others have mentioned) getting in the way - too much detail in the reflections. Glass looks best with huge apparent light sources. Think big diffusers, thick, major frosting, and bigtime FEC compensation to punch the 430EX's light through it (and prepare for long recycle times...). No need to break the bank - careful ingenuity and the DIY spirit at the camera store or Tap Plastics will get you there.

As others have mentioned in other posts, Light: Science and Magic has the best chapters on lighting glass I've seen. Several, in fact, based on what look you are going for. Highly recommended reading for attempting shots like this.

Hope this helps,
-Atomick

This situation gets a whole chapter in my current favorite photography book: Light: Science and Magic. Basically what you are trying to do is manage reflections from a 360 degree reflective surface. Do a little research on dark field and bright field lighting and you will get a wealth of ideas.

Edit: I guess you beat me to it, atomick

Thanks everyone, and thanks for the link!

This post actually inspired me to try some of the techniques I have read about. I threw this setup together in about ten minutes and didn't really try for anything but getting the lighting about right; thus the red color cast, camera shake, and malalignment were noticed but ignored. Anyway, here is a bottle with light and dark field lighting and the setups used to produce them:

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