I’m working on my MFA and the best part of the program, so far, is that it forces me to do work I generally don’t do. I get to be a little more…well…artistic!
So here is the first image I created for an assignment:
Lighting is so-so...let me try some different lighting.
It’s okay. I don’t like the line that is created from the shadows at the bottom of the letters. I need to drop some contrast and even out the shadow lighting so I shoot it using a couple different lighting setups until I get this one. Keep in mind it is the same subject with just different lighting:
This one I like a lot better.
There is some basic post work on the image but it is not a type layer that has somehow been rendered into a sea of dry tea leaves.
To make this I needed:
- A big bag of tea – already on hand.
- A template that says ‘TEA’ which I made from some mattboard
Here is a pic of the final studio rig used for this:
I shot the final picture with my Tamron 17-50mm at 50mm, WB to flash, f/16 at 1/100 sec.
It wasn’t even messy. the problem with this shoot was keeping the cat from jumping on it a couple of times. The tea was rebagged after the shoot. 
