Milk Splash
Milk splash as it's being poured in a glass.
Milk splash as it's being poured in a glass.
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Apr, 2013Views
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Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
Behind The Lens
Location
This photo was taken at my home studio in Monterrey, Mexico. And I should start off by saying that this is a composite image. I choose the best splash and the best pour and by using layers I got this final image.Time
I spent a whole afternoon shooting milk splashes and pours. I did like 100 shots and obviously time of day is irrelevant for this flash shots.Lighting
I used a large white foam board piece (4x8 ft.)to bounce off my studio strobe head. I wanted that kind of soft surrounding light. Board was on my left and placed horizontal with the flash head in the back aiming to the center of the board and behind the seamless background. A collapsible silver reflector on the right side for a little fill light.Equipment
I used a Sony A850 full frame 24.6 megapixel camera with a Sigma 105mm f/2.8 macro lens. Camera mounted on a Manfroto tripod that has served me well since the early 80's. I just replaced the tripod head for a Sunway FB-52 ball head. For the light I used a White Lighting X1600 and yes this is a one light set up.Inspiration
For a long time I had been dreaming of making a shot like this one, but the amount of work involved in it kept me from doing it until all planets were aligned on that day and I just went for it. The work I refer to is: cleaning everything after each shot. I worked about 9 or 10 hours just on this. The time on Photoshop probably was another 4 to 6 hours, not that it is that difficult, but I was just taking my time.Editing
Of course I did. I selected one image with the splash I liked and another one with the pour. They had to be compatible, the shape of the splash having the opening to show how the pour was falling into the glass, then using layers and masks I managed to put the pour on top of the splash layer and erase part of the pour layer from the front part of the splash.In my camera bag
I've been shooting commercial photography since 1983. Used to work with 4x5 and medium format cameras but all of that is gone now. I have a Sony A850 previously mentioned. And in my bag I normally carry a Tamron 28-75 f/2.8, a Sony Sal 50f14, a Tokina 17mm f/3.5. A Sony speed light. A Sirui carbon fiber travel tripod. I have a bunch of gear, lenses, lights, accessories, but depending on the job I'll be doing is the equipment I choose to carry with me.Feedback
For this kind of shots, flash duration is what makes or breaks the deal. Speed lights are most widely used for this since they easily produce really short flash duration when you set them to their lowest power output. Also there are manufacturers of studio strobe light units who can do the same but not all are able to achieve flash durations shorter than 1/2000sec. or 1/3000sec. and most are way more expensive than a speed light. You can do this without flash, but you'll need huge amounts of continuous light, or crank up your ISO, which will bring you lots of grain to your image. For those interested on more info on the subject, search for "splash photography tutorial" in youtube.com
