I chose a still of the beginning of an espresso coffee extraction from James Hoffmann’s YouTube video, The Beauty of Espresso In Slow Motion (1,000fps in 4K), for my Best of Web submission. James Hoffmann is a popular YouTube personality in the coffee community, with many videos pushing the research of food science as it pertains to coffee to new boundaries.
The Beauty of Espresso In Slow Motion (1,000fps in 4K) (youtube.com)
This video was one of the first to explore espresso extraction in slow motion in high definition, it transcends media before it with its emphasis on aesthetic, entrancing the viewer with the rich texture of the coffee and the vivid flows from the brew head. The video features a coffee brew type called espresso; the pressurized coffee is forced through a basket with perforations creating a stout beverage that can stand up to milk in a latte or enjoyed on its own. The cover photo for this post shows the moment the dozens of droplets of espresso begin to concentrate into larger drops stretching from the bottom surface of the filter basket. I find this moment to be very beautiful, the contrast between the rich tones in the espresso against the bright stainless-steel draw the viewers’ attention to textures of the coffee.
6 Comments. Leave new
Second Prize
I like the way that the drips look like solids. I think I could be fooled into believing that they’re some sort of rock formation on a cave ceiling.
Third Prize: Interesting seeing an example from something that is common and doesn’t get noticed
Third Prize: This is a very fun and unique shot. I wonder how they set up the angle and timed this photo. The colors are vibrant and almost feel overwhelming but I don’t want to look away. I especially like how the viewer can see the espresso just start to come out of the circles in the filter (in the first shot).
First prize
A unique demonstration of flow vis and a great image selection of the ground espresso beans flowing through a fine mesh filter shows the intricacy of brewing espresso coffee.
Second Prize
I love coffee; the flow principles at work in good espresso are fascinating, and the Hoffmann team captured the beauty of it expertly in this video.
Third Prize: It’s amazing to see something so common, which we encounter so often in our daily lives, appear so beautiful. Especially fluid at slower speeds, it feels almost like a living organism with a mind of its own, moving gracefully through space.