Ben Saren Photography » Abstract

Just a drop please

Ben Saren — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 02:03:25 +0000

Now that I’m working daily on Project 365 (I take a new picture every day in 2010) and it’s going so well, I’ve been challenging myself more and more. A picture I’ve always wanted to take was of a droplet splashing. We’ve all seen them, a high speed video of a drop of milk splashing, or a drop of rain, etc. This is not an easy photograph to take, but I managed to pull it off a few nights ago with red wine (Malbec to be exact).

I set up my lightbox, an external flash on my Canon 40D, and a remote/wireless flash, and set up a glass of wine in the lightbox. Once the camera and tripod were in place, I set the camera at ISO 100, f/4.0, and 1/60th of a second shutter speed. With my EF-S 24-70mm lens, I set it for 70mm and tried to focus on the center point of the surface of wine. It was tricky using manual focus to find just the right spot where I wanted the droplets of wine to splash. The idea here was to get just the right spot on the surface of the wine in focus, and any splash or droplets on the same plane. Getting this part right took a good 45 minutes or so, including the timing of the flash and droplets using a turkey baster. Finally, once I had the right timing, focus, etc, I had to wash out the glass (it was getting quite spotted with wine) and get to it. Using a cable remote, the turkey baster, and lots of patience, I just kept at it – dropping droplets one at a time into the glass, firing away over and over again. I ended up with about 640 photos, of which two I liked. The final selection is the one included in this page. I had to use Photoshop to remove some undesired light reflections and flares, and some annoying aberrations. Using a Photoshop plugin I ended up softening the photo, increasing the contrast a bit, and glossing over the photo a bit.

I’m extremely pleased with the results. It’s another notch in my belt and I’m definitely going to try this again soon and try to get more creative with the liquids and lighting.

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Hot Coals

Ben Saren — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 19:57:06 +0000

One night this summer we had a party at our home in Somerville. We had a fire going in the back yard. Yes, in the city – but it was a controlled fire. No really.

Late at night as the fire started to wind down and there was little more than hot coals roasting in the soot and a fresh log cooking over the coals I decided to grab my camera. I took these pictures. Nothing special, but I think we can all relate to being a little intoxicated and staring into the hot coals of a dying fire and becoming entranced by the patterns and the almost primal beauty of fire and the destruction and rebirth. I hope this pictures convey that.

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

A Walk in the Woods

Ben Saren — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 17:08:36 +0000

I went to see my folks a few weeks ago in southern NH. I brought my dog Elmer along. My little sister and I, are our dogs, went for a little hike in the woods behind my folks’ house. I know these woods pretty well, having hiked them many times in the past. There are really well kept conservation trails, and some interesting things to see. There’s a long brook that runs along the length of the trail, that at times transitions into swamps, marshes, ponds, and gentle waterfalls over rocky ground. Anyway, I brought my camera along with me with the intention of taking some abstract pictures. I think I achieved that naturally with the camera and the midday light, but I wasn’t able to accomplish what I really envisioned until I got to work in Photoshop. These images are essentially what I wanted these pictures to appear as at the time I took the photographs. I hope you enjoy.

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Macro: Nantucket Clock

Ben Saren — Tue, 05 May 2009 01:19:04 +0000

This is a clock that Ali and I picked up in Nantucket during a trip there for her birthday last summer. Despite how it sounds, we’re really not Nantucket people! I just got a Canon 60mm macro lense and thought I’d put it to good use. Not too shabby, I think, with some help from Photoshop for texture and color.

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Christmas Candle

Ben Saren — Mon, 04 May 2009 23:14:33 +0000

This was taken the night after Christmas, 2008. It was late at night and I was feeling particularly moody, as usual during the holidays (I hate them). I was simply inspired to take as dark a picture of this candle as I could. Slow shutterspeed, tripod, bla bla bla. Nothing much, but worthy of the post I think.

After getting what I wanted from the candle, I polished off a bottle of wine and then put a clementine on the wine bottle, and photographed it. Again, nothing splendid, but noteworthy I suppose.

Just a drop please Now that I’m working daily on Project 365 (I take...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.