My Addiction

So today I will introduce you to my addiction . . .

 

 

Anyone who knows me well will tell you that I LOVE coffee! I love the smell, the taste, the texture of the beans, the sound of the coffee grinder and the drip of the brewing coffee. I love the process of making the coffee . . . putting a filter in the coffee maker, grinding the beans, adding the water, turning on the coffee maker and finally viewing the results! What a wonderful way to start my day!

 

For this shot, I used a piece of gold lame fabric to form my backdrop. It was draped over the DIY light box I mentioned yesterday. I tried to form some interesting folds at the back but found out that the bottom had to look smooth or the shot looked weird.

 

I set my camera up on a tripod and composed the image, making use of my 105mm macro lens. I then worked at laying out my coffee still life. I placed my empty glass cup first, then the loose beans, and finally the bag of coffee beans. I placed one small goose-necked halogen lamp to the left of the setup. I tried a series of shots at different apertures and shutter speeds to get a feel for what would produce the best image.

 

Here is what my lighting setup looked like for this shoot:

 

 

 

 

For this particular image, I bracketed my shots . . . f5.6 at 1/6, 1/20, and .7 seconds. I combined the images in PhotoMatix Pro to form the resulting HDR image. I then imported the completed image into Lightroom 2 for further editing. I used a preset called Center Stage which I modified slightly and applied some vignetting to the edges to focus the attention on the mug of coffee and produce this final image.

 

Though I like this image, I will definitely play with coffee shots in the future. The lame may not have been the best choice for a backdrop because it produces some very blown hotspots but I do think it helped me achieve a warm and inviting look for the image which is what I was after. I also like the monochromatic look of it.

 

What’s YOUR addiction? Photograph it and link me up by leaving me a comment below!