These photos represent all entries to the "Barista Bling" photo contest. Vote for the finalists here!

When you care to tamp the very best!

At 43.5mm, nearly small enough for use as an earring or broach



Made by the same guy who made the ones above

Regards, Henry

So, I gathered a few of my favorite toys, and...

Good to finally see some entries! But you're lucky that Mark Prince isn't entering the contest.


"illy cup with espresso" by Mark Prince (flickr)

Psyd wrote:So, I gathered a few of my favorite toys, and...<image>

The blanket with the folds and the hand grinder are nice touches. Very 17th C. Dutch still life.

HB wrote:Good to finally see some entries! But you're lucky that Mark Prince isn't entering the contest.

I was hoping to do something with my Kentridge cups. Guess I won't bother now.

A few of my favorite cups.

The new Illy crystals are a lot neater than the all clear ones I have.

Marshall wrote:The blanket with the folds and the hand grinder are nice touches. Very 17th C. Dutch still life.

Cheers, thanks! I was going for a bit of the Dutch Masters look. I wish I had the lighting chops to challenge Vermeer.... Not bad for a pointy-shooty digi-crap cam, though...

I was going for the contrast for the natural ACF La Marzocco cup and saucer against the stainless steel cup on the 'Lichtensteinian' saucer, and Lem's natural wood tamp against the custom hunka brass. The red background is a 36 oz velour cloak that was the grand drape in Tucson's Centennial Hall in another iteration. It's gorgeous and warm, and was the closest chunk of velour I had to hand. I toyed with showing the viola de gamba case that it's sitting on, but decided that that was just getting a bit maudlin...
The rest was just to create a space for the bits to live in.

JonR10 wrote:The clear "nude" cups are serious collector's items... the best price I could find online is $325.

Damn. don't tell me that! I use the nudes every day; now I'll have to put them away.

I cant win but I can still play even with my cheap camera. The wood controls, portafilter and tamper I turned.

another_jim wrote:Damn. don't tell me that! I use the nudes every day; now I'll have to put them away.

Jim

Use your cups. A golfing buddy of mine and a very wise man reminds me that this is not a dress rehersal but our one and only shot to live and to enjoy. Very few of us on our death beds say boy I wish I had attended that meeting at work or boy I'm glad I never used those beautiful cups again after I found out what they are worth.

I thought I'd try to take advantage of the bling that is spring. So here is the chrome peacock released in the wild. I made both the handles and knobs as chronicled in the thread http://www.home-barista.com/levers/turning-your-own-wooden-handles-for-la-pavoni-t7583.html with much advice from Richard, Dave, and others on HB.

And the dogwood shot...

Tampers - probably the least understood tool in the knock-box.

Here's my effort:

Of course I can't enter, but if I could, I would go with something abstract like this:


Image provided by JonR10; cropping and minor retouches by me.

By composing tightly on the subject and intentionally leaving out key details, this photo appears ambiguous for an instant. The viewer knows they're looking at a distorted reflection, but the reflecting agent isn't important, it's the contrasting shapes it creates that I find intriguing. The handle is shown in the forefront as another contrast and perspective on the main image (the slightly off-center demitasse).

Here's the original photo: