Submitter's name:	Mickey Trageser
Title:	Grape-Tomato Wine
Gear used:	OM-4T + 50/1.4 + Sunpak flash + tripod + cable release.
Diaphragm:	f16
Shutter speed:	1/60
Film used:	Fuji Superia 800
Technical information:	The original exposure was a bit thin, adusted in PhotoShop.
Subject information:	Dropped grape-tomatoes into a wine glass half full with water. Hit the cable release at impact, or as close as I could. I wanted to see the water churning from the impact. I used the black background to bring out the color of the tomatoes and radiance of the crystal. A fun project!
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Comment left by: Olaf Greve (no e-mail specified)

This is great! This shot reminds me of one of Dave Bulger's candidate shots for the macro theme. Really well executed too! The only slightly disturbing part is the tomatoe to the left of the glass, but that's a minor nitpick.

Comment left by: Anonymous Visitor

I think the tomato on the left looks like a clown's nose. When I look closely, I can see a face in the water splash to go with it! Maybe I've had too much wine...

Comment left by: Eric Pederson (epederso@darkwing.uoregon.edu)

This is the kind of shot one is supposed to be able to find death masks and nude women in the reflections if you look carefully enough! :-) Seriously, the lighting is very effective. Given the black background, it would be easy to remove the "clown's nose" tomato (the one missing the glass), which I think would simplify the composition and allow a better focus on the main drama of the composition.

Comment left by: benson (benson@research.haifa.ac.il)

Fun shot - would make a great ad for - I don't know - Vodka?? The colors, the action. Great execution.

Comment left by: Wendy O (no e-mail specified)

Tomatoes? Thought they were cranberries. Great shot.

Comment left by: Jay Maynard (jmaynard@conmicro.cx)

Nice idea, nicely executed. Does anyone else see the grain throughout the image, though? Seems like it was taken in a dust storm. Probably scanning artifact; the original image is undoubtedly much cleaner.

Comment left by: The Photographer (no e-mail specified)

The grain is due to the underexposed 800 speed film. The prints came back just a little dark, but the negs were quite thin. Photoshop to the rescue.

Comment left by: Alasdair Mackintosh (Alasdair.Mackintosh@ntlworld.com)

I'd considered some kind of "water in a glass" shot for this Tope, but I'm glad I didn't, as I'd have been clearly outclassed. Great colours, and vivid composition.

Comment left by: bbbean (bbbean@beancotton.com)

Very nice. Other than the slight grain, this is close to perfect.

Comment left by: Mike Cormier (no e-mail specified)

Regardless of it's "nitpicker" flaws, this is hands down my favorite entry, both for it's originality and wonderfully contracting color palette. I'd be interested in hearing more about how the lighting was set up... you did such a good job of painting the subject and not the table or backdrop... or is the background blacked out in Photoshop? Details please.... :)

Comment left by: The Photographer (no e-mail specified)

Wow, thanks for the compliment! The lighting was a simple one flash setup, 90 degrees to the left of the subject, and roughly 45 degree elevation, at a distance of about 5 feet. I used a card taped to the flash to shadow the backdrop. The backdrop and the platform are black 16x20 inch very heavy card stock. The platform was wrapped with plastic wrap, and the backdrop was about 10 inches from the glass. I chose a single direct flash to get the most contrast and water highlights. The only Photoshop cleanup of the background was dust removal. It was not darkened or smoothed by software. The platform remained mostly dark due to the angle of the flash and the darkened room. This was a fun project. I'd like to do more on a larger scale, but my dining room table just won't be a suitable site! As it was, I was chasing down the tomatoes after each shot! They were looking pretty ragged by the time I was done.

Comment left by: Buddy Walters (BWalters@attbi.com)

A Superb Photo with Unbelievable Creativity! You should make a career out of table top photography. But I do wonder. How many times did you repeat this? Did your wife think you were nuts? Mine would have – I can see her face just thinking about it. “You’re doing what?...!”

Comment left by: Mickey Trageser (no e-mail specified)

Thanks Buddy! Table top is nice for a controlled atmosphere. Yes, I got 'the look' from my wife while shooting this. But the 'looks' are followed with 'wows' later... It's fun! -Mickey

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