Experimenting with Light: A New Approach to Bottle Photography

Putting the Litepanels Gemini to work with the perfect companion—a smooth, well-aged single malt.

I’ve always enjoyed a great bottle shot, especially when the product itself is as compelling as a fine single malt. However, in a recent shoot, what really caught my attention wasn’t just the whisky, but the background. The smooth, even gradient of color and the quality of light in the backdrop added an entirely new dimension to the shot.

What’s worth noting here is that this image is almost completely straight out of the camera. There’s only a tiny bit of retouching on the bottle itself; the background remains untouched. Typically, I use colorama or vinyl backgrounds for small product shots to create a clean set. But this time, I opted for a white cove as the base and worked with two Litepanels Gemini soft LED panels in combination with my usual Profoto D2 heads.

The Litepanels really impressed me with their ability to create a smooth, even wash of colored light. With the flexibility to dial in any color you can imagine, the creative possibilities are practically endless. While I still love using flash for that sharp, defined light on the product, I’ve been really impressed with how seamlessly the Litepanels fit into my usual workflow. They added something fresh and new to my approach, and I’m excited to experiment further.

Lighting truly has the power to transform a shot, and this setup has opened up even more creative avenues for future projects.