When Life Gives You Lemons...

[Loose Canon]

Is there a Hogwarts School of Photography?

Now that's funny! I don't know about Hogwarts Jack but I did sign up for the Sorcerer's Apprentice Online Course!

I am up to my butt in sliced lemons right now and I don't know how to make it stop!



Hey thank you everyone! I appreciate the comments and it is very gracious of you all to take the time to make them.

How did you do it?

I wasn’t really planning on saying how I do some of these shots unless someone actually asked! Not that I mind saying but unless someone actually asks I figure no one particularly cares! But I do take pullback shots including lighting for my own records. I apologize for the crappy pullbacks (lens flare, etc.) but they are for my own records only and are okay for that!

So, since Steven asked, let’s break it down!

The Stage-
I wanted this shot in mid air rather than on a tabletop. Sometimes its more interesting if you are not limited by a surface and I thought this might be one of those kinds of shots. So I simply hung the lemon halves and the knife from a boom arm! I am creating an illusion of what is in my feeble mind and then photographing the illusion!

I took a needle and thread and ran thread through the lemon rinds and I taped the back of the knife handle to a piece of heavy gauge wire. Arranged the scene like I wanted it. Took a base establishing shot.



Then the fun began!

I started tossing liquid at the scene! I didn’t want a “wave” for this one. The trick here was to get water drops instead of a splash. So I used a cocktail strainer over a measuring cup and tossed with that. Gave some wave but a lot of drops through the round holes which was what I wanted. I also took a couple of shots just pouring a thin stream over the lemon halves and the knife blade to get runs/drips on those to add to the “wet” look! I did a number of water shots so I’d have a good choice of drops/patterns to choose from.



Lighting-
Three lights.
One light in a stripbox on the left and raking a diffusion panel, which is pretty much the key light.
One light fired from the right, behind, and low as a rim light wearing barn doors. To add separation and low to get the highlight on the bottom of the knife handle.
There is one light above the scene fired with very low power through a diffusion panel for fill. Also helps get the lemon reflection on the knife blade.

I wanted to fire all the lights across the scene somehow to retain the texture of the lemon. The label on the knife I wanted visible, the logo on the handle must be visible, and the knife cutting edge I wanted highlighted to show that knife is razor sharp. Trust me, it is! One of the tricky parts was the logo on the handle because that logo is glossy and easily blown out.

I also have a reflector in front and to the right and a reflector strip in front of and to the left just out of the frame to help give some gradient on the steel blade.







Post-
Yeah it’s a composite! I took the base shot and added what I wanted from the other shots. Water drops, runoff, drips, etc. The usual massive cleanup and workflow and that was the shape of that! Except it takes a lot longer in post with these kinds of shots. Even when you try to get the lighting and everything right in-camera.

I shoot on a tripod naturally and with a wireless remote so I can move around the scene as needed hosing stuff, breaking stuff, and tripping over stuff!

I was @ f/16, 1/200, and ISO 800. I wanted at least f/16 for DoF. The reason I bumped the ISO was to keep my strobe power down. Typically (at least with my strobes) the lower the power the shorter the flash duration. The shorter the flash duration the more motion stopping power. For this shot my slowest strobe (highest power) fired @160.0 Ws with a t.1 duration of 1/4484 second and was the main light in the stripbox.

I might add that a videographer friend of mine has asked me how I have done some of these shots. I told him I would tell him if he bought me lunch! If he reads this I’m going hungry!

Oh, and Mike? It doesn’t require having a warped mind but it sure does help!

[Mike Buckley]

Great explanation, Terry!

breaking stuff, and tripping over stuff!

I should apply to be your assistant, as I'm especially good at doing that.

[Loose Canon]

I can't even imagine the carnage if we were to do a collaboration Mike!

[flashback]

So it's NOT magic?

[Loose Canon]

So it's NOT magic?

What it is is a miracle that I didn't cut a finger off or electrocute myself in the process!

[purplehaze]

Thanks for pulling back the wizard's curtain, Terry! It doesn't spoil the magic, but only enhances my wonder. Great stuff.

[Loose Canon]

Thanks for pulling back the wizard's curtain, Terry! It doesn't spoil the magic, but only enhances my wonder. Great stuff.

You are most welcome Janis!

When you pull back the wizard's curtain Janis you will usually find the funny little bald dude who is unsure and just back there pulling strings trying to put on an illusion! Certainly the case here!

[flashback]

What it is is a miracle that I didn't cut a finger off or electrocute myself in the process!

Well if you had I'm sure you'd have an amazing shot of it.

[leslie1283]

Another episode of "Magic's Biggest Secrets Finally Revealed"?

[Donald]

Tremendous commitment and dedication (as well as imagination) to creative and wonderful image-making. A lesson for so many of us. Thank you, Terry.

[Gigi71]

Impressive!! All the effort you did! Like it a lot Thank you for posting it,

Gigi

[bnnrcn]

Congratulations Terry,great effort and great image

[rpcrowe]

Wonderful image...

[NorthernFocus]

Thanks for the excellent description of your set up. Really cool.

[Stagecoach]

It's great to learn something every day, thanks for sharing this Terry.

Grahame

[teokf]

Terry, for all that work of explanation, I will buy you lunch ... only it has to be virtual

kudos to you! I do not think I would be able to get that perfect lighting, especially on the knife. Thanks for inspiring us.

[Loose Canon]

Thank you guys!

Donald I would like to address your comment sir and this is to the Forum as well.

I’ve said it before and I don’t mind saying it again. I have gotten a lot from this Forum. If I were to ever have any success in photography, or even get lucky and accidentally take a good shot of something for a change, it would be in large part thanks to this Forum. I have had questions answered, comments made that I really needed to hear, and had a lot of fun along the way. I even set some records by being the only photographer to fail Colin’s portrait class! This is what we all need for improvement and this is a great place to get it.

If there is ever anything I might be able to do to help that end or pay that forward (except the failing part of course!) then I intend to do just that.

So it is me who should be thanking you, Dave, Colin, and of course Sean for running the best photography site on the web today. And I should be thanking the Forum Members without whom it wouldn’t be the best photography site on the web today.

You guys are as appreciated as you are talented and it is an honor to be here with you all.

Steven? Virtual mustard, onion, ketchup, and maybe a pickle would be good on my virtual burger for lunch! I'll be looking forward to it! Next time it's on me!

[John 2]

Great explanation. Many thanks for posting it.

[Kaye Leggett]

Thank you for allowing me to think I am not mad to put all the effort in, or at least if I am there are a few of us around. I admire your dedication and it inspires me to be more so with what is a fantastically absorbing hobby.

[Wavelength]

You abandoned your aura and turned out to be a great Guru; Guru is superior to an angel