Julie Barrett is a freelance writer and photographer based in Plano, TX.

Monday Photo Shoot

Fresh when it gets here from Julie Barrett
Tuesday, November 27, 2007


Show us light in a surprising way.

Better late than ... something. I've been shooting boring stuff for web sites for several days, so the idea of playing around with light was certainly fun.

Light up my wine

This is a very easy setup to do, and the best part is that I did it on the cheap. The background is a black fabric I picked up for two bucks a yard. The glass is full of sparkling apple juice (cheep and bubbly!) and I sat it on a piece of glass from a picture frame for reflection.

The tricky part was the lighting. While I happen to have a couple of light stands and umbrellas, they're not necessary at all. I used a 100 watt daylight CFR bulb from Home Depot in a little clamp fixture that I bought from Staples. I clamped that to my stand and placed the stand at a 45-degree or so angle above and behind the table. I bounced the light off of the umbrella. (You can use a white cloth umbrella or a piece of white cloth.) Because it was daylight and I was shooting in my living room (no expensive studio for me), I hung a black cloth behind the camera to block out ambient light.

Now comes the one specialized piece of gear: The light in the glass is from an ultraviolet laser. You can use a regular laser pointer and get a similar effect. In fact, I'll be posting pictures later this week using an off-the-shelf cat toy, I mean laser pointer. I set the exposure for one second and held the laser directly above the glass, moving it around just a bit during the exposure. That's what created the "rays" in the glass.

So there you have it. Thanks for suggesting this, John. I was definitely ready to play!

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Filed under: Pictures   Monday Photo Shoot         

  16  Comments
 

Comments are closed
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Raoul said:
That's a beautiful photo, Julie! Thanks for sharing how you did it!
Date: 11/27/2007 9:34:58 PM Date: 11/27/2007 9:34:58 PM

Gravatar
Greg Kiser said:
I really like this. Creative photography is something that has always impressed me. You have inspired me to try my own take on this. Thank you. Greg http://journals.aol.com/radar446/PhotoTrek/
Date: 11/28/2007 4:00:49 AM Date: 11/28/2007 4:00:49 AM

Gravatar
Helen said:
I like this. You did good.
Date: 11/28/2007 5:52:06 AM Date: 11/28/2007 5:52:06 AM

Gravatar
Steven said:
Thank you for describing what you did! My gears are turning as I've got laser pointers too :-) Beautiful photo!
Date: 11/28/2007 11:21:47 PM Date: 11/28/2007 11:21:47 PM

Gravatar
Bethe said:
Nicest one I've seen yet from John's challenge!!
Date: 11/30/2007 11:03:02 PM Date: 11/30/2007 11:03:02 PM

Gravatar
monponsett said:
I'd drink that.
Date: 12/1/2007 8:52:36 AM Date: 12/1/2007 8:52:36 AM

Gravatar
Marie said:
I really like this one!!! Lighting is perfect~ Nicely done. Marie
Date: 12/1/2007 10:47:50 AM Date: 12/1/2007 10:47:50 AM

Gravatar
Karen Funk Blocher said:
Oh, this one is fabulous, too. Love the bands of light in the bowl of the glass, and also the lighting of the stem. Seriously cool!
Date: 12/1/2007 3:45:11 PM Date: 12/1/2007 3:45:11 PM

Gravatar
Raoul said:
That's a beautiful photo, Julie! Thanks for sharing how you did it!
Date: 11/27/2007 9:34:58 PM Date: 11/27/2007 9:34:58 PM

Gravatar
Greg Kiser said:
I really like this. Creative photography is something that has always impressed me. You have inspired me to try my own take on this. Thank you. Greg http://journals.aol.com/radar446/PhotoTrek/
Date: 11/28/2007 4:00:49 AM Date: 11/28/2007 4:00:49 AM

Gravatar
Helen said:
I like this. You did good.
Date: 11/28/2007 5:52:06 AM Date: 11/28/2007 5:52:06 AM

Gravatar
Steven said:
Thank you for describing what you did! My gears are turning as I've got laser pointers too :-) Beautiful photo!
Date: 11/28/2007 11:21:47 PM Date: 11/28/2007 11:21:47 PM

Gravatar
Bethe said:
Nicest one I've seen yet from John's challenge!!
Date: 11/30/2007 11:03:02 PM Date: 11/30/2007 11:03:02 PM

Gravatar
monponsett said:
I'd drink that.
Date: 12/1/2007 8:52:36 AM Date: 12/1/2007 8:52:36 AM

Gravatar
Marie said:
I really like this one!!! Lighting is perfect~ Nicely done. Marie
Date: 12/1/2007 10:47:50 AM Date: 12/1/2007 10:47:50 AM

Gravatar
Karen Funk Blocher said:
Oh, this one is fabulous, too. Love the bands of light in the bowl of the glass, and also the lighting of the stem. Seriously cool!
Date: 12/1/2007 3:45:11 PM Date: 12/1/2007 3:45:11 PM





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