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Image of the Week: Coffee Splash

A lot of people have asked me how I got this shot.

This image is actually the result of three separate exposures: one for the coffee cup, another for the column of pouring coffee, and a final capture for the splash. Getting one capture in-camera of this same scene would have taken many, many more hours, several gallons of coffee, and a box full of branded cups. As it is, I was able to shoot the entire thing in just a couple of hours using the only printed cup I had and a single pot of coffee.

By compositing the best elements of different captures, not only was I able to save a great deal of time in the studio, but I was able to provide the client with a layered Photoshop file that allows them to selectively display each of the elements: if they want just the cup and the splash, they can turn off the layer with the pouring coffee. If just the pour is needed, off goes the splash.

The lighting is pretty straightforward: two Nikon SB-26 flashes, dialed to their lowest power setting to produce the shortest flash duration, were on lightstands just underneath the table surface and pointed up and back to bounce into a white reflector to create a clean, white background. The front was lit with two Hensel monolights bounced into umbrellas.

Have questions or comments? Send me an email.

Technical Data

Coffee Splash was photographed with a Nikon D300 and a 105mm ƒ/4 manual focus Micro-Nikkor lens. Overall exposure with the studio strobes was ƒ/11.

Other Images of the Week

Buffalo, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming Elk skeleton on the banks of the Madison River, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming Winter Sun, Middlebury, Vermont Mike Kennard and the Lake Champlain Bridge, Chimney Point, Vermont Tiffany, Middlebury, Vermont Nora, Plattsburgh, New York Carrizo Badlands Sunset, Anza-Borrego State Park, California Ocotillo Shadow on Abandoned Cabin, Anza-Borrego Desert, California, silver gelatin print South Fork Cascade Creek and 'The Wall', Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming Utah Juniper, Canyonlands National Park, Utah, Palladium Print
Nicole Grainger riding Oxford, Middlebury, Vermont (Palladium Print) December Snow I, Middlebury, Vermont Bedroom, Homer Noble Farm, Ripton, Vermont Deer Skull, Citronelle, Alabama, Palladium Print Boulders in swiftly moving stream, Weybridge, Vermont Sunset and Moonrise at Table Mountain, Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming Moonrise and Abandoned Trailers, Anza-Borrego Desert, California UVM Mallory, Morgan Horse Farm, Weybridge, Vermont, Palladium Print Abandoned Cabin, Anza-Borrego Desert, California Melissa and Parker, Columbia, South Carolina
Old Stone Row in Winter, Middlebury, Vermont Worth Mountain Ski Lift in a Snowstorm, Middlebury College Snow Bowl, Green Mountains, Vermont Farmer and Pilot Ed Peet, Cornwall, Vermont Birches, Middlebury, Vermont Mountain Palm Springs, Anza-Borrego Desert, California Bullseye, Citronelle, Alabama Lunging UVM Orlando, Morgan Horse Farm, Weybridge, Vermont Barns IV, Middlebury, Vermont Fallen Tree in the Creek, Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming Blacksmith Lee Beckwith, Weybridge, Vermont
Snow Angel, Middlebury, Vermont Slack Line, Middlebury, Vermont Coffee Splash Barns III, Middlebury, Vermont Beulah in the Carrizo Badlands, Anza-Borrego Desert, California Chapel of the Transfiguration, Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming Cross-Country Runner Alexandra Krieg, Middlebury, Vermont Horse Bath, Morgan Horse Farm, Weybridge, Vermont Whitney, Citronelle, Alabama The North Window from Turret Arch, Arches National Park, Utah
Jeff, Middlebury College, Vermont Hostas II, Middlebury, Vermont Hikers in Coyote Gulch I, Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, Utah Ocotillo Shadow, Abandoned Cabin, Anza-Borrego State Park, California Moonlit Palms, Anza-Borrego State Park, California Park Avenue, Arches National Park, Utah Ashton and Whitney, Citronelle, Alabama Steven Halladay Road III Fall colors and ivy-covered wall, Middlebury College, Vermont
Maple Tree, Middlebury, Vermont Jesse Hamner at Grand Prismatic Spring, Yellowstone NP Aon Center from Millenium Park, Chicago Mountain Biking I Boulders II, Canyonlands National Park, Utah Hosta Leaves Joe The Pour Skylar

Coffee Splash. Click on image to view larger.

Purchase a Fine Art Photographic Print

Coffee Splash is available as an 11"x14" archival pigment print, matted to fit an 16"x20" frame. Each print is signed by the photographer and is accompanied by a display, care, and conservation document detailing the process behind the photograph.

This image is also available under a Rights-Managed License for use in your editorial or commercial projects.
All images and graphics © 2005-2012 Brett Simison, All Rights Reserved.
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