I'll Take Mine With Cream
Jul, 2020Views
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Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
Behind The Lens
Location
I shot this at home in my apartment in the midst of months of quarantining, it's part of a "Images in Isolation" series, hehe. I really don't do many product type shots so it was good to take the extended time at home to experiment and learn.Time
This is midday but with my blackout curtains drawn to get the living room dark.Lighting
The shot is lit with just one flash that's directly over the cup pointing down. The flash is set slightly forward of the cup and slightly angled towards the back so it lights the front of the cup and the coffee inside, as well as bouncing off the glass onto the background.Equipment
Here's the setup... Canon EOS R w/EF 100mm Macro 2.8L on tripod. I don't have any kind of studio equipment so I placed a glass shelf from my stereo rack on the arms of a chair, the glass is painted black underneath. The background is just a black cardboard box. I used two yoga blocks, one on each side of the cup and had a piece of wood on top that and the flash is laying on the wood. The flash is an inexpensive third party flash, Neewer is the brand.Inspiration
I just really want to be a well rounded photographer and learn different techniques. I've been shooting land/seascapes for such a long time sometimes I feel like I'm stuck in a rut, it's fun creating things you normally don't create.Editing
Not too much processing on this one actually. Mainly upping the exposure/clarity in the milk/coffee swirls and some white balance tweaking. Then it was just a matter of cloning out some dust and cropping.In my camera bag
I now travel as light as possible, my back just can't handle lugging around a heavy load anymore. In my bag...camera body, two lenses (usually my 14mm prime and a 24-105), some filters, an intervalometer and some cleaning cloths and a spare battery. I use a Think Tank Change Up V2.0, I like how the weight is evenly distributed and it buckles around my waist as well as over my shoulder.Feedback
I am by far an expert on this type of shot. A lot was trial and error trying to get the flash speed to sync properly and to get the right exposure and shutter speed to isolate the drops of cream. This shot was taken on the first day of two separate days of shooting and hundreds of shots. I even tried using all kahlua and a mixture of coffee and kahlua so the coffee would be darker but no luck with those. Getting to drink each cup after each attempt was a plus though :) If you're learning to do this type of studio/product shot or water drop type shots just be patient. There will be a lot of throwaways but just hang in there. Like the saying goes, it's not just the end result that's important but it's the journey to get there.
