Maple syrup close-up

[Mike Buckley]

It had been a couple weeks since I had been in my makeshift studio, so I had two choices: either continue enduring a case of serious withdrawal or get my fix. I chose the latter.

The maple syrup and bottle were given to me by a childhood friend. This is the same syrup I used to make my first photo of it in a very different style.

Setup
The background is blue art paper lit by a speedliight fitted with a piece of diffusion material to reduce its brightness. Another speedlight at the right rear backlights the syrup and brightly lights the rim at the opening of the bottle. The short duration of that speedlight stopped the motion of the bottle and the pouring syrup. Two small continuous-light lamps at the left front and right front add just a touch of light to the shadow areas of the bottle.

[mugge]

Mike, I love the lighting on the syrup. I would like a bit more detail ULHC. Not too much though.
Cheers Ole

[bje07]

Mike, as usual I like your idea, very nice picture, framing but the bottom burst of light looks like mold to me

[Shadowman]

Nicely done.

[JBW]

either more or less of the rim of the bottle neck?

[Dave A]

Wonderful image. I'm also a fan of tight crops as I know you are.

Dave

[Mike Buckley]

Thanks, everyone!

Yes, Dave, I'm sure I will always be a fan of tight crops.

either more or less of the rim of the bottle neck?

Less of the rim would work well for me also. I used the current composition because it's a 4 x 6 aspect ratio, which is a readily available, inexpensive frame size. When I make photos of subjects that were given to me, the giver sometimes wants a print. If the friend wanted an 8 x 10 or 5 x 7 print, other readily available frame sizes, I would simply crop at the top to reduce the amount of rim displayed in the image.

[FootLoose]

Good choice of subject, Mike. What is causing the "blockey" structure in the main light burst?

[Mike Buckley]

Thanks, Greg!

What is causing the "blockey" structure in the main light burst?

Heck if I know. I gave up long ago trying to figure out the physics of light that isn't the everyday very basic stuff explained in books. My guess is that it's some sort of refraction caused by the liquid but that's not very helpful. I see something that I would describe as several layers of starbursts that I've never seen, so I wonder if the optics of the macro lens are causing something that a standard lens wouldn't create.