Water Glass: a caustic light portrait AI photoshoot

$Close three-quarter view of a woman with long blond hair at the frame edge, a ripple of refracted light across her cheekbone$

Water Glass is a set of very close black-and-white portraits in which a sunbeam passes through a ribbed tumbler of water and lays bright, rippling lines across the face, neck and hands. Five frames push the head to the edge of the picture beside a field of dark wall, and a sixth studies wet knit and silver rings.

Art direction: Alex But

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Camera: 35 mm SLR
Lens: 105 mm macro
Aperture: f/4
Shutter: 1/125 s
Film: ISO 100 black and white
Light: Sun through a glass of water

Best for

Album or single artwork
Art portfolio
Profile photo

Six frames from this shoot

Five frames and one detail, made by haloshot from three phone photos of one person.

$Close three-quarter view of a woman with long blond hair at the frame edge, a ripple of refracted light across her cheekbone$
Frame 1 · Water Glass
Frame 2 · Water Glass
Frame 3 · Water Glass
$A woman with long blond hair raises a ringed hand to her black high neck, bright bands of refracted light on her knuckles$
Frame 4 · Water Glass
Frame 5 · Water Glass
$Fingers with two thin silver rings on a ribbed black high neck beaded with water drops, a band of refracted light across it$
Detail · Water Glass

About the refracted light look

One window carries the afternoon sun. A thin cotton curtain softens most of it into a gentle side key, while a narrow raw beam at the curtain's edge strikes the glass on the sill and throws the caustic pattern. The 105 mm macro lens at f/4 keeps one eye or an ear sharp and lets the rest fall away within centimeters. At 1/125 s the ripples stop mid-wave in fine ISO 100 grain.

Clothes, place and when to pick it

haloshot gives women a black rib-knit high neck with pushed-up sleeves and two stacking rings, and men a fitted rib-knit with a double-folded collar and two band rings. Both keep a small silver ear cuff, and water droplets bead on the wool. The room is plain and dim beside a sunny window. It suits album art or a striking portrait of your own face.

How it works

Add three photos of yourself: face, half turn and full length. haloshot renders a free five-frame preview of Water Glass with your face. Pick the frames you like and keep them in 4:5 HD.

Without AI

How to make caustic light with a glass of water

Caustics appear when direct sun passes through rippled glass and water and focuses into bright, wavering lines. Keep the rest of the room soft and dim.

Hang a thin cotton curtain over a sunny window, leaving a 10 cm gap where raw sun hits the sill.
Stand a ribbed tumbler of water in that beam and move the subject until lines cross the cheek or neck.
Brace an SLR and 105 mm macro on a table 60 to 90 cm away: f/4, 1/125 s, ISO 100 black-and-white film.
Tap the glass between frames to shift the pattern, and mist the knit for droplets.

The beam moves with the sun; re-place the glass every 15 minutes.

Set notes by Alex But, art director · Updated 12 October 2026