Pouring a Manhattan

[Gonzo13]

I had an idea for a photo to sell on my website. I have noticed that most of the time when I see a martini glass in a poster or picture with something being poured into it, it is to make a Martini. I thought why not Manhattan's. So I set up 2 little slave flashes that I have, one on either side of the glass and put an index card in front of the pop up flash so that it didn't reflect back off the glass. By no means is this the final product I am planning on shooting it again with help so my hands aren't as full. I guess the questions that I have are, would it look better sitting on a flat surface? Would a different color background be better? (white didn't look very good) Should the shaker be visible or not? Maraschino cherry in the glass? If you have any other suggestions lay em on me as well.



Camera: Canon EOS Digital Rebel XTi
Exposure: 0.005 sec (1/200)
Aperture: f/16.0
Focal Length: 50 mm
ISO Speed: 100
Exposure Bias: 0 EV
Flash: On, Fired

I don't have any control over the flash output of the slaves other than to move them farther away from the subject. I had the flash exposure comp set at -2.

[zona5101]

manhattens are smooooth. the flow in to the glass should be smooooooth. I think stop action is not the right approach to convey that feeling. But outside of that, a very nice stop action capture! For a drink, I believe this technique would be good for something spicey! Like a bloddy mary, celery in the glass, cracked pepper sprinkled about, and a sillouette of a bottle of hot sauce. Stop action - stacatto - hot. eh, who knows - just a thought... have fun!

[Gonzo13]

That's a good idea. I believe that once I can get the help involved then I could probably pour it smoother. Thanks.

[Gonzo13]

Originally Posted by zona5101

manhattens are smooooth. the flow in to the glass should be smooooooth. I think stop action is not the right approach to convey that feeling. But outside of that, a very nice stop action capture!

Alright I don't drink Manhattan's. I tasted one that my wife had and thought it ruined the bourbon that it was made with. When I poured the first one (actually just Southern Comfort) I was pouring it straight out of the bottle of SoCo. It made it a little choppy of a pour. This time I put it in a shaker and poured it from there. Alcohol pours smoother from a shaker for some reason, and to me this looks alot smoother. Let me know what you think of this one. I was thinking about blurring the background so that there isn't as much texture.

[Gonzo13]

Zona I was thinking about it earlier. Were you talking about doing it with a long exposure or a smoother pour?