Oil and Water

I thought I would try doing a natural abstract for today’s challenge, but then it was raining, so feeling a little desperate and uninspired, I thought I would try the oil and water shot that I have seen others do so successfully.  I have never tried it before, so why not.  I watched a couple of You Tube videos and then took at least an hour to get set up, and gather various backgrounds.  

This is what I learned: 
Don't forget to take the ISO off of auto - all my first shots were too noisy
Use a smaller aperture for greater dof. 
Don’t use too much oil.  I had heard "a drizzle" but probably just a few drops would suffice.
Go for color and not any pattern in the background. 
Try something different with the backlighting as this method included too many blown out spots. 
Elevate the dish higher above the background. 
Don't let the water sit too long so that bubbles form on the bottom. 
Don’t use a pyrex dish with “Pyrex” etched in the bottom.  Spoils the image ;-)

If any of you have ever tried this, I would love to hear any tips.  It seemed like a lot of work for one blip.