A second Light Refreshment.......

Heartened by my first attempt at the illuminated wine bottle I decided to give it another go.

I wasn't happy with the first light trail, as I mentioned in my previous post, so I decided to try the same set up and then maybe remove the light source from underneath, see what difference it made.

I took a series of images, over 70 in all, trying different methods of illumination. First I tried the light source underneath the bottle, but again, this proved too strong and although I like the green glow, it seemed to interfere with the overall effect of the image.

My hand when moving the torch around also disturbed the glow, as did the small torch I was using......

My light trails, although within the confines of the image still weren't good enough. I needed them more even to create the effect that I was looking for.

I was still not happy with the outcome......

I decided to remove the light source from underneath......

Image DSC_6329 turned out to be exactly what I was looking for.

I had added some moisture to the inside of the bottle for added interest and placed the bottle on some black card.

This card helped to reflect the light from the torch and illuminate the inside of the bottle.

The moisture inside the bottle came out well and the light trail is not only within the confines of the image they are fairly consistent in their spacing.

I love the detail inside the bottle, the indentation has come out well, and there is not burn out of the detail in the bottle. The light trails behind the bottle also helps illuminate the moisture.

Compositionally I think this works.....

Settings for this were ~ shutter speed of 6 seconds at f/8, ISO @ 100 and a focal length of 36mm.

I also decided to try something different with the El Wire....

Instead of waving it about, creating a cloud effect, I would wrap it around the bottle.....

See what happens........

DSC_6306 was my final choice.......

For this image, I returned to the light source underneath, but muted it, so it wasn't as strong.

I also attached the El Wire to the bottle using sticky tape so that it would for the shape of the bottle.

Settings for this shot were the same as the one above except for the focal length which was set at 24mm.

I think this image works well, there are however a few improvers.

1. The bottom of the bottle still isn't as we defined as the previous image. I still think the light source is too strong.

2. More interest within the bottle itself could be generated by having the moisture present as with the previous image.

3. Standing it on the card to help reflect the light from the El wire, may have improved the image further.

Overall though I am quite happy with the effects and will develop this further in the coming months.......