Oil & Water Experiment

[bigcloud]

I recently saw a cool newsletter article about shooting oil & water over a color bokeh. Thought I'd give it a go! Here are some of the results.

1:

link on flickr

2:

link on flickr

The Setup:
Pointed a 200mm straight down to some oil & water mixed on plexiglass. Underneath that (out of focus) is a small colorful shoe box.

link on flickr

[Mindbender]

Not My style at all... but I'm always in favor of random experimentation.

On the first shot... if you did a tight macro or tight crop of the small bubbles circling the larger round bubbles, that might be fun.

You should try this with a custom bokeh lens filter to see what happens... then try moving the glass up a little and back lighting the subject.

[Joy Foraker]

Big Cloud

Hi Paul---

Wow I really like that. Very Unusual. Like bubble choreography I was immediately curious about how you did that, thanks for details of the set-up. The shoe box prop is ingenious, I never would have thought of that. My shoe boxes are not that fancy.

Actually this would be a fun background for a website if the theme fit.

[bigcloud]

Thanks guys!

I like the ideas, MB! Particularly in trying custom bokeh filters. I've actually got some cutouts for a 50mm diameter lens (which is what the Nikon 55- 200mm is). I'll need to find some other method for gaining some distance between the glass and the prop below. This first attempt was rather haphazardly thrown together.

Joy, rest assured I have now shoes that require a fancy shoe box. This box housed a new pair of shoes for my daughter

[lokki]

I guess I'm missing something on the 'bokeh' part of this... While I like the pictures and love the fact that you're experimenting, I'm confused as to how bokeh plays into it.

As I understanding it, bokeh refers to the out-of-focus areas, and is usually noticed in the shape of specular highlights. It is generally controlled with some kind of aperture plate, which I think is what Paul is talking about with the 50mm cutouts. Again, this will be visible mostly in areas that are affected by edge effects - highlights, and some high-contrast areas. I don't see this in the examples you provided...

Anyway, you might be able to gain more distance by using a front-reflecting mirror. The optical path can be made arbitrarily large in this way. Just use another tripod and some clamps that won't break your glass, and position a mirror at a 45-deg angle above that, positioned so you can stand and look straight ahead and see down through the glass (like a periscope but only with one mirror). That will give you lots of flexibility.

[bigcloud]

You're right. Not bokeh. I had bokeh on the brain, quite a tragic thing these days. Often goes misdiagnosed due to lack of clarity and claims of hallucinations.

[Dami]

Nice experimentation, Paul. I'd love to see a macro on the bubbles, too. And thanks for showing your set up!