Friday, March 20, 2009

One very special Pau!



Just playing around with my new Canon EOS 5D Mk II. This photo has not been "photoshopped".

Can you see why I say this Pau is very special?

71 comments:

Anonymous said...

cos it looks like it's flying?

Anonymous said...

The pau look like it is hanging in the air.

Anonymous said...

'Qi Gong' bao.

P. Chong said...

ya, looks like its floating.

ieat said...

Oh you can eat a few and still not get any heavier! :)

XY said...

The bao is very focused (sharp) while there is no gradaution in the sharpness of the bao and the background, and the background (basket) is very blur (especially the parts right next to the bao). So this makes it look like it's floating? Just my guess. :)

ieat said...

Yes, the background blur aka Bokeh is achieve by opening the aperture to f2.8 and using the telephoto end of the lens ie 70mm. The blur does accentuate the perceived depth of the photo.

Endruu said...

I call bluff. The bao was placed behind a blue screen. lol

dwcw said...

Sir, your wife never hit/slap/pinch/scold you when you buy your new toy ah? Hahaha. Lucky husband!

Anonymous said...

OH GOSH!!!!
A FLYING PAO!!! HAHAHAHAHA.

ieat said...

Eh Endruu, its no bluff. I already said I never photoshopped it.

dwcw, my wife is a very understanding lady, so is PChong's wife. You should talk to him, he's got a Canon D1MkIII, a 85mm f1.2 lens, not to mention his other hobby of collecting watches.........

ieat said...

Ok lah I give you a hint, I took the concept from David Blaine's levitation trick.

Anonymous said...

Nice Camera!!!!!

~(_"_)

Spatula said...

Ooh it's the 28-70mm/F2.8L you're fiddling with? Nicely done...

P. Chong said...

ieat...wanna try the 85 f/1.2L on your 5dmkii tomorrow? I will bring it.

But I think I will shoot the food pics with new toy - LX3.

tj han said...

Lol, expensive new toy!

Wow, nice toy. Did you sell away your EFS lenses or something? Or keeping them for your kids to play with?

dwcw said...

He has a friend, help him throw the Pau in the air, then ieat use his camera + high shutter speed go snap a picture of it while it's in the air still. Hahaha what a wild theory.

vanienin said...

if its that trick then ur bao is suspended with what? toothpick?

ieat said...

Yes yes PChong, do bring the 85 1.2L. Poison!

tj, no I am still keeping my EFS for the moment. I think if I were to sell my EFS 60mm macro, there is one person who might want to buy it.

dwcw, interesting theory! Heheheh.

I shall reveal the trick next week. In the meantime keep guessing. Remember, The bao is shot as is. No photoshop. It's like watching a magic show on TV, there should be no camera tricks. If you all were there, it would look the same.

holybro said...

yes ieat..

there is SOMEONE OUT THERE,

VERY VERY VERY VERY EAGER!!!!!!!!to buy the 60mm 2.8 macro on your hands!

Oh and btw, anytime you're selling your old 450D, let me know coz I know of someone who's interested! :)

P. Chong said...

pau is on a pin attached to the bottom of the box? Due to the shallow Depth of Field, the box in the background is out of focus, while the pau is in focus. Either a pin or something else holding the pau away from the box, hidden behind the pau itself.

OK Les, 85L will be available for you to play with tomorrow.

holybro said...

with regards to the photo..

i think you put the pao at the far end of the box, use the telephoto end of whatever lens you're using, (24- 70mm?) so the part of the basket which the pau is resting on, is blur and makes it looks like it's floating?

ieat said...

Hey remember that this shot is taken at a restaurant without any props whatsoever. There is no prep. It was just a last minute opportunistic shot.

OK who wants to buy the 450D with the 17-55mm Lens? I think I have to bundle it together or else it would be hard to sell the 17-55mm which is a magnificent lens btw.

Anonymous said...

