I discovered a beautiful photograph a short time ago that was submitted to the February 2009 PPSOP Photo Contest taken by the second place winner Angie Wright. Her simple yet striking image of “oil and water” had me shaking my head with disbelief and of course I had to try and find the answer to the question of: “How did she do it?”
I found the answer to my question as described by Bryan F. Peterson/Founder of The Perfect Picture School of Photography:
Having “been there and done that” myself some years ago, I went out onto my back deck – just yesterday, in fact – and shot a few images of “oil and water” and as you will quickly see, it is an easy thing to shoot. The ‘trick’, as I am sure Angie will agree, is deciding what kind of colored background you wish to use AND to be patient! Hunching over this set-up with your camera and lens on tripod, waiting for the right arrangement of oil and water to form will test your patience, but it’s truly worth it! This is NOT a difficult set up. I have used a glass bread pan, placed atop two large drinking glasses. For my background, I have placed one of my ‘wild and crazy colorful shirts’ underneath the bread pan. I filled the pan about 2/3rds full with water and than simply poured a number of small drops of cooking oil into the pan. I shot the two close-up images you see with my Nikkor 200mm Macro. You don’t need a macro lens to do this shot but you will need a set of extension tubes . When placed between a lens that offers up 60-100mm focal length, you too will soon be enjoying some “unbelievable” images like you see here! And if it’s not clear by now, let me end by saying, THIS TECHNIQUE IS NOT DONE IN PHOTOSHOP!
And so I made a few of my own modifications to the technique to come up with these “other worldly” images…
Please visit my Zenfolio Photography Site here to see more.
What's Behind Doerr Number One 
Nice pics. I enjoy getting lost in the oil.