Well I hope you will agree that I made some progress on the task since yesterday?
My get pushed challenge was to take a shot of something floating/moving such as water, powder, honey, milk or glitter. I was referred to this image as an example:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/28286225@N02/32657776843/
Things I did right:
1) moved my area of operation - creating a space where there wasn't so much clutter.
2) created a slightly less ambitious set up with just two spoons instead of three making sure that they were positioned so that I could get them framed properly in the composition and using a bigger coloured background.
3) used my mini tripod
4) used manual focus and remembered to push my ISO up to allow more light in and enable a faster shutter speed
5) adjusted the white balance (which I usually forget exists)
6) and this is critical, switched from water to oil to get a better flow between the spoons
7) found a setting in Adobe Bridge which dealt with the extreme noise in the shot
Things I did wrong:
1) i struggled with the manual focus - it didn't really seem well focussed on the screen but I couldn't get it any better. not sure why.
2) I would have preferred to have more flow of oil top and bottom, but my props wouldn't allow me to do this.
3) the angle of the top spoon is wrong - I knew this was the case but couldn't find a way to fix it at the right angle with my makeshift props.
I only took two shots - spent most of the time in the set up, and clearing up the mess when the pot underneath the bottom spoon was incorrectly placed to catch the oil!
I am happy enough with the result but if I do try it again, my main goal would be to get the spoons better focussed.
Thank you to those who commented yesterday and encouraged me on. Happy to receive any further suggestions.