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Konica Minolta Users | all galleries >> KM Challenges Hall of Fame >> HOF C36 to C40 > 2nd: Uncorked - JDU
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02-AUG-2005 John down under (7D)

2nd: Uncorked - JDU

my house in the suburbs of Adelaide, South Australia



This wooden corkscrew is great. I bought it in my travels through Holland in the early 1990s. It has two opposite threads and works really well. You turn the top handle first to screw the screw into the cork, then turn the handle just beneath it the same way and with its opposite wooden thread it lifts the screw up to drag the cork out of the bottle. :^)

I used a diffused desk lamp off to the near right. I put a candle (the black object) behind the rear wine glass and played around with its position until it lit up the red wine glass as you see it here; you can see the flame through the stem of the glass, albeit reduced in size by the lens effect of the glass stem. I also 'painted' the end of the corkscrew with a small torch during the exposure to help highlight the corkscrew as the subject of this image.


Konica-Minolta Maxxum 7 Digital ,KM AF 17-35/2.8-4 (D)
4s f/22.0 at 22.0mm iso100 full exif

other sizes: small medium original auto
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Guest 08-Aug-2005 14:55
Marc, man can't live on taking shots of Molly alone. ;^) To me, that shadow looks like a person, which is kind of eerie. John
Marc Baumser08-Aug-2005 11:58
John,
you've started to replace shots of molly with shots of wine in every challange. Is an intervention needed ;-)

Great shot. perfect lighting and arrangement of props. I like the shadow in the back wineglass

Marc
cbses 07-Aug-2005 13:36
Very rich, warm and inviting. Placement of the corkscrew and cork look fine to me, as this (for me) has allusions of being a theatrical stage - the upside down glass providing the look drawn curtains, and the stage floor having a nicely exaggerated vanishing point working.
I'm trying to decide if I would prefer the label (upper right) to be a bit OOF (and darker) to perhaps enhance the primacy of the corkscrew.
Great use of lighting on the both glasses - the highlights (easy to over do) seem perfect here.
Bob
Guest 07-Aug-2005 12:23
Thanks Peter. I'd thought about the kind of placement you're talking about, but it didn't look as good to me to add much plainer space at the bottom. I settled on highlighting the corkscrew through the perspective, together with its lighting and tones.
John
Konica Minolta Users06-Aug-2005 21:14
Fantastic colors and textures John and very well executed. I have only one small grievance and that is that the main subjects: cork and corkscrew are placed so low.
Cheers Peter
Konica Minolta Users05-Aug-2005 13:11
In case it's of any interest to anyone, the two wine glasses in this image are exactly the same size as each other, although one is somewhat drier than the other one. ;^)
John
Konica Minolta Users05-Aug-2005 09:09
What's a giant wine glass! I would use it up if the wine bottle is open! :) MCsaba
Guest 05-Aug-2005 01:51
Richard, the brand is Peter Dennis and it's from the McLaren Vale wine area south of Adelaide. The Barossa Valley to the north of here is bigger and better known (Penfolds, Orlando, etc, etc) and the Claire Valley slightly further out does very good wine too. The trick here is that I opened a different bottle for the cork and the wine in the glass, so I didn't taste this one recently. I think I picked it up at a wine tasting a while ago and don't recall much about it except that I liked it enough to buy it.
John
Konica Minolta Users04-Aug-2005 23:43
Excellent composition, the upturned wine glass frames the cork and corkscrew nicely. The wine bottle and full glass work well as background. BTW, how is McLaren? We normally go for Cote du Rhone, but do ocasionally go for a bottle or two of Rosemont shiraz.
Regards,
Richard.
Guest 04-Aug-2005 13:35
Very nicely done! I too like the colors in this shot. The way you have used lighting to highlight the cork and screw works really well.
Konica Minolta Users03-Aug-2005 11:27
Nice color combination and atmosphere!
Regards, Plamen
Guest 03-Aug-2005 09:43
Thanks Alain. I've cleaned it up, just leaving the candle flame shining through the upper stem of the rear wine glass. John
Konica Minolta Users02-Aug-2005 22:26
Excellent entry, John. I like the overall warm and cosy atmosphere. Great set-up providing ample context for the subject. Just for nitpicking : there are 2 bright reflections that annoy me a bit (they seem too bright) : the bottom of the glass and at the side of the label on the bottle.

Alain