Creative photography skills are a good way to attract the audience's attention. Rising steam, falling spray and spilled coffee will show the existence of an action and make the image more vivid. Suspension is also suitable for this, and it will be necessary to hold and photograph each floating object separately, and then combine them in post-processing. This is convenient, but all shadows and reflected light must be controlled.

Therefore, let's try another method, combining the levitation force with the movement of many tiny objects, such as droplets, flour particles, spices, herbs and even petals. All these objects will overlap each other, thus creating real shadows and making the image realistic and natural.

1. Equipment and props

You will need:

a camera and a tripod.

the main characteristics of still life. In this case, potato chips, basil leaves, pepper and tomato sauce.

a device that holds an object in the air. (For example, wires for light objects, such as chips, and metal strings for heavy objects, such as spoons).

a light source suitable for freezing motion (twice flashing in my case).

2. Prepare for photography

Choose the best chips and punch several holes in each chip with a needle so that you can string them on the wire (two holes fix them more stably than one hole).

fishing line can be used instead of metal wire, but I think metal wire is more convenient for placing wood chips, and metal strings and glue guns are used to fix heavy objects.

3. Picture composition

Arrangement composition, so that the released spices leave a little space, and the wood chips overlap a little. Remember, when shooting moving parts, the chips may move a little, so please consider the chaotic space.

4. Lighting

Generally, one is located in the ribbon box on the right, slightly behind the stage (key light). The other is behind the large diffuser on the left (fill light). Both flashes are set to low power (1/16 to 1/128 provide very short pulses to capture the movement of the fluid).

normally, the shutter speed is set to the flash synchronization speed, which is between 1/16th second and 1/25th second. Now test to see the maximum aperture that can be obtained without underexposure. Set the camera to continuous shooting mode (maximum shooting) to take multiple photos in succession.

5. Shooting

Make sure this is the way you like to shoot, add the finishing touch, and take a series of shots, and sprinkle pepper and Chili powder on the potato chips. Then, you can sprinkle some ketchup (you can pour it into a circle with a syringe).

6. Post-processing

Select the best shots and combine them by putting each shot on a separate layer and using layer mask. Use the Stamp or Patch tool to remove wires and supports, and then add a little highlight to the image by adjusting the color and contrast.

Now, you can try to take the same theme photo with food such as coffee and bread!