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Strawberries and Cream
3rd PlaceStrawberries and Cream
Bill666


Photograph Information Photographer's Comments
Challenge: Stopped Motion VI (Advanced Editing VII)
Camera: Sony Alpha a55
Lens: Sony SAL-18250 18-250mm f/3.5-6.3 High Magnification Zoom Lens
Date: Aug 25, 2011
Aperture: f9
ISO: 100
Shutter: 1/125
Galleries: Digital Art, Food and Drink
Date Uploaded: Aug 25, 2011

 Thanks for all the comments. A new personal best, and my first ribbon!

I was really surprised this did so well, in fact I nearly didn't submit it.

Some people have been asking how I did it. Initially I wanted to recreate a shot like those yoghurt adverts on TV where they have fruit colliding with milk in mid-air. I tried for a few hours but failed miserably, First I filled a 2 metre flexible tube with thin cream and clamped it just below a strawberry which was hanging on some fishing line. Then I blew hard into the tube which released a stream of cream which hit the strawberry, but all the shots looked limp and boring. And despite using a fish tank to catch all the cream I made a bit of a mess since air bubbles in the tubing caused the stream to splutter. There was cream in my hair, on the walls, the table, the floor, on the curtains 10 feet away, and even on one of my cats.





The following night I tried a few more ideas and ended up dropping strawberries into a spoonful of cream. A spoon was clamped into position over the fish tank and I just had to repeatedly fill the spoon with cream and drop a strawberry into it while pressing the shutter release. This was made harder because I had to do it in total darkness (otherwise the photo would not be sharp), I had 2 off-camera flashguns setup on 1/16th power pointed at the spoon to provide the lighting. And because I only had one punnet of strawberries I had to keep washing and drying them (I ate quite a few too, hard to resist when they're covered in cream). There was a bit of cleanup between shots but nothing like the previous night. After about an hour of taking shots I ended up with 1 or 2 usable ones. I think the tendrils of cream were interesting in the one I submitted, it's weird how they change direction. Here are some of the other shots (unprocessed)...



Finally some adjustments in Lightroom/Photoshop, then crop, resize, sharpen and save as jpg.




Statistics
Place: 3 out of 84
Avg (all users): 7.2889
Avg (commenters): 8.8667
Avg (participants): 6.8636
Avg (non-participants): 7.4265
Views since voting: 3953
Views during voting: 374
Votes: 180
Comments: 29
Favorites: 3 (view)

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AuthorThread
 09/10/2011 05:57:25 PM
Excellent, congrats on your ribbon!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 09/08/2011 06:00:06 PM
Congrats! And thanks for sharing your set up and trials!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 09/08/2011 10:50:47 AM
Oh, that is very cool! I didn't even realize that it is a spoon you are dropping them into, looks like the strawberry is hittimng a stream of milk in midair. Very well done, and thanks for explaining!
Congratulations!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 09/07/2011 08:23:06 PM
Awesome!! Thanks for the info on the setup!

Oh and congrats on the first ribbon!!! First of many, I'm sure. :)

Message edited by author 2011-09-07 20:26:18.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 09/07/2011 06:19:00 PM
Great photo! Interesting to hear the behind-the-scenes...
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 09/07/2011 03:51:11 PM
Congratulations on your ribbon and PB! Thanks for the set-up info - very imaginative and well thought out.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 09/07/2011 02:58:20 PM
Gorgeous!
Debbi
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 09/07/2011 10:17:12 AM
Congrats, Bill! And... thanks much for the explanation.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 09/07/2011 04:40:18 AM
Congratulations on the ribbon,great shot.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 09/07/2011 12:17:59 AM
So, can you tell us how big of a mess you made while taking this? I've always wondered how people take these shots. Do you have a small monkey off to the side throwing fruit and creme?
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 09/07/2011 12:00:01 AM
Well done.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 Comments Made During the Challenge
09/05/2011 04:49:05 PM
Perfect ! Nothing else to say.

Light, composition, splash effect - number 1.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 09/04/2011 11:24:07 PM
Excellent shot!!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 09/04/2011 08:15:56 PM
very artsy could see this in a gallery.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 09/04/2011 03:24:06 PM
I am usually not one that likes the "water drop" type shots, but this shot is amazing! Well done! 8
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 09/03/2011 10:36:47 AM
Amazing 10, how do you make it?
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 09/02/2011 03:52:49 PM
Love the shape of the milk!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 09/02/2011 01:13:05 PM
Classic shot,perfectly performed.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 09/02/2011 07:46:15 AM
How did you do that? Stunning shot!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 09/01/2011 05:51:40 PM
wow... very vibrant great capture 8
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 08/31/2011 02:29:12 PM
Delicious! Perfect picture. Absolutely amazing. 10! Yum!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 08/31/2011 02:23:37 PM
awsome
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 08/31/2011 12:19:02 PM
Superb!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 08/31/2011 10:18:00 AM
love the lizard toe patterning of the milk. bravo.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 08/31/2011 09:40:13 AM
or the case of the sleepy berry and the spilled milk 9
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 08/31/2011 06:39:00 AM
OK, front page. Just a question of how far up.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 08/31/2011 03:28:53 AM
wow! the white of white so terribly beautiful 10.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 08/31/2011 01:39:35 AM
OOO Ahhhh.... freakin' awesome Origional and perfect!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 08/31/2011 12:09:53 AM
Freaky weird and... WONDERFUL!
  Photographer found comment helpful.


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