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Blue, with a splash of orange
Blue, with a splash of orange
Gordon


Photograph Information Photographer's Comments
Challenge: Fruits and Vegetables II (Advanced Editing V)
Camera: Canon EOS-1D Mark II
Lens: Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro
Location: Austin, Tx
Date: Feb 7, 2007
Aperture: f7.1
ISO: 400
Shutter: 1/250s
Galleries: Water, Studio
Date Uploaded: Feb 9, 2007

 Orange, water. Lots of dropping and splashing. My garage hasn't quite dried out yet.

Lighting: Two flashes triggered with pocket wizards.
Background is a white wall, with a blue gel on the flash.
Second flash in an umbrella camera right & up. Biggest challenge is lining up the umbrella flash so that it doesn't wash out the background, isn't reflecting too strongly on the glass and doesn't flood the camera lens with flare.

Reflector to camera left and down to bounce some fill in to the left of the orange.
Gobo (bit of paper) on a plamp to stop the light getting into the lens, on camera right, between the lens and the flash/ umbrella.

Thanks to Larus for the discussion on lighting approaches for these sorts of shots.

Not much post processing, other than a slight crop and a bit of selective levels, curves and colour tweaking to the orange and the background, independently with a couple of masks. Orange is such a pain to get to render correctly and still look vibrant but not over saturated!

Shot this at ISO 400, to get some more depth of field, so did a bit of noise reduction along the way. Shutter speed of 1/250s to keep with the max sync speed of the wireless flashes. The vignetting in the corners comes from the fall-off and focusing of the background lighting. Also layered in an alternative RAW conversion to tame the highlights after the rest of the processing and spot removal.

Figured it was time to try a more serious entry for a change. This is one of the more derivative and unoriginal images I've taken in a while but it was a lot of fun to shoot and technically interesting to light. I'm sort of 'blah' about the end result really, it isn't that satisfying but it looks cool - so I have mixed emotions - pandering to the voters and doing something so obviously cliched.

I expect to see a lot of similar shots in this challenge, hopefully the complimentary colours I used will raise this above the pack! I'm such a sell-out. I feel dirty. And wet.

Statistics
Place: 13 out of 346
Avg (all users): 6.5731
Avg (commenters): 8.3529
Avg (participants): 6.4673
Avg (non-participants): 6.7500
Views since voting: 2644
Views during voting: 321
Votes: 171
Comments: 31
Favorites: 5 (view)

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AuthorThread
 11/10/2007 03:11:29 PM
Wow! Found your blog from this shot...It's good reading material for me so far
Deb
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/20/2007 01:11:58 PM
Simply astounding!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/20/2007 12:16:36 PM
Excellent how-to. Thanks and congratulations on high finish!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/20/2007 10:47:43 AM
Great "how to" there. And a good photo to boot - love the colour contrast.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/20/2007 01:20:49 AM
Nice result. Too bad you didn't use a larger tank. You could have then cloned out the line of the water surface and make it look like it's all suspended in mid air.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/20/2007 12:43:03 AM
Howto/ lighting diagram
 02/19/2007 05:05:33 PM
Well done, even if you were "selling out." I thought of doing the same thing, but didn't have a clear container to throw the fruit into, and figured there's be 10 people who did it better (like you and Larus, for example).

A question. Is the orange really kind of a squashed shape, or is that an optical illusion?
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/19/2007 12:48:08 PM
LOL! Love your notes. This kind of shot doesn't do all that much for me but you did it extremely well and the information about the lighting setup is very valuable! (Not that I have any flashes to use, but it's good to know.) I'd actually like to see an outtake where the orange missed the vase. :-)
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/19/2007 09:37:47 AM
I don't think it's selling out. . .I call it "raising the bar" :) Now others who want to try this sort of thing have a new standard! This is just amazing!

  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/19/2007 08:56:37 AM
Originally posted by Larus:
Haha, talk about beating me at my own game :) Nice shot bud, congrats on the top 20.


Thanks again for the lighting pointers. Next time it has to be a watermelon in a fish tank - take it to the next level :)
 02/19/2007 07:40:11 AM
Good shot. I know the challenges of it, believe me, and you kicked my butt by several notches of technical excellence and half a point. Congrats.

  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/19/2007 03:29:36 AM
Haha, talk about beating me at my own game :) Nice shot bud, congrats on the top 20.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 Comments Made During the Challenge
02/18/2007 02:58:34 PM
that's great!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/18/2007 12:13:25 PM
Nice freeze. Good aim with the orange. Like the U. Florida colors.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/18/2007 07:06:17 AM
ha, excellent!! the effect of the stopped water is great but it's the great colours, lighting and all the detail in the water trails that make this a great shot - 10
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/17/2007 07:30:04 AM
I adore this sort of image, especially when it's well done (which this undoubtedly is).
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/16/2007 07:31:55 PM
nice capture, great focus
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/15/2007 10:25:55 PM
love it
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/15/2007 07:50:58 PM
Best spash shot in the comp (and there are many). You;ve got my ten
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/15/2007 07:40:59 PM
Look like you made a mess. Great capture.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/14/2007 10:17:23 AM
nice, 9
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/14/2007 06:37:38 AM
one of the best splashing fruitphoto's i've seen in this challenge
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/13/2007 11:24:48 PM
ultramodern look, great capture of the water 8
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/13/2007 05:57:31 PM
Perfect capture. You couldn't have timed it any better.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/13/2007 01:22:14 PM
Terrific timing - thanks for your patience and perseverence.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/12/2007 10:08:20 PM
Very very cool
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/12/2007 05:33:57 PM
Absolutely stunning, congrats. top marks from me
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/12/2007 04:25:16 PM
with out a doubt the best splash photo of the challenge great capture! great colors! 10
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/12/2007 04:04:15 PM
one of my favorites
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/12/2007 10:35:06 AM
nice splash,
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/12/2007 12:34:00 AM
an awesome splash image...of which there are many...this is by far the best...9 from me
  Photographer found comment helpful.


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