A Few Jazzy Water Drops - pic intensive

[astroNikon]

Took some tips from JustJazzie and thought I'd give it a try.
C&C welcomed
Sorry for 7 of them .. I couldn't decide which ones to knock out

# 1

#2

# 3

# 4

 

[astroNikon]

# 5

# 6

# 7

 

[Mike Lamb]

I think clarity on these is essential so I would say only the last one works for me because the drop is somewhat in focus. And the 2nd to last has some focus.

 

[JustJazzie]

I *think* some of the reason you seem to have struggled with focus might be your angle. Correct me if I am wrong here: Looking down, your DOF is diagonal across the water, since its macro and your focal plane is so thin anyways you would have to hit not only the correct spot vertically, but also the right height in the focal plane. So if you changed your camera angle to a more "face on" perspective, you would likely end up with a few extra keepers.

Edit: Just wanted to add how much I like the color scheme in the first one!

 

[Msteelio91]

Cool shots but I definitely agree with Mike and Jazzy on the missed focus

 

[JimMcClain]

It's not just the focus that bothers me, but the high degree of noise. The first one has more than the rest, but they all seem to suffer from it. I would have liked to see what equipment and settings you used.

Jim

 

[astroNikon]

I think I'll reshoot and move the camera back with a zoom. Kinda cramp area as I'm using the laundry wash tub area. And add more light. My first run had a ton of noise from high ISO which got better with more light of course. I'll swap cameras too.
Thanks

 

[greybeard]

105mm ISO 400 f/9, So these are highly cropped?

 

[astroNikon]

No not highly cropped. The basin wasn't very big and the focal range put it all in the frame.

 

[astroNikon]

I'll have to pull out the DOF calculator to make sure this will work.

I initially put a smurf in the middle of the basin and focused on that after I got too many OOF shots. Then put it in MF. But if the water drop wasn't exactly in the middle and how close the lens was, it could be OOF.

 

[JustJazzie]

I won't lie, my in focus rate doing these is probably around 10% and the keeper rate is even lower. It's the price you pay for not having those fancy water drop setups I guess.

 

[minicoop1985]

Here's a couple tips. FLASH!!!!!!!!!! to capture motion without cranking your ISO. Determine where the droplets will land, then use your hand to lock focus. Lock your focus, then turn the lens to manual focus and don't touch it. Also, SMALL aperture-we're dealing with minute distances here, so you want a SMALL aperture to get anything in focus. Here's an example:

The Vase by longm1985, on Flickr

Not the best photo I've ever taken by any means, but it's all in focus and was done at an angle like yours were. Aperture was f16.

Edit: You'd probably have got it if you had a Canon.