A Study In Colors

[arne saknussen]

I did see this technique in a magazine, so I tried it out. Bring on the comments please.

[daq7]

I will pay you to tell me how you did this.

[Anbesol]

Dont just tell him! Make him pay first!

haha, cool shot. I dont know that the blue in the right top corner is doing any favors to the shot, it also seems out of place with its distinctly unique shape and texture, doesn't match the smoke.

I can only guess as to how this was done, piqued my curiosity, as soon as Daq pays you maybe you can tell the rest of us too?

[EOSThree]

Interesting...because of the bubbles I am thinking this is taken in water, so I am guessing food coloring dropped or squirted in water.

[Don Schaeffer]

Great abstract. It could be hung.

[arne saknussen]

EOS wins!
The bubbles are actually in the glass though. It is a rectangular vase filled with water and , yes, food coloring was dripped into it.
Daq, you can send a check for $250.

[arne saknussen]

As far as the blue is concerned, does this work better?

[n8]

I'm inspired to blatantly copy this

[DGK*CRONE]

Interesting...because of the bubbles I am thinking this is taken in water, so I am guessing food coloring dropped or squirted in water.

Yeah, I thought that was pretty obvious.

I think the blue is pretty over powering in this picture. IMO, it distracts you from looking at the rest of the picture. The other colors are blended together so well though. Good job.

$250, that's it? lol

[Anbesol]

Well I didn't think it was too obvious, my guess was dense smoke, inverted and thrown through hue adjustment masks. The blue spots threw that theory off though.

[daq7]

You could easily color correct the blue.

[DGK*CRONE]

Really? I have seen my friend drop certain color liquids in fish tanks and pools. always looks cool but never thought of taking pictures of it like this. Great Idea and works really well. The dead give away for me was the blue. If the Blue wasn't there I would have had more trouble figuring out what it was. Blue is just a common food color and in water it reminds me of Easter. Always helping the kids use the water colors for the eggs and stuff.

[Ridgetop]

I want to try this with a rose suspended inside the water inside the vase. Not sure what would happen but it could be fun to have red and blue food coloring pooling down around it. Who knows. . . .

[arne saknussen]

Thanks so much for the comments. Please note that I mentioned I found this technique in a magazine (one of those British ones, which are so much better than the American ones, I might add), so you won't be taking any glory from me.
Here is a shot without the blue to compare, if you will.
Also, I know I can do somethings in PP, but I prefer to do it au naturale for now, to get the learning curve.



And, the bubbles in the glass are bothering me. I need a new vase.

[daq7]

Better with the blue. By far.

[GB1]

Not a bad idea at all! I wonder if you can make the background whitish color darker?

G

[daq7]

If you took it in raw yes you can make the background MUCH MUCH darker and light paint the colors back in. It would look way cool.

[daq7]

Give me a raw and I will do it...

[Frog]

Pretty cool. I wonder what can be done for bg and light source.

I belonged to a photo group a while back that had a member who did a lot of experimenting with water and color and bubbles and drops. Took some pretty neat shots of water drops hitting the water from under the water.

[EOSThree]

I would try a black background and light the vase from the top and sides, that would make for a very dramatic photo. I might try it with the black background and something like milk or cream for the media. One of the reasons I figured out how it was done was the colors, the same colors you see in, well, food coloring.

[PhilF]

I will pay you to tell me how you did this.

lol... daq7 there are a lot of how to do pics like this in youtube... also the colored smoke and drops if you like that too.

[PhilF]

Pretty cool. I wonder what can be done for bg and light source.

I belonged to a photo group a while back that had a member who did a lot of experimenting with water and color and bubbles and drops. Took some pretty neat shots of water drops hitting the water from under the water.

usually it takes a couple of hundred shots to get a decent one. I did this too with a photo group a few months ago... it's cool if you are bored at home and you are itching to shoot.

[Anbesol]

ooooh with milk, thats a good idea. I think theres plenty of potential with using inversions, hue sliders/masks, and the tonal curve. Can't really make abstract colors look unnatural haha.