10 Things To Check For In Your Bottle Photos

So what is the bid deal about taking a picture of a wine bottle or any other bottle? What makes for a good wine bottle photo? We all recognize a good picture when we see one. But it is not always easy to describe what is wrong with an image. We know it doesn't look right, but why doesn't it look right?

This video provides a check list of the top ten things to look for in a wine bottle photo. If you are a photogapher, it provides a base to check your work. If you are wine maker or marketer, this will help make it easier to communicate with your photographer and/or graphic design person when discussing wine images.

Please let me know in the comments if I have missed anything or if you have any other ideas.

Cheers!

New Wine Radio Show: Bottle Talk With Rick & Paul

Paul Wagner is hosting a new radio show about wine! Paul is an icon in wine industry and the Napa Valley. I met Paul as one of his students at Napa Valley College. I can guarantee that his show will be both informative and entertaining. More info and where to find the show follows. . .

You can hear “Bottle Talk with Rick & Paul” airs a new show every Tuesday at 11 a.m. Pacific time at http://www.rickandpaulwine.com/. Also on KVON AM 1440, in Napa, and on i-tunes.   

Irreverent Radio Show Hits the Airwaves: BOTTLE TALK WITH RICK & PAUL

“Bottle Talk with Rick and Paul,” the cheeky, irreverent show that makes wine fun for everyone, continues to expand its reach and now airs on KVON 1440AM in Napa.  The show seeks to level the tasting bar for would-be wine enthusiasts everywhere.  “Wine shouldn’t make you feel as if you’re being tested to join a secret Skull & Bones Society,” says Kushman. “People who make wine too snooty should be sentenced to drinking boxed prune juice.” 

Joined by some of the top names in the world of wine, award-winning writers Rick Kushman and Paul Wagner launched “Bottle Talk with Rick and Paul” in September.  The streaming radio show about wine breaks new ground in conversations about wine and includes questions from listeners, interviews, wine recommendations, and an all-out assault on wine snobs everywhere.

Kushman is the author of the New York Times bestseller The Barefoot Spirit, the story of the founding and unique marketing of Barefoot Cellars.  He is an award-wining journalist and the wine commentator for Capital Public Radio, Sacramento’s NPR affiliate, as well as a regular guest host for the station’s highest profile show, “Insight.”

Wagner, an industry veteran, teaches wine courses at Napa Valley College and the Culinary Institute of America at Greystone.  With Liz Thach and Janeen Olsen, he authored the book, Wine Marketing & Sales, Strategies for a Saturated Market, which won the Gourmand International Award for the best wine book of the year for professionals and he’s been a regular columnist for Vineyards & Winery Management Magazine.

Among the guests slated for the show are Warren Winiarski, whose 1973 Cabernet Sauvignon won the great Paris tasting of 1976 against top French Chateaux; Traci Dutton, Sommelier at the Culinary Institute of America; Master Sommeliers James Tidwell and Drew Hendricks of Texsom and the Dallas Wine Competition, and Ricardo Riccicurbastro, the President of the Federation of DOCs in Italy. Kushman and Wagner are currently trying to contact the booking agents for Pliny the Elder, Dom Pérignon, and Keith Richards, who they are pretty sure drinks lots of wine.

               “Bottle Talk with Rick & Paul” also airs a new show every Tuesday at 11 a.m. Pacific time at http://www.rickandpaulwine.com/.  Prior shows are available on the site, or via iTunes and you can subscribe for free with a just couple clicks by searching the show's name.  And we also have information about sponsorship.

               For more information about KVON 1440AM please visit their website at www.KVON.com.

Great Bottle Shots - Are As Smooth As James Bond

One thing to look for in a good bottle image are smooth edges. This becomes important when the bottle needs to be separated from its background.

Photoshop has a number of tools that allow the graphic artist to select (outline) a bottle. Once outlined the background can be removed (made transparent) or replaced. But the quick and dirty tools like the Magic Wand, Quick Select and Lasso tools generally leave jagged edges. For a smooth line, one must use the 'Pen Tool' to make the selection. Of course this takes more time and requires practice to become proficient. But if you look at the examples, I think you will see that using the Pen Tool is worth the effort.

So, when examining a bottle image, make sure to zoom in to see if the line is smooth. And if it is smooth, double check to make sure the bottle has already been isolated from its background. If your photo's background has not been removed by the photographer, you might have to pay additional money to a graphic artist to do the work in the future.

Smooth Edge Good

Jagged Edge Bad