For my final project, I attempted to emulate the work of Martin Waugh. Martin Waugh takes pictures of falling water droplets. The whole project took me about 2 hours to complete with around 300 total pictures. My setup was a tripod, camera, baking sheet full of water, food coloring, and a plastic bag with a hole in it hanging from the ceiling. I let the water from the bag drop into the baking sheet, and I would anticipate when to take the picture. The hardest part about this project was either the timing of taking the picture or getting the focus right. Getting the timing right was difficult because you had to anticipate when the water drop would fall and hit the water below, and the window to take a picture was literally only milliseconds. Getting the focus right was difficult, too, because my rig was improvised very fast and not very well, the water droplets would fall in a different spot every time so I would have to wait until the water droplet fell into the focused spot to take the picture. I started the selection process by cutting the 300 photos into the best 100, the best 100 into the best 50, the best 50 about 25, and then the best 25 into the best 18. I couldn’t really go any lower than the best 18, because I liked all the best pictures so much that I think that all of them should be displayed. Although not professional quality, I’m very satisfied with the results of my pictures, especially for it being the first time I’ve done something like this.

Kristin Bruni is a Chicago based artist who studied art and interior design at Illinois State University. and finished with a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Columbia College. In 2003, she rediscovered her love of photography and began to discover what other things she could do with photography. Her signature mirror image concept evolved when she was experimenting with how nature’s details could be seen differently. Geometric lines begin to emerge which gives it a kaleidoscopic look and design.

Thai tea or “cha-yen”  in Thailand, is a drink made from strongly-brewed black tea. However, due to the high price of the tea leaves, plain black tea with added food coloring is often used. Other ingredients may include added orange blossom water, star anise, crushed tamarind seed or red and yellow food coloring, and sometimes other spices as well. This tea is sweetened with sugar and condensed milk and served chilled. Evaporated milk, coconut milk or whole milk is generally poured over the tea and ice before serving to add taste and creamy appearance. However, in Thailand, condensed milk and sugar are mixed with the tea before it is poured over ice and then topped with evaporated milk. It was originally a breakfast drink, but has been adapted to be drunk all throughout the day. In Thai restaurants worldwide, it is served in a tall glass, though in Thailand it is more typically poured over the crushed ice in a clear (or translucent) plastic bag. It can also be made into a frappé at more westernised vendors. It is popular in Southeast Asia and in many American restaurants that serve Thai food. Although Thai tea is not the same as bubble tea, a Southeast and East Asian beverage that contains large tapioca pearls, Thai tea with tapioca pearls is a popular flavor of bubble tea. Some variations include Dark Thai Iced Tea “cha dam yen” which is Thai tea served chilled with no milk content and sweetened with sugar only. The concept is based on traditional Indian tea, which is used as the main ingredient. There is also Lime Thai tea “cha manao” which is similar to Dark Thai iced tea, but flavored with lime as well as sweetened with sugar. Mint may also be added.

While in Photography class, my favorite tool was a camera because it allowed me to capture all the pictures that I took in this class. My favorite material is photo paper, because I could print and develop my film on it. I like that I have so much freedom when it comes to my assignments so that I don’t end up with the same exact thing as one of my classmates. Throughout the year, I’ve noticed that my work is either really dark, or really light, there really is no in-between. The lightness gives an upbeat, lighthearted mood, while the darkness gives off a more somber and professional mood. In my darker pictures, I use a lot of blue because it also adds to the somber feeling. When I work with a camera I am reminded that I am capturing a moment in time that will never happen again, so I should make the most of the picture that I am taking at that moment. I begin a piece with an idea, then I go and shoot my idea, and it usually evolves into something greater by the end. I know a piece is done when I can stand back and look at the computer screen or paper and be very satisfied with what I’ve created. When my work is going well, I am filled with a sense of accomplishment, because sometimes not all of my photos come out as planned or come out as well as I hoped. When people see my work, I’d like them to admire it, and provide feedback, whether it be good or bad so I can reflect upon it and apply it to future works. I do the work I do because I really enjoy photography. Photography is my favorite medium of art because it is the one that I can connect with the most and find myself having the most fun doing.  I enjoy taking nice pictures and them editing them to make them look even nicer because it fills me with a sense of accomplishment. When we are assigned a project in Photo, I first must think of what I am going to do for that picture. Then, I sort of create the image in my head while I am at the shooting spot, and take the picture. I usually take a couple different pictures so I have a variety of pictures to choose from when I go to edit the final product. Then I go onto the computer, select the best looking pictures, and edit them to clean them up a bit. This process usually takes awhile because it takes some time for me to edit the picture to my liking.

Martin Waugh takes pictures of water droplets. He uses high-speed photography to capture the moment right when the water drop hits the surface to create liquid sculptures. Waugh received his B.S degree in Physics from Lewis and Clark College in Oregon. Waugh has spent the last 10 years photographing water droplets, capturing more than 100,000 pictures of the subject.

I plan to spend a lot of time just dropping water into some sort of container and photograph the results. I’ll probably end up taking hundreds of pictures, and selecting the few that come out okay. If I can’t do this project at school, I’ll probably do it at home, most likely over a weekend where I don’t have any homework to worry about.