Drops of water C&C

Tallon

Hey guys,

Right so, I'm looking to ever increase my photography skills, and what better way than trial & error.

So I was reading about doing water droplets as I have one as my desktop and always wondered how the hell you catch them....

So I'll start with the setup and what I used to get the end result.

The equipment I used were:

Camera: Sony a200
Lense: Sigma 70-300mm 1:4 - 5.6 Macro
Shutter: Remote release
Flash: Sunpak 888AFZ (Wireless behind subject would work better)

> Settings <
Focul lenght: 200mm
ISO: 100
F-stop: f14
Exposure: 1/200

> Accessories <
Lid/Tray: Anything will do, I used a legobox lid, the colour will be the colour of your water, so clear plastic will be clear water etc.
Lego man: (Pebbles, candles, coins etc) for putting each side of the tray so I knew where to put the bubble.
Fairy: For bubbles
Food dye: Red & yellow (whatever colour you want)
Straw: For blowing the bubble
Patience: Had some lying around the house

The setup:




The lego man on the left was used to set the focus by placing him where I planned on putting the bubble:




Once I had the focus set, I took him out and started the drops of food dye



Got a couple of cool shots, but settled on the above one.

Then I replaced the dis-coloured water in the dish, and started again with clean water and fairy liquid. Again, I had to refocus using little stormtrooper.

After blowing the bubbles, and getting the focus right on them, I started to introdue the food dye:



A bit of PS tweaking of contrast and brightness. It was very trial and error, but a lot of fun. I had the GF helping me drop the food dye as it was easier with two people.


So this is the final shot, this is what I was happy with after a couple of hours of fun.....



As you can see, the flash would be better at the back of the subject, but yet another future investment I must endevour!

Set it as your background on windows 7 and it's magical

Any C&C on how these look, what I could have done better, and what I could try for my next setup much appreciated

Thanks guys

Tallon

swingking

I love the idea of blowing bubbles with fairy liquid and the shots captured. Very creative.

Only thing I might suggest is using a lower power on the flash or else bouncing the flash off a piece of card for less direct light.

Overall, the photos are great. Well done

sheesh

I tried this before but didnt get it half as good as yours bur i surrrounded the back with sheets of a3 paper (something like €3 in guineys) to reflect the light back

like a eegit i used a pint glass which does not have your wide area or so there was some spillage

the last shot is great.

thefly

Firstly you want to do this in a very low lit room. Ideally completely dark but that makes working conditions that bit harder so I would suggest candle light. Secondly use a longer exposure time, 2 or 3 seconds. As you will will be working in near darkness the images will not be over exposed. What you want to do now is try and sync the flash and the water drop. It will take a few hundred attempts until you get one, but when you do it'll be worth it. I usually go with f22 but f 14 will work fine as well. Straws are very very difficult to use. I got a broom and laid it over dvd's (this means you can change the height accurately) with a plastic glove sellotaped to the broom handle. The trick is you fill the glove up with water then attach it to the broom. Then pick a finger, pierce it with a pin and you now have a steady flow of water drops. For different colors I would sugest a gel but if you dont have a gel colored paper works fine.

Ideally you want to use a marriot syphon as this helps with water collisions. Thats the next step though. Work on you water colums and water drops and when you have mastered that try moving onto collisions. I'm in work now so have no images to show you but when I get home i'll post some.


Best of luck with it!!

Barname

nice work Tallon

thanks for sharing

MaggyM

You got some really cool shots - the first droplet one is my favourite.

I tried this myself for the first time a few weeks ago with a set-up similar to yours. I used a glass casserole dish as I could put coloured pieces of card under to change the colours reflected in the water.

I also bounced the flash off a different coloured card behind. You can get some interesting results playing with different colours.

I used a zip lock plastic bag which I hung from a tripod I centered over the set-up.

Looking forward to seeing more of your experiments! Getting those water drops to collide is my next aim:)

eightcell

Very nice! I have been trying this recently and know how difficult it is!

alexlyons

For the first water droplet shot, did you just put a bit of food dye in the straw, hold it directly above where you wanted it and drop a bit out (out of view naturally), while simultaneously firing the camera? seems a bit to simple to be true!

and the other shots, did you blow a bubble into the water, with draw and fire?... sorry for these stupid questions, I can see myself trying it the way I said and failing miserably, unless that is how you did it!

Great shots.

Tallon

alexlyons wrote: »

For the first water droplet shot, did you just put a bit of food dye in the straw, hold it directly above where you wanted it and drop a bit out (out of view naturally), while simultaneously firing the camera? seems a bit to simple to be true!

Well I used a spoon, but yeah, got the GF to drip it off the spoon while I quick-snapped it

alexlyons wrote: »

and the other shots, did you blow a bubble into the water, with draw and fire?... sorry for these stupid questions, I can see myself trying it the way I said and failing miserably, unless that is how you did it!

Great shots.

Yeah, well kinda. just put the straw in some fairy & water and hold the top with your thumb, then place it in the water and gently blow. (Thats what she said)



Thanks for the kind words guys

alexlyons

Tallon wrote: »

Well I used a spoon, but yeah, got the GF to drip it off the spoon while I quick-snapped it



Yeah, well kinda. just put the straw in some fairy & water and hold the top with your thumb, then place it in the water and gently blow. (Thats what she said)



Thanks for the kind words guys

Wonderful! thanks for that. Must give it a go!

the_monkey

stunning !!!! well done, so creative, I have a 5D MKII and ex flash + L class lenses and have never come up with such good shots, just shows how far creativity goes

well done again .

- I will take this as a lesson and try some of these myself ..

Tallon

the_monkey wrote: »

- I will take this as a lesson and try some of these myself ..

Be sure to post it when you do

thefly

Cool shots Tallon. The other High Speed thread was closed for what ever reason just when it was getting serious!!!!!!!!

Anyway this was your spec

More? You want more? i thought that last picture would have filled you up... ah well

Camera: Sony a200
Lense: Sigma 70-300mm 1:4 - 5.6 Macro
Shutter: Remote release
Flash: Sunpak 888AFZ (Wireless behind subject would work better)

> Settings <
Focul lenght: 200mm
ISO: 100
F-stop: f14
Exposure: 1/200



I wanted to ask you the following: Have you considered shooting in the dark?(or candle light anyway) That way you can have a longer shutter speed and let the flash capture the explosion/droplet/crown


Also how are you dropping your drops ?

Tallon

You may want to read the thread!

thefly

So I take it you haven't tried shooting in the dark? That would be the best tip I could give you.

Also try fill a rubber glove with the liquid you want to drop and tape it to a broom handle. Pierce it one of the fingers and you will get a steady flow of drops. I used to use a staw so I know how difficult it can be.

smash

thefly wrote: »

So I take it you haven't tried shooting in the dark? That would be the best tip I could give you.

Countdown to thread getting locked.... 5, 4, 3, 2.....

Thecageyone

That shouldn't happen.

Nice shots Tallon, I see you're using the same cam + lens as me. I should try some of this I've no off-cam flash though as yet

thefly

heres a few from me

Tallon

Thecageyone wrote: »

That shouldn't happen.

Nice shots Tallon, I see you're using the same cam + lens as me. I should try some of this I've no off-cam flash though as yet

Thanks, I only picked up one recently (As you know ) so once I get settled in the new place I'll try this again.

Thecageyone

Mine is actually the 1:2 macro, much difference? BUT .. the AF is busted on mine, The camera just killed it, didn't even get a knock - so be wary when mounting it. Apparently those sigma zooms are notorious for dying on Alphas because of the power of the motor on the cam, or something. MF would be difficult for this typw of set up wouldn't it?