High Speed shot while pau droping into the box

sumosumo said...

pau on a piece of glass, with container below.

iJeff said...

Agree with sumo

azariel-x said...

well, if its similar to the david blaine trick then its due to the fact that the pau is balancing on its side, which we cant see by the fact that we are viewing the whole picture at an angle? right? haha

JENCOOKS said...

Magnetic Levitation like train tracks....

tj han said...

I could trade you a tamron 200-500 mm for the 17-55 haha! I was going to get a 17-55 but I decided that a 10-22 would be better for my Japan exchange trip.

Endruu said...

Lol yeah i know I was kidding.

High speed capture of a falling bao? lol

ieat said...

Wow, some very interesting ideas on how this shot was taken! Some of you came very close to the answer.

P. Chong said...

Jist tilt the box, balance pau. Shoot with small aperture. The rear of the pau is out of focus. The lens used 45mm on a full frame is more or less normal. The effect would be more pronounced with f/1.4 and a wider lens like say 14mm.

Anonymous said...

The key to the trick is the table top, which is made of clear glass. The pau is resting on the glass table top, and the wooden box is placed below the table top (hence resulting in some distance between the pau and the box). Because of the glass, it gives the illusion of a floating pau when a photo is taken.

Further, because it is shot at f/2.8, the fairly narrow depth of field reinforces the illusion of a floating pau due to the out-of-focus box.

Another clue is that the front of the box nearer the camera is more in-focus, suggesting that the shot is taken from a fairly steep angle. This makes the area of the box below the pau even blurer due to its further distance from the camera.

~ VJ

Endruu said...

haha...alot of the readers have technical and in-depth answers with their extensive knowledge in photography...I only got an Ixus. =(

I'll stick to falling bao.

that or...it's resting on top of something, like David Blaine does with one foot while "flying"

hong yi said...

Why do you need such a good camera to take photos of food?

Spinelli said...

looking at the photo. I rule out that the bao was tossed from the box or dropped from above.

The glass under the bao theory is slightly possible but one has to handle the reflection which the glass have, as it will reflect the camera or photographer.
Which can be negated with a ciruclar polariser on the lens to cut off the reflection.

Spinelli said...

(P.Chong) even if the shot was done with a small aperature (ieat indicated f/2.8 70mm) already, and a tilted box.
The "mystery" is how the pau appear to be suspended in the tilting box.
(Bearing in mind no props used and the hint is it is taken in the resturant and no photoshop editing was used)

Clear glass table top appears to be the Most likely possible reason.
I wonder when is ieat going to reveal the answer.
lol

Spinelli said...

hmm the pau is "special" enough to have so many ppl commenting abt it..

ieat is right.

This pau is indeed very special now.

Gundomboy said...

The box is a photo and the pau is on the photo

Entertainer said...

I'm interested in the lens alone actually. How much will you sell your 17-55, Dr Tay?

ieat said...

Ok, now I have someone who wants to buy the 450D, one who wants the Macro and one who wants to buy the 17-55mm. I have to go and have a look in Clubsnap to see what the going prices are!

ieat said...

Hong Yi is right. You don't need such a good camera to take photos of food.

Neither do you need nice food to fill the stomach.

iJeff said...

Haha, this is indeed one special pau to generate so much interest!

jems said...

This is my answer. The pao is NOT on a piece of glass but rather on a piece of plastic cover. What I mean is that this bao is from a sushi conveyor belt kinda dimsum place. ieat merely took the bao out and place it on top of the plastic cover and took the shot using the right aperture etc to blur out the edges of the plastic :)

The Jerry Tan said...

Here's my lucky shot:

From the light direction and the shadows, it seems like its being supported near the far end of the box.
From the DOF, it seems to be taken from an odd perspective to create an illusion.

However I still can't draw a definitive conclusion. My best guess is that the pau needs to be elevated in a certain angle on its side and the photo taken from a slanted perspective.

