During the Winter months I've been experimenting with photography at home. When the nights get shorter I do light painting in the dark evenings in my spare bedroom and shoot macro during the day time. I'm a great fan of Youtube for inspiration and there are quite a few tutorials on macro photography using milk, oil and paint.
The technique is quite simple and the abstract results are unpredictable and fascinating. A macro lens on a tripod is needed with a remote cable or trigger for the best results. Place a centimeter of full fat milk in a small glass dish. Add a small amount of olive oil or sunflower oil to a cup and mix up some colours of acrylic paint individually with some water to make a solution. Pour two or three colours of paint into the oil, give the cup a little swirl, then gently pour over the milk and watch the results form.
 |
The mixture of milk, oil and watery paint forms a universe of coloured swirls and macro planets. Using a tooth pick you can move the bubbles of paint around to create different abstract patterns and swirls.
 |
For a different result get in closer to capture the picture within the picture using extension tubes if necessary. There are micro worlds to discover within the macro world.
Change your colour combinations to achieve different results. Experiment with different oil and paint solutions. Olive oil is heavier and thicker than sunflower oil and adding more water to the acrylic paint offers a different result. To stir things up a little add a dab of watery washing up liquid using a cotton bud and watch the coloured world explode and shoot the resulting chaos.
As a project for a wet Winters day shooting milk, oil, and paint in a petri dish is fun and the results would test the painting skills of the very best artist. Now that Spring has finally arrived my focus is back to the outdoors again.
