Behind-the-Scenes of What's Inside

[Voiceover] Every month,

the What's Inside page gives Wired readers a look

at the ingredients that make up everyday products.

But the item also presents a monthly challenge

to photographers.

How do you make a mundane material

like fast-drying cement look interesting?

At his studio in Woodstock, NY, photographer, Dan Forbes,

went through 50 bags of Quikrete

to shoot the fast-setting concrete mix featured

in this month's What's Inside.

The road to the final image was a rocky one.

To maintain the liquid mixture's consistency,

water had to be added every 12 minutes.

Forbes tested various setups

including dropping a bag of dry Quikrete

into a wooden pit of wet Quikrete

to create a splashing effect.

Building a mold for the solid cube

also took some thinking outside the box.

(upbeat electronic music)

But the trickiest part

was capturing the wet concrete before it dried.

Forbes raced against the clock to get everything

in just the right place before each shot.

(upbeat electronic music)