Photographing glass, bottles and reflective products

Glass and shiny products reflect everything around them, including you, your lights and the studio. The solution is to control what they reflect.

Light glass from behind

Place a large diffused light behind the bottle. The light passes through liquid and glows, revealing color. This works beautifully for beer, mezcal, honey and perfume.

Bright field and dark field

• Bright field: a white background with black cards at the sides gives dark, defined edges.
• Dark field: a black background with lights or white cards at the sides gives bright, glowing edges.

Strip lights

Long, narrow softboxes at each side create clean vertical highlights along the bottle, a classic beverage look.

Labels

Front labels need their own soft light, often a small softbox or a reflector, so they read clearly without glare.

Condensation

For a cold, refreshing look, spray the bottle with a mix of glycerin and water. The drops stay in place longer than plain water.

Clean and retouch

Fingerprints and dust are obvious on glass. Clean with lens cleaner, wear gloves and retouch remaining specks.