LIQUID MOTION

James Paterson shows you how to reshape images to create a stunning digital abstract figure, using both in-camera techniques and Photoshop

In this issue’s Crash Course we’ll show you how you can craft a colourful dancer image from a series of photos of paint, using a combination of shooting skills and Photoshop techniques.

First, we’ll get set up to shoot vibrant photos of paint by capturing the colours as they travel through water. Once this is done, we’ll head into Photoshop, where we’ll warp the photos into the shape of our springing dancer. As such, this is effectively two techniques in one – so if you’re mainly interested in capturing beautiful paint abstracts you can follow along with the first part, and if you’d rather work on the Photoshop skills, you can skip the shooting part and use the supplied images to craft your own painterly figures.

For the shoot, we need a clear container full of water; a fish tank is ideal, but any clear plastic or glass container will suffice. You can use natural light at a push, but you’ll get better results with an off-camera flash – any budget flashgun will do. The flash helps to bring out the colours in the paints, and freezes the action as the paint travels through the tank of water, and we’ll show you how to get set up with your off-camera flash, and how to expose for the shot.

We’ll then move on to the Photoshop part of the technique. It might seem complicated, but it’s actually much easier than it looks…

THE SETUP PHOTOGRAPH PAINT DROPS

Get set up for paint abstracts with these bits of kit

1 FISH TANK

A small fish tank like this is ideal, but any plastic or glass container will work. Ensure that the glass is as clean as possible before you start filling the tank with water. You’ll need to refresh the water after every few shots, so this is best done close to a sink.

2 SPEEDLIGHT