This definitely was a dream job. I got paid in beer! Every bottle that I photographed plus a whole crate more after that. Must have been around 50 bottles in total.
Back in 2014 this was my first every Commercial assignment. I had spent the previous day touring the factory and taking photos of the guys at work making Edinburgh's finest ales. I brought home with me a bottle of every type of beer that they mass produced to photograph.
I purchased loads of specialist equipment just to get the final effect. I needed a really soft light on the bottle so I placed 2 studio lights behind a wall of tracing paper - one level with the bottle and another up high facing downwards. I used a white backdrop behind the bottle. The camera was kept in a fixed position on a stand. The bottle itself was balanced on a pole. I discovered a few tricks of the trade while on this job. I needed the light to shine in from behind the bottle. That was achieved using a cut-out of golden coloured reflective card placed at an angle to redirect the light back to the camera.
I had a spot light covered by a card with a very narrow slit in it to give a very defined line on one side of the bottle. This was the first time that I used my XRite Colour Checker passport. It ensured that the colours were accurately reproduced.
Overall, I was very happy wit the results. Not to mention getting to taste so many amazing types of beers.