First macro attempt : Water drop

[Marc-Etienne]

Here is my first attempt at macro photography. Since pretty much ever living critters and flowers are gone at this time of the year in Canada, I had to make my first macro attempt on a water drops.

I used for setup the same setup presented in this youtube video :

Equipment used
Nikon D90 | Sigma 105 macro | flash Quantaray PZ-1 DSZ | Manfrotto tripod | Blue recyling bin | White margarine container | Different printed partterns (laser printed)

I try to do like in the video and reflect my flash on a pattern sheet of paper instead of plain white without any success, so I simply submerged the different sheets (Laser printed so it doesn't fade off)

Out of 300 shoots, here are the best shots
1

2

3

4

5

6

7

Please feel free to give constructive critiques or remarks.
Thanks

 

[Bram]

Some look a little bit oof. I know it's very hard to get the focus just right. Keep at it though would love to see a photo of your setup even though it's in the video.

 

[Marc-Etienne]

Thanks, I'll work on it. It is challenging, especially that my setup was outside because that was the easiest way to hang the dripping bag. It was a very calm day, but sometime very weak wind was messing with my drops!

I should have taken a picture of my setup... I didn't. Next time I setup something, I'll take picture of it!

 

[Bram]

Sounds good keep at it. I actually had my setup in my kitchen sink . If you want to see it it's on my Flickr page.

 

[fanito]

Ok, good job and better tutorial; very nice images.

 

[Ron Evers]

Fun fotos.

 

[PerfectlyFlawed]

Nice tutorial, thanks for sharing it! I think im going to try this

 

[Marc-Etienne]

Thanks for the comments! I'll try again later and inside this time so I don't have water drops going everywhere because of the wind!! The kitchen sink, clever! Why didn't I think of that!

Don't thanks me for the tutorial, thanks Sachphotography that sent it to me and sold me the lens!

You don't need a lot of talent to achieve the results I got, just a fair amount of patience. To get better than this... I don't know, ask Bram

 

[flameshots]

#5 is my favorite. I love water crowns.

 

[enzodm]

I like the blue ones more (less distracting background).

 

[Sachphotography]

Did I hear my name??

Hey I am glad to see the lens working for you. Did you use the flash as well for that shot?
I might suggest stopping down the lens from 2.8 to say 6-8 to increase your depth of field. Your shots will sharpen up tremendously. Looks great for your first attempts. Glad Things worked good.


CHEERS!!!!

 

[Destin]

Here are 3 of my best water drop shots. Unfortunately on the last one, only one of my 3 flashes fired, so it was extremely underexposed. Had to bring it WAY up in post, which is why it's so noisy.

The only differences between my setup and that video are: 1.) I used 3 flashes, to allow for shorter flash duration and a larger DOF. 2.) I use an eye dropper rather than a plastic bag, as it allows more control. That's how I got the 3rd shot..its all in the timing of the drops.

 

[Sachphotography]

And you just jacked this thread...... /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

 

[Marc-Etienne]

Thanks Sach for the suggestion, but I was already stopped down to a range varying from f8 to f14! DoF is so narrow in macro! I also used to flash you sold me. The only issue is that I needed to trigger the build in flash to trigger it remotely (My off camera cord is in the mail still ) I'll try again when it will come in with Bram Idea in the kitchen sink eliminating wind moving my drop flow. I'll also focus on the blue setup like enzodm pointed up.

Stay put for more drops!
(parallel idea to burning matches, we'll see which one will be first!)

 

[Fatback]

Very nice, the first attempt is always the hardest. I actually watched the same video to get ideas on how to setup. The only advice I have for you is get some food coloring, and experiment with it. I used one color for the water, and one for the drops, and you get something like this.

or

Not trying to thread jack or anything, just trying to give you some ideas for next time.