There are lots of different ways of doing everything, no real rights or wrongs...
That video shows a very good workmanlike approach, it wouldn't be my own approach TBH but that doesn't make it wrong - the only part of it that I thought completely pointless was the addition of the "scrim" - which isn't a scrim, it's a silk, because it simply isn't needed, what was actually needed was simply to move the sofbox closer.
It could however have been done in a much smaller space and with less equipment, but then of course the purpose of the video is to sell equipment
Adding glasses adds complications and if done at all, is really better with 2 glasses not 1 - 2 glasses = romantic and social, 1 glass = lonely and alcoholic
And of course he has used a bottle shape and texture that's extremely easy too, I can't say I blame him for that.
This isn't actually all that hard to do with just one speedlight and a couple of modifiers - even homemade ones would suffice (softbox & scrim = blanket or two; top gridded light can be done with straws or an empty plastic drinks bottle)
You can easily take all the photos separately and provided the camera doesn't move, simply pop them into Photoshop and use the Lighten Blend Mode to control how they work together
As I see it the main problem, and its a big one, is space !!!
He's using an area at least 12ft x 12ft for this and higher than a normal house's room too - if I tried really hard I could do it like this in my conservatory, but would you really empty a room to shoot a bottle of wine ??? lol
Dave
That's one approach but a very hard work way of doing it, if the intention is to obtain a 'traditional' lighting effect as per the video, then it calls for studio lighting and not hotshoe flashguns and a lot of PP
Here's a better photo using the Pringles tubes
Champagne Bottle by
Tim White, on Flickr
But there are uncontrolled and, I suspected, unwanted specular highlights appearing all over the place that distract from the subject. If you really must use DIY lighting for something as complex as a bottle and glass, at least use something that's big enough, and it has to be close enough too, which it isn't.
I'm planning a small series of lighting videos and will do one on lighting bottles. I'll pick an easy example too, but I also have a much more difficult whisky bottle, and will show how that's done too.
TP52-BLISS 107-January 11, 2015.jpg by Chris Heathcote, on Flickr
