Liquid Beauty

[Loose Canon]

Not the slightest chance of any amount of any beauty product on the planet helping me!

Hey! When you’re born ugly it lasts a long time!

I was primarily interested in the shooting techniques/set-up for this. It is one shot but it gave me a major pain in post! I was also trying a few different post-production techniques! Some I liked and some not so much and it still has some problems, but I'm tired of pixel peeping!

It’s a fun shooting process, relatively non-messy, and a fairly easy set-up.

I think it needs a drop of the product on the tip of the pump spout among other things.

[Mike Buckley]

I'm not going to even try to figure out how you made this image. Instead, I'm just gonna enjoy viewing it.

relatively non-messy

We've seen your big red bucket. Messiness is in the eye of the beholder and it's apparent to me that your idea of messiness is very different from mine.

By the way, I never realized you have sensitive skin (the label on the bottle informs me that you do).

[Downrigger]

Cool, literally, Mike. I can't figure out how it looks like a gentle entry and has a big splash at the same time.

[Loose Canon]

We've seen your big red bucket. Messiness is in the eye of the beholder and it's apparent to me that your idea of messiness is very different from mine.

By the way, I never realized you have sensitive skin (the label on the bottle informs me that you do).

Seems like my idea of messiness is very different from Wifey-poo's too!

Hey man, I'm a sensitive guy! I would never introduce more liquid than the carpet can soak up!

[IzzieK]

You are too funny, Terry... I think you should do as you suggested yourself that the tip of the bottle need a bit of messy gooey drop at the end...Is the bottle your bride's or yours?

[Loose Canon]

You are too funny, Terry... I think you should do as you suggested yourself that the tip of the bottle need a bit of messy gooey drop at the end...Is the bottle your bride's or yours?

I use it everyday after a hard day in the studio to remove my makeup! I tie my hair back (I still have the one), take off my suit and tie, put on my fuzzy bunny slippers and fleece sweats!

Then look forward to seeing all the great stuff you guys put up on this forum!

[Bobobird]

I think it looks fantastic.

[deetheturk]

Great image Terry!

[Shadowman]

Nice product shot with a twist.

[Wavelength]

Simply amazing..... outstanding

[bnnrcn]

very nice

[John 2]

Very professional. I can visualise this in a magazine.

[dje]

Terry that's great - the light and clarity are just amazing.

Now, before you head off for your spa and facial, can you at least give us a clue how you did it ?

Dave

[Loose Canon]

Thank you everyone.

Terry that's great - the light and clarity are just amazing.

Now, before you head off for your spa and facial, can you at least give us a clue how you did it ?

Dave

Thank you Dave! My manicure/pedicure is still drying so I have some time!

So sure! Let’s break it down…

As we all know, the underside surface of a pool of water when looked at from a low angle produces a reflection.

This was shot from an underwater vantage point and from a low and tight camera angle to take advantage of the reflection that forms under the surface of the water.

I taped a heavy gauge wire to the back of the bottle it and hung it upside down into an aquarium with just the bottom left corner of the bottle above the surface of the water. It was shot upside down hanging into the pool of water and flipped in post. The wire is cool because you can angle the bottle any way you want. I not only angled it diagonally but also angled it toward the camera as well. I didn’t even have to lose the wire in post because it disappeared above the surface reflection.

The glass measuring cup produces the “splash” (more like air bubbles). You pour water into the surface of the water, vary the height, volume, play with it to get the effect you want. I wanted to make it such that the label was visible so I poured off to the side and slightly behind. Tried to watch the ripples and waves.

Make sure your glass surfaces are clean. You will get some tiny air bubbles on the inside of the glass and on the product. These need to be removed before you shoot. I just took a small clean paint brush and “painted” the glass sides and the bottle and that released the bubbles. They may go to the surface of the water but they will clear up in a couple of minutes.

Lighting:

One sidelight with a reflector/barndoors to camera left. One rim light to camera right and behind the subject with a 20* grid and barn doors. I like to use these barn doors to help keep any light spill off the background.

One background light behind the translucent background with just a reflector. I need to get some gels for these lights and that is definitely going to happen. So I did the coloring of the background water surface in post.

Post:

You flip the photograph first thing.

This kind of shot seems to take more clean-up than most depending on your pour and what you want it to look like.

I did a color overlay to get the colored background/surface and chose a color from the bottle among other things! The color light gels are going to be a must!

I shot it at f/20 for DoF, ISO 200, 1/200 (my camera's x-sync) at 32mm focal length.

It is important to note that in this case it is the flash duration that freezes everything.

All lights were fired with the set-up shots.

[Mike Buckley]

As we all know, the underside surface of a pool of water when looked at from a low angle produces a reflection.

I don't even have to read the rest of the post (though I certainly will when I have the time). To be blunt: that's cheating! I love cheaters!

[dje]

Terry thanks very much for the detailed explanation. It will take a while to digest it all but it looks like a brilliant technique. I would never have dreamt of this in a million years !

Dave

[chauncey]

Hey, another anal retentive photog...I'm loving it!

[kaneohebud]

Thanks, Terry. I'm learning loads just observing your techniques. Great photo!

[Brownbear]

Great image, all the more special because of your stories.

It is truly wonderful that you are sharing all the details behind your images for others to learn from. I thought you had an assistant dropping bottles of face cleanser in sinks of water and catching flying just popped champagne bottles in flight mid-air but now that I see the details behind your stunning images, I'm even more amazed by your talent.

[BJ Denning]

Very cool shot. Well Done!

Alex Koloshov does a lot of product photography and has a tutorial on this technique. It looks like you have a really nice space. As you work on expanding that idea of messiness, you might try photographing liquid and photoshop it into things ... HERE is an example to seed the idea ;-)

When the wife finds out, you can blame me. Just don't let her know that I am in the midwest also ;-)