At Mango Studio BKK, we believe in transparency about our techniques, so here’s the secret behind our floating Thai tea shot: it’s actually thick acrylic resin, carefully crafted to mimic the exact color and opacity of Thai milk tea.
The process was both challenging and fascinating. Working with our prop specialist, we spent three days experimenting with different resin mixtures to achieve the perfect amber-orange color and opacity that authentically represents Thai milk tea. The “pour” was created by first making a mold of an actual tea pour (captured using high-speed photography), then casting it in tinted resin. The real challenge came in creating the realistic transition from dark tea to milky swirl – we had to layer different colored resins during the casting process.
The final piece was mounted using ultra-thin clear acrylic rods, which were later removed in post-production. Getting the placement exactly right was crucial; we needed the “pour” to align perfectly with both the teapot spout and the glass, creating that convincing illusion of liquid in motion. The glass contains actual Thai milk tea, color-matched to our resin pour, with precisely placed ice cubes to create the right level of condensation.
Lighting was critical to selling the effect. We used soft window light as our main source, supplemented by a small LED panel with a warming gel to enhance the amber tones. The key was to light the scene in a way that the resin caught the light exactly as liquid would, creating those subtle highlights that make the pour look fluid and natural.
This technique, while time-consuming, allows us to achieve perfect consistency across multiple shots and gives our clients the flexibility to make adjustments to the composition without rushing to capture a split-second pour. At Mango Studio BKK, we believe that sometimes the most authentic-looking results come from carefully crafted illusions – as long as they serve the ultimate goal of creating beautiful, compelling images that tell our clients’ stories.