During my last two years of high school, I dual-enrolled at Indian River State College taking many business and photography courses. I enjoyed photography so much, that I took a class every semester. I enrolled in Photography I followed by Advanced Photography. Following Advanced Photography, my professors had classes in Special Topics. These Special Topics classes covered photography in one specific arena (per semester) in depth. They also taught us many other photography techniques. It was in one of these classes that I discovered 'Doc' Edgerton's 'Milk Drop Crown' photo.
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Final Projects
Unfortunately, it was time to go off to college before I was able to take more than two classes in special topics. One of the classes that I did take covered black and white photography. The other class covered the elements and principles of art (or design). Assigned for final projects in these classes, we were to research and emulate a master photographer. For my second class in Special Topics, I chose Harold Edgerton – known as “Papa Flash.” An electrical engineer by trade, he is credited for transforming the stroboscope into a common, everyday object. It is this flash that he used for much of his photography. As he is famously known for his “milk drop crown” photo, it was this image that I attempted to emulate.
Instead of having an isolated image that featured the singular milk-drop crown, I decided to go for the same effect in a different way. Having a fetish for tea myself, I decided to emulate this crown effect with a splash of milk in a teacup.
Although I didn’t use the same technique that Edgerton did, I did end up achieving a kind of “milk drop crown” effect. Because I used film for these photography classes, the photo was a little more complicated than its digital counterpart. The scene itself required enough light to have a decent aperture with a pretty fast shutter speed. It also involved help (someone pouring the milk) and impeccable timing. Although not as dramatic as the original “milk drop crown,” the desired effect was achieved.
Tea Party
The Original 'Milk Drop Crown'
