This is, of course, an attempt to create an Irene-esqe image. I have some new Alien Bees, so I figured I'd try the ol' drop shot. Man, it was challenging. I took about 1200 shots today, of which this is the best. It doesn't look exactly like one of Irene's ribbon winners, but I like the way it turned out. I was going for "coffee with a 'drop' of milk".
Two AB400 Alien Bee strobes on the front left and right (at full power) with shoot-through umbrellas attached. There is a piece of white foamcore just behind the bowl of coffee.
Just like Irene's original, this is milk dropped into coffee. The key is to get two drops in very quick succession to head on down toward the coffee. With perfect timing, the first drop hits the coffee and bounces back up just in time for the second drop to hit it and form the umbrella. Of course, you gotta hit the shutter at this same moment.
Shot in RAW: adjusted white balance and exposure
PS:
Crop
Curves
Selective Color (bumped the blacks a little)
High radius USM for more contrast
NI
Selective saturation
Cloned out a few stray drops and a tiny corner of the bowl (bottom right)
Resize
USM (300,.3,0)
Save for web
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Place: 26 out of 111 Avg (all users): 6.6667 Avg (commenters): 7.5263 Avg (participants): 6.4182 Avg (non-participants): 6.7981 Views since voting: 2132 Views during voting: 421 Votes: 159 Comments: 25 Favorites: 0
While the splash is not a clean vertical mushroom shape like it is in IreneM original it is still a spectacular capture. Love the soft colors of the milk as it blends into with the coffee in 'hatlike' splash shape. The way the colors blend and fold in that hatlike portion projects two more senses: that of touch with those soft tones and the smooth caramel texture seen & that of taste for the creamy mix of color looks so smooth we can almost taste it. My only critiques is that I wish that it had the same sharp detail on those small droplets fanning out from the main splash & that the color of the coffee was a richer brown. The richer brown tone can easily be achieved with either adjusting the Brightness/Contrast or adjusting the color balance. The sharpness on those smaller drops - well that is just sheer luck and a ton of patience. Easier said than done for in a recent thread IreneM said she easily went through 4,000 photos in a weekend and ditched them all for they weren't good. So kudos to you for having the time and patience to capture just this one.
A very good attempt at Irene's specialty. It's really close like hers. It's really sharp like hers. It's really well lit like hers. It just doesn't have the height like hers. Keep trying. You'll get it one day. Me? I wouldn't even know how to begin to try.
Beautiful mixing of the milk and coffee in the drop ring. The threads through the circle are almost like one of Ursula's fairy like seed images. I think you've certainly done justice to IreneM's image.
Irene's work with droplets is a tough nut to crack...you did an admirable job! Bravo! It's all about the timing. The inside even looks like a SMILE! The ends of the 'splatter' could be a bit sharper and more defined but worthy attempt! *8*
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