How to Keep Wine Bottles From Reflecting

Pick a wine bottle to photograph. The type of bottle you choose ̵1; clear or tinted glass, empty or full, dark or light-colored ̵1; will determine a host of other factors about your photo shoot, such as optimal choices for backgrounds and lighting arrangements. Understand this going into your shoot and plan accordingly.

Select a background. Solid-colored, uniform backgrounds are easiest to work with for lighting purposes and are commonly used in product photography. Choices include a long strip of set paper arranged to form a smooth surface both behind and underneath the bottle or a piece of thick poster board propped up behind the bottle on a same-colored flat surface. Your goals in photographing the bottle are to keep reflections to a minimum, to ensure that the bottle̵7;s outlines are clear and to create a strong visual contrast between the bottle and the background. Thus, if you are photographing a dark bottle -- such as a black bottle or one filled with red wine ̵1; use a light-colored background, and if you are shooting a pale, opaque bottle, use a dark backdrop. Transparent bottles can be shot against either type of background, depending on the effect you want.

Position your camera. Set up your camera so that the backdrop just fills the field of view. Then position the bottle. Note: The edges of the bottle will look more defined when the bottle is closer to the camera.

Set up your lights. The optimal positions for light sources depend on your choice of background, the bottle shape and the camera position. If you are shooting a clear bottle against a light background, for instance, avoid having light directly hit the sides or front of the bottle. Otherwise, the light could cause unwanted reflections that blur the bottle's outlines. One solution: Set up your lights behind the bottle facing your backdrop; this way, light will reflect off the backdrop, not the bottle. If you are shooting a clear or dark bottle against a dark background, light the sides of the bottle, clearly revealing its shape. In this case, set up a large light directly behind the dark backdrop to avoid unwanted reflections. The light should shine brightly around the edges and top of the backdrop to highlight the outlines of the glass.

Shoot your photo. Use your camera̵7;s reflection meter to determine the optimal exposure setting. Focus it on the area directly behind the bottle if your background is light or on the highlights on the edges of your bottle if your background is dark. You can vary the exposure speed you choose, however, to accommodate the visual effect you want in your photo. If you are shooting against a light background and want to make the background look darker, set your exposure one or two stops down from what the meter indicates. If you want that background to appear lighter, set your exposure up a stop or two more. Also set your exposure up a stop or two more if you are shooting against a dark background and want the edges of your bottle to look brighter.

Process your photo. Any remaining flaws in your photo can be corrected with digital programs, such as Photoshop or GIMP. However, you̵7;ll have less work to do at this stage if you get most of it right when you shoot the picture.