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Building a shot such as this, pouring "champagne" into a glass, is simply a matter of building your lighting components to achieve a desired effect. Each light is adds a certain element to the shot. The sum of all these elements is your final lighting solution.
(Click on any image below for an enlarged view.) |
Topics Covered:
- Prepping the set
- Setting the lights
- Experimenting with light positions
Equipment Used:
 Figure 1 |
We poured the contents of a bottle of sparkling cider into a pitcher. Then we cut the bottom from the empty cider bottle. |
 Figure 2 |
The bottle was secured to a LiteDisc Holder on a LiteStand using gaffers tape. |
 Figure 3 |
The champagne flute was secured to the tabletop with funtac, a clay-like semi-adhesive used by many product photographers. |
 Figure 4 |
The image area was framed up. We made any adjustments to the position of the bottle before we began shooting. |
 Figure 5 |
For our main light, we set up a Starlite in a Small HalfDome overhead on a Boom and Boomstand.
This setup allows for stability and easy adjustment of the light. |
 Figure 6 |
A Small Starlite Digital Kit was set to the left as a second light source to highlight the glass and shadow side of the bottleneck. |
 Figure 7 |
Louvers* were placed on the front of the second light to prevent light from spilling onto the background.
*NOTE: Louvers are no longer sold by Photoflex, although our Grids provide a more controllable alternative with similar results.
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 Figure 8 |
An extra-small SilverDome and Starlite was set on a background stand (LiteStand 2200) to light the lower half of the background.
We made a partial scrim out of some thin black fabric in order to really define how the light would hit the background. |
 Figure 9 |
Our first shot shows a good exposure level, however the shutter speed was too slow. We wanted to freeze the motion of the pour.
Notice the nice gradient on the background we were able to achieve using the partial scrim. |
 Figure 10 |
The shutter speed was increased to freeze the pour into the flute. The aperture was opened to retain the same exposure level. |
 Figure 11 |
To brighten the pouring liquid and the lip of the bottle, we added a "kicker" light. We fashioned a snoot of tin foil to narrow the light output to fall only on the "pour" area. |
 Figure 12 |
This shows the "kicker" light's position in relation to the set. |
 Figure 13 |
By adding this "kicker" light, you can brighten your pour and add a bright highlight to the lip of the bottle. Notice how this light helps to draw your attention to the pour |
 Figure 14 |
To experiment, we re-directed the background light to fall higher on the background. The new gradation's direction is opposite the previous result. |
 Figure 15 |
To further experiment, we removed the background light. The result is a darker background that adds more separation between the background and the foreground objects. |
 Figure 16 |
We decided the low-positioned background light worked best, so we repositioned the light and took our final shots. |
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Click here to view a more detailed version of this lesson, complete with camera set-up information, on Web Photo School. |
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Related Lessons
Following are Web Photo School lessons related to this topic.
Equipment Used:
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