Any way to catch H20 Collisions without a timing device?

[JustJazzie]

Gary, that trigger trap looks neat!

Might get some ideas from the Edgerton center where his techniques are used and studied.
Harold "Doc" Edgerton
High-Speed Images | Edgerton Center

Or I found this when I was looking up the other - High-speed macro photographer shares his setup: Digital Photography Review

That second link was really helpful right off the bat! It lets me know a drops per second to aim for! Ill browse the first when I have a little more time to focus.

Here's some more useful information:

Photographing splashing droplets.

Thanks! It's time to start school here but I'll bookmark it for lunch!

School on Sunday?

:Giggle: Yes, haven't you ever heard of "sunday school?" The perks of homeschooling I suppose.

 

[WayneF]

I would really like to try and kick my water drop stuff up a notch, but I don't see myself ever spending 500$+ on a timer. Are there any other methods for catching these? Any way to build a timer? My DH is pretty handy in the rigging department so if I found a tutorial or something he could probably figure it out.

A simple timer like the HiViz can fully control the splash phases of one drop. the crown, the rebound column, whatever you want (and some manage to do pretty well just by eye and reflex, with no timer, but results are very consistent with the timer).

But two drops colliding will need a timed valve to control the released second drop too.

See Shako Solenoid Valve for Water Drop Collision Photography for example. That uses a StopShot timer, which can time multiple things. The regular flash timing from when the first drop breaks the beam, and also the solenoid valve to release the second drop at the right time. Then collisions become very simple, you just dial in the necessary delay to get the result you want. Results are very repeatable, every time (yet each one is slightly different too).

 

[minicoop1985]

Something so simple (seemingly) gets so expensive really fast. Wowie wow.