Photographing bottles is a fun challenge for a product photographer. Bottles combine two of the more tricky surfaces that a photographer will encounter. Surfaces that are reflective and surfaces that are rounded. One on their own is challenging enough but when you combine the two it creates an opportunity for creative ingenuity to take over.
When it comes to reflective objects it’s important to find a place to put your lights that won’t create unwanted highlights. Highlights themselves aren’t the enemy. They can create beautiful outlines on an embossed logo. Particularly on vintage wine bottle or other items that have more ornate decorations. In this instance a highlight can bring that detail to life and make it pop. But highlights come in a case by case basis and some need to be entirely eliminated while others don’t. If the object is square with flat sides it can be a simple matter of moving the light sightly to either the right or left. Light reflects at a constant 90 degree angle that never changes. But if your object is a curved surface like a bottle it sees everything in almost every direction. 90 degrees from a curved surface is everything in the room.
Once you understand the basics of lighting a curved reflective surface creativity is your playground. There’s a lot of fun effects that can be done by juxtaposition a few simple elements to tell a story. Maybe it’s the bottle being revealed in a puff of smoke. Or tropical leaves pulling back to reveal the brand of tequila. Product photography doesn’t have to be boring and there are a lot of ways to spice up your advertising to get your customers interested.
