Another Take on Photographing a Bottle of Wine

As you know I recently posted something on shooting a bottle of wine in a light tent, to see it CLICK HERE.

Well, this time around I wanted to try something a little different than the last shoot and go for an entirely different look.
So I ditched the light tent and set up with a single Elinchrom D-Lite-it 2 with a 65x65cm light-box, and attached a strip of black card-stock to the front of it with two black clothing pegs effectively covering about 50% of the light-box straight down the middle. I also had two strips of black card-stock on either side of the bottle to subtract some light from the light-box behind the bottle of wine. There were also two light stands on the table with some white A4 sheets of paper clamped and placed to reflect some light back onto the bottle of wine. Maybe this is a little complicated, so let me just show you a picture:

The wine bottle is on top of two glasses which were a simple matter to edit out afterwards. The end result looks ok to me. :-)

And now, the same bottle of wine and same basic set-up as above, but this time I put the bottle onto a different surface. It really changes the whole look of the end result:

So what exactly does a Circular Polarising Filter do?

I was asked by someone recently what a polarizing filter does and was it worth paying so money much for one? Well, the only way to answer this question is by example, so I set up, with a little help from God and nature, a perfect test area with a huge amount of reflection on wet leaves coming from the diffused light of the sun. Please note, these are for test and display purposes only and are not meant to look remotely pleasant to the eyes.

Here is the special test area unpolarized:

The leaves are wet and reflecting a lot of light into the lens and giving much less than desirable results. Or to use a highly technical term, "it looks yucky"!

Here is the exact same scene, a few seconds later, with the polarizing filter applied. It is simple enough to use, you simply rotate it until the shine goes away! Just remember to look through the viewer while you are doing this or you will not be able to see when you have achieved optimal effect. Live view works just as well.

The first thing you will notice, of course, is that the shine is gone! Vanished into thin air! The second thing that you will notice, is that the greens of the leaves are beautifully saturated, and the picture just looks better in every way. All that shine plays havoc with metering and exposure.

If you intend to photograph gardens, landscapes or shiny cars and buildings a circular polariser is a great idea that will assist you to get much better results by taking away the shine. In landscapes it will also give a beautiful deep blue sky, but it may not look great using wider lenses because the polariser will only turn part of the sky dark blue and it could all end up looking a little strange. Some people like this effect and do it on purpose.

Please note that the polariser reduces the amount of light entering the lens and so in low light shutter speeds may drop too low to hand hold requiring you to use a tripod.

Happy light hunting!

Nikon Distortion Control Firmware Update

Ok, this firmware update has been out for a while and I have known about it but I simply haven't had the time or inclination to install it onto my camera yet. Until today. It simply updates your camera's firmware to include Distortion Control for a large selection of Nikkor lenses.

Download update here: http://nikonimglib.com/dcdata/index.html.en#os-windows
Installation instructions here: http://nikonimglib.com/dcdata/manual/En/lensprofile_win_en_ABF.html

I have the pleasure of letting you know that it works. If you do the correction in-camera and you are happy to deal with a jpg file from that moment on. It doesn't do it automatically, so you have to physically push buttons and select distortion control to implement it. Oh woe is us, more buttons to press! ;-)

Photo of blinds taken with an AF-S Nikkor 35mm f1.8G DX and unfixed by Nikon's in-camera Distortion Control software:

As you can see it has a fair bit of barrel distortion when you do stupid things like shoot blinds (or brick walls). If you don't do something that stupid, then you probably won't notice it at all. Like here. Best advice: don't do stupid things like this... ;-)

Photo of blinds taken with an
AF-S Nikkor 35mm f1.8G DX and fixed by Nikon's in camera Distortion Control software:

Lines that are supposed to be straight are in fact straight! Like magic. You don't have any more input than a few button clicks and it auto-magically fixes your Nikon lens distortion! Yay! Now if only Nikon's computer RAW conversion software would do the same. I am not 100% sure, but I don't think it can at this point in time.

Here is the complete list (from Nikon's website) of supported lenses that have in-camera Distortion Control via this firmware update:


■Wide-angle zoom lens
AF-S DX NIKKOR 10-24mm f/3.5-4.5G ED
AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 12-24mm f/4G ED IF
AF-S NIKKOR 14-24mm f/2.8G ED
AF-S NIKKOR 16-35mm f/4G ED VR
AI AF-S Zoom-Nikkor 17-35mm f/2.8D ED IF
AI AF Zoom-Nikkor 18-35mm f/3.5-4.5D ED IF
AI AF Zoom-Nikkor 20-35mm f/2.8D IF
AI AF Zoom-Nikkor 24-50mm f/3.3-4.5D

■Standard zoom lens
AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 18-70mm f/3.5-4.5G ED IF
AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G ED II
AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G ED
AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 17-55mm f/2.8G ED IF
AF-S DX NIKKOR 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G VR
AF-S DX NIKKOR 16-85mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR
AF-S Zoom-Nikkor 24-85mm f/3.5-4.5G ED IF
AF-S Zoom-Nikkor 24-120mm f/3.5-5.6G ED IF VR
AF-S NIKKOR 24-70mm f/2.8G ED
AF-S NIKKOR 24-85mm f/3.5-4.5G ED VR
AF-S NIKKOR 24-120mm f/4G ED VR
AF Zoom-Nikkor 28-80mm f/3.3-5.6G
AF Zoom-Nikkor 28-100mm f/3.5-5.6G
AI AF-S Zoom-Nikkor 28-70mm f/2.8D ED IF
AI AF Zoom-Nikkor 35-80mm f/4-5.6D
AI AF Zoom-Nikkor 35-105mm f/3.5-4.5D IF
AI AF Zoom-Nikkor 28-80mm f/3.5-5.6D
AI AF Zoom-Nikkor 28-70mm f/3.5-4.5D
AI AF Zoom-Nikkor 28-105mm f/3.5-4.5D IF
AI AF Zoom-Nikkor 24-85mm f/2.8-4D ED IF
AI AF Zoom-Nikkor 24-120mm f/3.5-5.6D ED IF

