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World of Wine
World of Wine
giantmike


Photograph Information Photographer's Comments
Challenge: Spheres (Basic Editing)
Camera: Canon EOS-50D
Lens: Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II
Location: Madison, WI
Date: Jul 8, 2010
Aperture: 3.2
ISO: 200
Shutter: 1/60
Galleries: Food and Drink
Date Uploaded: Jul 8, 2010

 I wasn't going to try the sphere challenge, but then I realized I had this wine decanter. This is the first time I have ever tried a glass photo, so I had a lot to learn.

I first cleaned the counter and the decanter well, to make sure there wasn't distracting dirt. I then found a background (in this case, the back of an old piece of linoleum from the kitchen), and lit it with a couple of LED flashlights (which had a bad side effect of some purple/yellow fringing). I also setup a flash wirelessly with my home-made snoot, and pointed it at about a 45 degree angle to the background. The decanter was then set on the counter, and I fired off a bunch of shots while trying to pour into the very small opening.

I do wish this was an advanced challenge so I could clean up some of the reflections and background a bit. Also, I think it would have had extra oomph if I used a more reflective surface, but I do like the natural feel my counter top gives.

Post processing:
In RAW
- Crop and slight rotate
- Increase brightness 1.33
- Adjust white balance
- Increase contrast a bit
- Turn highlights way down and shadows way up
- Increase color saturation
- Sharpen
- Adjust curves a bit

After RAW
- Desaturate all colors except red and yellow (decrease lightness of some colors). Decrease saturation and lightness of yellow a bit. Decrease saturation and lightness of red a bit
- Resize
- Unsharp mask with large radius to increase contrast
- Unsharp mask twice with small radius
- Increase canvas size to add red border

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Wow! 6th place! I cannot believe it.After taking and processing this photo, I knew it was good, and in fact my wife said "you should win with that," but I didn't really expect this.

Thanks to all the wonderful voters, commenters, and just the general learning from DPC. 6 months ago, there was no way I could have done something like this. But everything I have soaked in from my time here has already improved my photography so much!

Statistics
Place: 5 out of 113
Avg (all users): 6.3220
Avg (commenters): 7.2857
Avg (participants): 6.0755
Avg (non-participants): 6.4079
Views since voting: 2755
Views during voting: 381
Votes: 205
Comments: 15
Favorites: 2 (view)

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AuthorThread
Canon EOS-5D Mark II
Canon EF 17-40mm f/4.0 L USM
 06/26/2011 07:22:10 PM
Cool shot, love the color and composition, and that decanter is awesome!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Apple iPhone 5
Tamron SP AF 28-75mm f/2.8 XR Di for Canon
 12/30/2010 09:35:26 PM
Quite like this
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Nikon D300
Tokina AF 11-16mm f/2.8 116 AT-X Pro DX for Nikon
 07/24/2010 11:26:42 AM
This should be in a mag! Kudos
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Nikon Z8
Nikon NIKKOR Z 24-120 f/4 S
 07/22/2010 09:37:59 AM
Congrats on the top 5 finish!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Canon EOS-1000D Rebel XS
Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS
 07/21/2010 11:04:27 AM
congrats on the top 10!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Sony Alpha a1 II
Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS
 07/21/2010 12:39:52 AM
Congrats on a beautiful PB and a top 10!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Nikon D700
Nikon AF Nikkor 50mm f/1.8
 07/21/2010 12:16:58 AM
Great shot, Mike. Good clarity and colors. Many congrats on top 10.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 Comments Made During the Challenge
07/20/2010 11:43:11 PM
is it half full or half empty? Good job! I like your picture
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Canon EOS-550D Rebel T2i
Canon EF-S 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 IS
 07/19/2010 11:42:56 PM
Beautiful shot and idea.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 07/19/2010 02:13:54 PM
Cool image, don't care for the bright red border though
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Canon EOS-1000D Rebel XS
 07/17/2010 07:36:17 AM
I gave you a 5...I don't know why, this is a much cooler image than my first glance thought. Upping your score!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Nikon Z7II
Nikon AF Zoom-Nikkor 28-200mm f/3.5-5.6G IF-ED
 07/15/2010 08:33:14 PM
I like the composition and use of color. Well done
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Canon EOS-40D
Tamron SP AF 17-50mm f/2.8 Di II LD Aspherical (IF) for Canon
 07/14/2010 09:59:05 PM
Nice clear shot although I may have either omitted the cork or moved it to the right side where it wasn't overlapping the stand. Only a slight distraction, for me, but an otherwise very pleasing composition.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 07/14/2010 02:25:18 PM
What a cool bottle!!!!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Sony DSLR-A200
Sony DT 18-70mm f/3.5-5.6 Aspherical ED
 07/14/2010 06:16:22 AM
obviously a winner
  Photographer found comment helpful.
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