After thinking long and hard about something for this challenge I decided to try something where the viewer has to ask him/herself "how the heck did they do that"? I wanted an image which looks as if it has been manipulated but is in fact a simple straight out photo.
I saw something similar to this a while ago and didn't know how it was done. Took me a while to figure it out so I thought I'd try it as well to see if you can figure it out.
Basically, I hung a martini glass upside down in a glass aquarium full of water with a blue cardboard sheet as the background. The glass was hanging on a stick connected with sellotape just below the surface of the water. A small part of the glass was above the surface because that is where the sellotape is sticking. I had to do that cos as soon as the sellotape got wet, the glass fell off!
Along the bottom of the aquarium I secured a small rubber tube directly below the martini glass with some sticky plasticine stuff. The tube extended to where I was sitting with my camera. I blew air into the tube and it filled the glass and caused it to tip. As the glass tipped and the air escaped I took the photo.
The biggest problem with this shot was getting the lighting right as the glass and the aquarium were reflecting a lot. I took care of a lot of the reflections by using a polarizer filter.
In Photoshop I cropped and flipped the image 180 degrees. I tweaked the curves and color balance a litle. I also Neat imaged it a little to lose some of the graininess. That's all. Quite simple really.
Canon 28-135 IS @ 28mm. White balance set at tungsten.
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Place: 1 out of 88 Avg (all users): 7.1667 Avg (commenters): 8.3889 Avg (participants): 7.1385 Avg (non-participants): 7.1868 Views since voting: 71446 Votes: 156 Comments: 124 Favorites: 383 (view)
Wowsers yet again! Congratulations on another well earned win. Over the years you're one of those amazing photographers that makes me think what I am doing here playing with the big boys!! Yet you're so inspiring. I just have to start looking at my cup as being half full instead of half empty!
Awesome... I thought for a long time... trying to figure out how you could have achieved this snap... But unfortunately, I did not come up with a solution.
Simplicity in complexity... I read your description and would like to thank you for sharing the tips. This image/effect is fantastic, to say the least!!
Good color...nice balance (in more ways than one)...good composition. Excellent effort to accomplish desired/achieved result...Thanks for sharing. Roxane
"I had some bad luck after taking this photo by the way. Silly me, left the rubber tube hanging out of the aquarium and overnight all the water (approx. 120 liters!) siphoned out onto the living room floor :-(
Wasn't a very nice sight to wake up to the next morning!"
that just makes that picture all the better man! congrats :)
Fantastic photo. Its hard to actually do a critique on. I think the extent you went to, to get this is great. The photo is not only an attention getter but it also is a work of art in itself.
Your blue is such a pretty shade, the focus is really good. The entire concept of how you did it is really neat. There isn't a thing I would change in this image for a challenge but I might touch it up slightly along the seam before printing it. Get rid of the rough spot in the seam to the right of the glass and make it a prefect print.
You know what I really love about this photo, is the broken surface at the bottom of the photo, it really makes you think about imperfections of reality, if that makes any sense. Good job.
Gary,
Gongrats on this one. U are getting better and better. Or maybe this is the result of taking photography class. I heard u got a new Canon. Lucky u! Have fun and bless you.
This image upsets me. It upsets me because I wish I'd thought of it and I really wish I'd taken it. This is one of the most impressive shots I've seen on this site - my hat's off to you Gary.
I am looking at buying the EOS 10D shortly and I think this photo has just made the final decision for me.
Natator
(A complete amateur who can't afford enough 35mm film for his EOS 650 and is greatly looking forward to being able to learn with the 10D as he can then take a squillion photos :)
Wow! Thanx for all the wonderful, and friendly comments.
I had some bad luck after taking this photo by the way. Silly me, left the rubber tube hanging out of the aquarium and overnight all the water (approx. 120 liters!) siphoned out onto the living room floor :-(
Wasn't a very nice sight to wake up to the next morning!
Call me stupid........but what I want to know is, how you did it? That's the main question it leaves me asking. The blue combined with the translucence of the glass and the liquid is pure magic. The only element that distracts from the image is the line behind the glass. 8
I'm less interested in the spot editing than I am in what this is and what is going on and why a glass is tipping, etc. Anyway, super shot. By the book! 10
I am really curious to find out how that was done. Blue tone really sets the mood and the highlights on the liquid really draw the attention. I wish I had suggestions to offer, but it looks great just as it is.
Nice upside-down underwater shot. It could have been improved either by eradicating the visible seam or at least straightening it to horizontal. Nie and crisp and good colour [7]
I am glad the water stayed in the aquarium while you took that photo, I hope it stayed there over the night after the shooting too :-) Great photo tho! 10
It looks like you dropped the glass in some water with water inside glass.
The adjusted the colors to only produce blue.
Great trick. Was I right or wrong.
The spot right on lower part of glass seems to have not cover completely. 9
Underwater I am assuming - I take it that's a finger holding the base of the glass at the surface of the water and tipping it to allow the trapped air out?
Great idea and wonderful colours.
Not so keen on the line dissecting the lower area - perhaps better if it were a true horizontal.
Lovely light in the bubbles.
Excellent photo, I have to know how you did this (Air bubbles)? I like the "water" texture, to me it has a metallic texture to it. The color and lighting work very well together.
image is upside down and that is air flowing into the water the glass is in...My best guess:) love the shot! I wish your line in the backround was straight, but still a wow shot to me 9
Turning the glass upside down was a very good idea indeed. This must have taken VERY many shots. On my monitir, it looks slightly oversharpened, but it is still worth a 10. Good work.
Fantastic picture! This is a guess, but I'm guessing that its trick photography... that's not water coming out of the glass, its air. The glass is upside-down in water and its been tilted sideways to let the air out? Thought it fit best for the challenge and gave it a 10.
Aw man, this is a great picture... Excellent use of colour and glass. Nice clean focus on everything. Go on I'll have a go - it's upside down and thats air bubbling up through water (this wasn't my first guess though ;o)? It's the ripples at the base that gave it away for me. Amazing shot, should do well (I hope), good luck with it.
The picture is upside down. You dropped the martini glass into the water and took a picture as it started rising to the surface while bubbles escaped. Am I right?
Nice pic... If I could vote I'd give it a 9 :-)
Zero spot editing. How?
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