Water Droplets Fun C&C

the_syco

After seeing Tallons epic water drop photo I decided to have a go.

I got this remote button thing from dealextreme and decided to see how useful it was. Used the wired feature.

I googled it, and found some ideas, and put a bag of water with a pin hole dripping into a tray below.



I set the focus to auto, focusing only on the centre dot. I then zoomed in on some metal thing in the water, and focused onto it. After I did this, I set it to manual mode, so it wouldn't try to auto-focus on the drops.


The following are the photos (favourite 18, out of 150 or so):

1/200 F16


1/500 F16


1/500 F7.1


I couldn't really see what I was shooting, so I put some red dye into the water tray:

1/500 F7.1


and started moving the flash to point more up or down, and fiddled with the various F functions. I think 1/400 and F6.3 ended up with the best shots, but the following are all sorts:

1/320 F20


I got bored, so I put another hole into the bag:

1/500 F5.6


Put in some Orange MiWadi into the tray, and zoomed out:

1/320 F5.6


1/320 F5


I found this next shot cool, as there's a drop of water going up
(Blackcurrant Ribena)
1/320 F5

the_syco

I then decided to put the table to the right, and angle the flash to bounce off it:
(back to the red dye)


I found this to be cool, as it'd light up the shots, but without light coming directly back to the camera.

















I found that the best shots were when I turned the shed light off, and shot blindly in the dark. I say blindly, as I couldn't really hear the drops from the bag of water "plop" into the water tray that well. I blame the VERY HEAVY rain outside. Made a big mess on the ground, so will only be doing this in the shed.

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Will try it again maybe, on a rain-free night. Going to get a remote flash or two from Dealextreme, and try it then. Saving for Hellfest, so will probably be buying the remote flash things in July.

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Nothing was cropped or photoshopped. The black bits on the bottom of some of the pictures I think was caused by 1/500 or 1/600. Anything higher, and too much goes missing.

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Moar edits:

Focal length: 400
F-Stop: F6.3
was used for all the photos in the 2nd post. 1st post: random.

Camea: Canon 450D with the standard 18-55mm lens
Flash: Some yoke I got for a tenner.
Shutter: yoke I got from Dealextreme for about €15 or so
ISO: 1600 on everything
Memory Card: Must empty it. Had to stop as it ran out of space after 176 shots (2.82GB)

thefly

Hi Syco

I take it this was your first attempt? Good job so far but to be honest there is a lot more to do.

Some basic tips that might help; Firstly you HAVE to get tighter and closer to the splash/crown. You don't want any distractions.

You are shooting in the dark which is what I would recommend but I dont think you understand why. The idea is you can have a longer shutter speed i.e 2-3 seconds without over exposing. If you hold the flash in your hand and press the shutter you now have a couple of seconds to play with. Simply manually trigger the flash within the 2-3 sec exposure and the camera will only capture what happens during the flash. Essentially the flash takes the picture and freezes the motion for the split second the flash goes off.

In terms of the mess, well thats simple lower your drip bag. It's way to high imo.

I hope these simple tips might help. Here are a few of my shots I took last year. I would be eager to hear what you think of them???
http://www.flickr.com/photos/33379274@N07/4133420523/in/photostream/

I look forward to seeing some more of your stuff soon. Keep it up man!!!

Button_y

Good shots and great to see the setup

the_syco

thefly wrote: »

I take it this was your first attempt? Good job so far but to be honest there is a lot more to do.

Some basic tips that might help; Firstly you HAVE to get tighter and closer to the splash/crown. You don't want any distractions.

Yup, first time, and I need a zoom. Could not get any closer, without risking a big slpash hitting the camera.

thefly wrote: »

You are shooting in the dark which is what I would recommend but I dont think you understand why. The idea is you can have a longer shutter speed i.e 2-3 seconds without over exposing. If you hold the flash in your hand and press the shutter you now have a couple of seconds to play with. Simply manually trigger the flash within the 2-3 sec exposure and the camera will only capture what happens during the flash. Essentially the flash takes the picture and freezes the motion for the split second the flash goes off.

Well, that makes a lot more sense. I was shooting in the dark, to see how the flash was like, as opposed to flash in an already lit room. The thing of holding the flash by itself seems a good idea. Will try it your way when I shoot the droplets again.

thefly wrote: »

In terms of the mess, well thats simple lower your drip bag. It's way to high imo.

I like the large splash a single drop does, so the height is good, but may lower it to see what I get.

thefly wrote: »

I hope these simple tips might help. Here are a few of my shots I took last year. I would be eager to hear what you think of them???
http://www.flickr.com/photos/33379274@N07/4133420523/in/photostream/

Liking 013. Very clear, even with the clear water. Nice zoom as well.