Liquid Flowers: Photographer Jack Long

Photographer Jack Long challenges himself to find techniques to create shapes from liquids.  Some of his recent favorites are of flowers, and the vessels that hold them, captured with high-speed photography.

Cobalt Vase ? (Jack Long/Solent News)

He calls them "Liquid Vessels and Blooms" and the images are achieved purely through photography, with no post-processing such as Photoshop.

Through extensive experimentation, Long perfected the method to shape and color the liquids, starting with stem and leaf shapes, and then created well-formed fluid vessels to "plant" them in.

Cala ? (Jack Long/Solent News)

Bee Keeper ? (Jack Long/Solent News)

He then coordinated all of the processes to result in a fleeting moment in which the liquids mimic flowers in vases.  And while Long could have relied on automation and other electronic devices, he was able to perfect the technique to manually trigger all of the events in synchronization, while photographing his creations.

Cobra ? (Jack Long/Solent News)

Liquid Life ? (Jack Long/Solent News)

Inspired by the sense of window light in Flemish still-life paintings, Long has managed to bring forth complete works of art, adding a variety of backgrounds and real flowers as props, combining photography with ingenuity to capture images that are gone in the blink of an eye.

Daffy ? (Jack Long/Solent News)

Fluid Power ? (Jack Long/Solent News)

 Red Vein ? (Jack Long/Solent News)

Liquid Arrangement ? (Jack Long/Solent News)

Rose Bud ? (Jack Long/Solent News)

Jack Long is a profession photographer in Milwaukee, with over 30 years of experience.  He specializes in photography for commercial advertising.