Steaming Pasta

[Mike Buckley]

My wife gave me this pasta ladle for my birthday, so I figured I better make a photo of it while it's brand new and has no scratches on it. It replaces an old, white plastic ladle that isn't nearly as attractive. I cook pasta once each week, so it will get plenty of use over the years.

Setup
The ladle is held in place by a clamp attached to a flexible arm, which in turn is attached to a super clamp mounted on the tabletop. The background is black foam core. Two medium continuous-light lamps are side by side on the right side. Two pieces of white foam core are laid mostly flat on the tabletop. They are reflected in the bottom of the ladle to make it bright and shiny. A piece of white foam core on the left side parallel to the ladle's handle is reflected in it to make it bright and shiny. A fourth piece of white foam core above the camera was being reflected in some of the rear tongs to make them bright and shiny. A small pot of steaming water (not the large pot the pasta was cooked in) was on the tabletop directly underneath the pasta. I eliminated all the steam beneath the ladle during post-processing, leaving only the steam above the ladle in the image.

[NorthernFocus]

Mike, I think you can make an interesting photo out of nearly anything. Hard to believe you could get it all set up while the pasta is still steaming. Making me hungry.

[Mike Buckley]

Hard to believe you could get it all set up while the pasta is still steaming.

Thanks, Dan, but if you read the setup information you'll realize the pasta wasn't still steaming. My makeshift studio has so little heat that it was only 50 degrees Farhenheit. The pasta cooled off really quickly, so I had to resort to creativity.

[Rita]

And creative it is. Like the explanation of how you made the ladle shiny. Normally we would want to eliminate the shine but this gives it a really nice touch.

[Mike Buckley]

Thanks, Rita!

Normally we would want to eliminate the shine but this gives it a really nice touch.

Please clarify that. Chrome or any other metal made to appear shiny is almost always more appealing in a photograph when at least some of it appears that way. I remember making only one photo when I intentionally made bright, shiny metal appear black.

That's a good segue to an interesting characteristic of the photo: Notice the side of the ladle's arm. It appears black other than the tiny rim of bright light that defines its lower edge. A bright light just inches away from that edge was shining directly on it. Why is that edge black instead of bright? It's because of the family of angles I so often mention. The light source was not within the family of angles, so that edge appears very dark. If the light source had instead been within the family of angles, that edge would have appeared bright. Several years after learning about that and demonstrating (proving) it to myself, I still marvel at it as the most fascinating detail of the physics of light I've come across.

[Rita]

Please clarify that. Chrome or any other metal made to appear shiny is almost always more appealing in a photograph when at least some of it appears that way. I remember making only one photo when I intentionally made bright, shiny metal appear black.

I think that I am not having the words to say what I really meant there but, I will try. Shiny metal objects have a lot of reflections that they pick up. Using the foam core in a very useful way you have eliminated that issue and also added an appealing effect. Yes, I think that is better wording (at least sort of).

Revisiting the theory of the family of angles is on my list to do again. As yet I haven't been able to get my head totally around that yet. One day I will.

[Shadowman]

nicely captured.

[Mike Buckley]

Got it, Rita! Thanks for clarifying. For a very quick revisit of the family of angles, see the first post in this thread that was my eye-opener. I'm surprised that it was as long as 4 1/2 years ago. Time really flies when you're having fun in a makeshift studio!

Thank you also to John!

[billtils]

For a very quick revisit of the family of angles, see the first post in this thread that was my eye-opener. I'm surprised that it was as long as 4 1/2 years ago.

Thanks for this Mike - 41/2 years ago is before my time on CIC!

Loved the pasta shot and description of how you created it. Maybe you could try it with squid ink pasta ... to which the obvious answer is why don't I try it. Just might, but not right now

[Mike Buckley]

Thanks, Bill! Even if you don't get around to photographing that squid ink pasta, be sure to eat it. I've had squid ink only once and it was in a risotto. If I ever return to Debrovnik's Old Town, I'll also return to the same restaurant where I thoroughly enjoyed it.

[madcrow]

Master at work, brilliant image. Great understanding of light and how it effects different surfaces. It would be easier for me to eat the ladle then take this image.

[NorthernFocus]

Thanks, Dan, but if you read the setup information you'll realize the pasta wasn't still steaming. My makeshift studio has so little heat that it was only 50 degrees Farhenheit. The pasta cooled off really quickly, so I had to resort to creativity.

Oh I see. At first read I took it to mean the pot that you scooped the pasta from.

[bje07]

Nicely done as usual.

[bnnrcn]

Very nice Mike Why not another image with a big bowl of pasta and the ladle

[Mike Buckley]

Thank you to Maurice, Jean and Binnur!

Why not another image with a big bowl of pasta and the ladle

Too traditional for my taste. I prefer at least for now the simplicity of the isolated details that display only the pasta hanging from the ladle.

[Wavelength]

Sumptuous

[JohnRostron]

So simple, but so effective.

Pardon my ignorance of transatlantic terminology, but what do you mean by 'core'? I have never come across this terminology.

John

[Mike Buckley]

Thank you to John and Nandakumar!

John: Foam core is a type of board. See this. It's most commonly used as a backing when mounting virtually any lightweight material to it including prints. I use it on its own in either black or white to absorb or reflect light, respectively. I also use it to block light that would otherwise directly enter the lens and cause flare or to block light that would otherwise fall on the scene being photographed. The material is ideal because it's very light, easy to cut into smaller sizes, and is easy to fold into standalone pieces once the outer layer of paper is scored. It's also made in ideal sizes, is readily available in arts and craft stores, and is relatively inexpensive.

[FlyingSquirrel]

Nice image, Mike. You really do great with still-life, and lighting. Always interesting to read your descriptions of the custom setups. If I recall correctly, you read a book a while back called "Light Science and Magic: An Introduction to Photographic Lighting"...you've really got a lot out of that piece of literature. Well done

[Dave Humphries]

Hi John,

For a search over this side of the pond, the first few links I tried all seemed to link to single colour board (e.g. black, white or grey both sides) in a variety of A1, A2, A3 sizes (rather than 'x by y' inches), usually available in multiple sheets, making it more expensive than in US.

I've not tried a local supplier/shop, as a couple craft shops I knew of closed a while back

There's a (new) picture framer local to me, but I suspect his mark up (on a special order, as shop isn't big) will make it expensive there too.

If anyone UK based knows a supplier of the black/white variety here, it would be helpful to know.

Cheers, Dave