Anyway doc, the fish soup you recommended at Aljunied Crescent gotta wait 30 mins :( so we didn't try in the end.

iJeff said...

I think jems may have nailed it, and won herself 100 special pau from Les :P

Anonymous said...

I Still Stick to the High Speed Shots, You must have put the camera in Continues shoot mode and dropped the pau, and you uploaded only one frame in the blog. Try a Tennis ball with Black Back ground or a Flying Bird very amazing shots you see.

Richard said...

The box was underneath a clear glass :)
getg3

ieat said...

Sorry The Jerry Tan, I forgot to warn you about the waiting time! But anyway if you want to eat that fish soup, you should go late in the day.

Some very intersting theories which I am keen to try out one day. Some people got the right answer.

I will give a big clue later in the week which will dispel some of the theories.

jems said...

so Les, is there any price for getting the correct answer? surely not 100 special paus~ haha

ieat said...

If you eat 100 of this special paus you will be floating up in the air! haha.

Prize no problem lah. Makan on me loh! But not Golden Peony hor!

jems said...

oops. I realized in my haste I had typed price instead of prize haha. You say one ah? Not Golden Peony but can go Jade or Humble House? haha

Ping said...

ah, if I were in Singapore I'd love to buy your 450D...!! But I guess it won't wait till I'm back... Hopefully some other makankaki/photographer will upgrade when I'm back and then I can finally buy one? Can I make a reservation on anyone's Canon DSLR if they want to sell? Hee... :)

Holy Drummer said...

Wah you all speaking French to me man =x

I pity the Pau... Kena humtam analysis until siao.

Pingerrain said...

AE/AF lock?

ieat said...

Yes

kev said...

ieat >> what lens are u using ? can it be juz the sharpness of the 5DmII .. *IMPRESSED*

ieat said...

Hi Kev,

Its the 28-70mm F2.8 lens. The blurred background is due to the large aperture f 2.8 and zoomed in at 70mm.

But you really don't need a 5D Mk II to take this picture. Any DSLR would have given the same effect.

Pingerrain said...

Normal digital compact also got AF lock.
only no AE lock :(

ieat said...

Yes most models don't unless you go for the prosumer models like the Canon G10 where you do get AE lock as well as AF lock.

Anonymous said...

It's on a glass top table, because if you look closely enough, you can see some reflections beneath/around the pao...!

Heidi said...

OMG.. why nobody guessed TOOTHPICK!

xiaow3i said...

Interesting photo and interesting comments! Really curious as to how you did it and want to try it out sometime :)

p/s: I'm keen on the 17-55mm too! Been trying to save up for it. But unfortunately I'm not in Singapore and won't be until Dec so I guess it won't wait.

chaozhouzi said...

ieat, if it is the zoom effect(and I think it is), your advice to Kev should be a DSLR with the twisting or push pull zoom lens with large aperture as the electronic type of zoom lens, where you operate the zoom with a button, may not be able to employ this technique and neither will a fixed focal length lens.

Anonymous said...

did you put the pau on glass mirror and get someone to hold the container from the top? so th pau looks like floating on the reflection of the pau?

Anonymous said...

used a toothpick?

Anonymous said...

I think this is the effect of lens obscuring what is in the front to see (or focus) on something that is at the back. That's my take anyway...

Pzr said...

Haha you used a mirror right?

gelatoadventures said...

Did you add a stick or a chopstick sticking into the onion/pao parallel to the way the lens is pointing? That way you dont have the chopstick directly under the onion but hidden behind it on the side of the onion/pao facing away from the camera

Anonymous said...

You shoot with manual aperture, at the lowest stop you could get, maybe? that way, it blurs out everything BUT the pau!

maybe... we need to know! lol

ieat said...

Answer will be posted at 12.01am tomorrow. Plus everyone gets a chance to try out the technique and stand to win some attractive prizes like a Canon Powershot camera.

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