2023 SPRING: 16: ASSIGNMENT SIXTEEN: THREE WINE BOTTLES TO LAYOUT (SINGLE SHOT)

ASSIGNMENT: WINE / BOTTLES FROM LAYOUT

THE BRIEF:

A double spread ad for a local restaurant to run in a local magazine. You have this layout sketch from the art director. This is a rough look at how they want the image. It is your job to present the image perfectly designed but styled and lit in your own way. The layout is a rough indicator of what they want: a glass of wine, three bottles of wine, some grapes, and a plank of wood or textured surface for the shot.

Now is where YOU come into play. Your eye, design, vision, style, and production are brought into play and you make your shot – but one that conforms to the basics that are asked for by the client. This is a typical way a client will interact with you.

I am the client, so if you have questions ask on the FB group, and remember to tag me. Whoever starts the question thread, let us use that for all questions pertaining to this image assignment.

THE PARTICULARS:

• Dark or Light wine – your choice
• The glass should have wine in it, but do not open the bottles in the shot
• Gradient background from medium light to a medium dark
• Grapes should be as good as you can get – you may even want to grab some additional leaves if possible.
• Labels on bottles may be removed if you wish
• Choose simple labels… ones with metallics may prove a difficult challenge
• The surface may be a single piece of wood or a table top, you decide
• Notice the camera angle is oblique to the bottles and wine glass… important to match (Do not shoot with very much of an angle to the surface)

This is a very important assignment. It will have you planning a lot and executing your plan with deliberateness and exacting processes.

ADDITIONAL INSTRUCTIONS:

LIGHTING IN A SINGLE SHOT:
I want you to shoot this in a single photograph with the following excepted situations:

1. Adding a white card behind the bottles for easy removal in Photoshop. If you are using white wine, rose’s and such, it is imperative to make sure light is coming through the bottles and wine. Dark wines will not matter.
2. Label lighting. If you have to place a card or two to get the label to read well, then take them out in Photoshop, that is also permitted.
3. Keep the integrity of the bottles, wine glass, surface, and background in place. Adding a bit of lighting to be removed in Photoshop is acceptable.
4. This should be work you can provide on location, so keep the equipment you are using in mind as you build your shot.

You may mix wines, colored waters, and whatever liquid you wish to shoot.

Bottle shapes should be traditionally styled bottles, and the height should not vary more than an inch.

It is important to preserve the items for the next week’s assignment. We will be shooting each of them individually and putting the entire shot together in Photoshop.

PHOTOSHOP TUTORIAL: MASKING ESSENTIALS