■Telephoto zoom lens
AF-S DX NIKKOR 55-300mm f/4.5-5.6G ED VR
AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 55-200mm f/4-5.6G ED
AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 55-200mm f/4-5.6G ED IF VR
AF-S NIKKOR 200-400mm f/4G ED VR II　*1
AF-S NIKKOR 70-200mm f/2.8G ED VR II　*1
AF-S Zoom-Nikkor 200-400mm f/4G ED IF VR　*1
AF-S Zoom-Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8G ED IF VR　*1
AF-S Zoom-Nikkor 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G ED IF VR
AF Zoom-Nikkor 70-300mm f/4-5.6G ED
AI Ai AF-S Zoom-Nikkor 80-200mm f/2.8D ED IF　*1
AI AF Zoom-Nikkor 70-210mm f/4-5.6D
AI AF Zoom-Nikkor 70-300mm f/4-5.6D ED
AI AF Zoom-Nikkor 75-240mm f/4.5-5.6D
AI AF Zoom-Nikkor 80-200mm f/2.8D ED
AI AF Zoom-Nikkor 80-200mm f/4.5-5.6D
AI AF Zoom-Nikkor 80-400mm f/4.5-5.6D ED VR

■High-powered zoom lens
AF-S DX NIKKOR 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR II
AF-S DX NIKKOR 18-300mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR
AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6G ED IF
AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6G ED IF
AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 18-105mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR
AF-S NIKKOR 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR
AF Zoom-Nikkor 28-200mm f/3.5-5.6G ED IF
AI AF Zoom-Nikkor 28-200mm f/3.5-5.6D IF

■Single focus lens
AF-S DX NIKKOR 35mm f/1.8G
AF-S NIKKOR 24mm f/1.4G ED
AF-S NIKKOR 28mm f/1.8G
AF-S NIKKOR 35mm f/1.4G
AF-S NIKKOR 50mm f/1.4G
AF-S NIKKOR 50mm f/1.8G
AI AF Nikkor 14mm f/2.8D ED
AI AF Nikkor 18mm f/2.8D
AI AF Nikkor 20mm f/2.8D
AI AF Nikkor 24mm f/2.8D
AI AF Nikkor 28mm f/1.4D
AI AF Nikkor 28mm f/2.8D
AI AF Nikkor 35mm f/2D
AI AF Nikkor 50mm f/1.4D
AI AF Nikkor 50mm f/1.8D

■Telephoto lens
AF-S NIKKOR 85mm f/1.4G
AF-S NIKKOR 85mm f/1.8G
AF-S Nikkor 200mm f/2G ED IF VR　*1
AF-S NIKKOR 200mm f/2G ED VR II　*1
AF-S Nikkor 300mm f/2.8G ED IF VR　*1
AF-S NIKKOR 300mm f/2.8G ED VR II　*1
AF-S NIKKOR 400mm f/2.8G ED VR　*1
AF-S NIKKOR 500mm f/4G ED VR　*1
AF-S NIKKOR 600mm f/4G ED VR　*1
AI AF-S Nikkor 300mm f/2.8D ED IF *1
AI AF-S Nikkor 300mm f/2.8D ED IF II　*1
AI AF-S Nikkor 300mm f/4D ED IF　*1
AI AF-S Nikkor 400mm f/2.8D ED IF *1
AI AF-S Nikkor 400mm f/2.8D ED IF II　*1
AI AF-S Nikkor 500mm f/4D ED IF *1
AI AF-S Nikkor 500mm f/4D ED IF II　*1
AI AF-S Nikkor 600mm f/4D ED IF *1
AI AF-S Nikkor 600mm f/4D ED IF II　*1
AI AF-I Nikkor 300mm f/2.8D ED IF *1
AI AF-I Nikkor 400mm f/2.8 ED IF *1
AI AF-I Nikkor 500mm f/4 ED IF　*1
AI AF-I Nikkor 600mm f/4 ED IF　*1
AI AF Nikkor 180mm f/2.8D ED IF
AI AF Nikkor 85mm f/1.4D IF
AI AF Nikkor 85mm f/1.8D
AI AF DC-Nikkor 105mm f/2D
AI AF DC-Nikkor 135mm f/2D

■Macro lens
AF-S DX Micro NIKKOR 40mm f/2.8G
AF-S DX Micro NIKKOR 85mm f/3.5G ED VR
AF-S Micro NIKKOR 60mm f/2.8G ED
AF-S Micro-Nikkor 105mm f/2.8G ED IF VR *1
AI AF Micro-Nikkor 105mm f/2.8D
AI AF Micro-Nikkor 200mm f/4D ED IF
AI AF Micro-Nikkor 60mm f/2.8D
AI AF Zoom-Micro Nikkor 70-180mm f/4.5-5.6D ED