For the 32nd Scavenger Hunt, I had decided (even before the Hunt words were public!) to try to make a series with wooden manikins. For the “Kitchen utensil” word, my first idea was to have my manikins chasing each other with a rolling pin, but I decided against it because this actually not an image I want to make, as pervasive in the social imaginary as it may be. I also considered bathing one in a pot, or something like that, but I didn’t want to sacrifice one just yet, and I had little hopes of being able to recover it after that.

I eventually settled on the idea that I could use the kitchen utensil as a prop and not necessarily as the main focus in that picture. I have an overly large cocktail spoon, whose scale is interesting compared to the manikin’s size, and a cocktail mixing glass – there we go, I had my idea! I wanted to make something akin to a cauldron, which obviously meant something green and vaguely shiny.

I got the idea of preparing the green mixture with some water, a bit of green coloring, and a few drops of milk to give it some opacity. I then took several pictures in a dark room, illuminated by a single Lume cube. I ended up having a few more pictures of that type, moving the cube further or closer:

Camera	Pentax K-1 II
Lens	Sigma 28mm f/1.8 EX Aspherical DG DF Macro
Focal length	28mm
F-Number	F/7.1
Exposure time	0.8 s
ISO	640

Camera	Pentax K-1 II
Lens	Sigma 28mm f/1.8 EX Aspherical DG DF Macro
Focal length	28mm
F-Number	F/7.1
Exposure time	0.8 s
ISO	200

I loaded them all into Lightroom, told it “make me an HDR out of these”, and it resulted in the above image, give or take a few edits on the fabric and the like.

I kind of regret not giving more thought/ideas to the background: it might have been better with a bit more flair. I am, however, exceedingly happy with how the bright green liquid turned out, and I’m also very happy with the light in this image. All in all, I like it a lot!

The complete Scavenger album is available here: the Kitchen utensil album.