First time shooting water droplets (3)

[Ryan L]

Never tried these before so I thought I would give it a go. Let me know what you think. These are untouched, no edit/cropping have been done yet.

1.

2.

3.

 

[Olympus E300]

The second one is awsome!

 

[eddlum25]

Nice sets of pics, well done for first attempt :thumbsup:

To me I would prefer the camera drop down a little bit, more level to the surface of the water, but that's just me .

 

[csgrafix]

nice shots :thumbup: especially first attempts !

Just wondering...
How far were you from droplets and what lens/focal length ?

 

[myfotoguy]

yeah, nice first try. I think Eddie's suggestion to get more level with the water surface is a good one.

What's the setup?

 

[Ryan L]

yeah, nice first try. I think Eddie's suggestion to get more level with the water surface is a good one.

What's the setup?

These were taken with a Canon XSi, 50mm 1.8, a Hoya +2 and +1, stacked, I was about 4 inches from the drops, and bouncing a Speedlite 380ex behind it.I used various backgrounds and sometimes used different colored paper in the bottom to change the colors up a bit. The last one (my personal favorite just because of the colors) I used a blue/light blue striped beach towel as a backdrop and fired the flash into it. The pattern shows up in the droplet and water.

I used a rectangle cake pan to drop the droplets into so I had to get over the edge of the pan. I think I will find something less deep and see it I can capture a different angle as well. Then I have to worry about the and the edge of the water.

These were fun, a little messy, but fun.

edit- All of these were in this range. ISO 100, aperture 6.3-9, shutter speed 1/200-1/500th

 

[JeffieLove]

I like the composition of them but the focus seems soft to me and I have to agree that you should have had the camera more level to the surface of the water.

Another cool way to do water drops is to use a clear glass and put the colored paper behind the glass. Kinda the same effect as what you said you tried, but a little bit different.

 

[Ryan L]

I like the composition of them but the focus seems soft to me and I have to agree that you should have had the camera more level to the surface of the water.

Another cool way to do water drops is to use a clear glass and put the colored paper behind the glass. Kinda the same effect as what you said you tried, but a little bit different.

Really they look soft?? I can see #1 might not be as sharp as it could have been. I was only 4" away, with close up filters, the focal point was supposed to be on the drop only, not the pan of water. Do you think they all look soft?

Gonna have to go pixel peeping now...:geek:

 

[er111a]

nice work for your first time :thumbup:

 

[JeffieLove]

I like the composition of them but the focus seems soft to me and I have to agree that you should have had the camera more level to the surface of the water.

Another cool way to do water drops is to use a clear glass and put the colored paper behind the glass. Kinda the same effect as what you said you tried, but a little bit different.

Really they look soft?? I can see #1 might not be as sharp as it could have been. I was only 4" away, with close up filters, the focal point was supposed to be on the drop only, not the pan of water. Do you think they all look soft?

Gonna have to go pixel peeping now...:geek:

#1 definitely is soft.

#2 might have just benefited from using a more narrow aperture (not sure what you used, but something more like f/8 maybe or something. The front of the splash is OOF, the back of the splash is in focus.

#3 I am on the edge with... Looks a little soft, but I guess not really enough to be "generalized" how I did in my original post It could just be my monitor too... It's currently uncalibrated (that will be fixed soon), and it's over 4 years old... Going to be time for a new one... very very soon lol

 

[M.Powell]

I love the last one (colors), and I like the first one (the separate drop of water at the top). Nice for first try. I've not gotten the guts to try technical set-ups and stuff... just switched from Auto to Aperture priority and am focusing on learning that. I've had my DSLR for just a few months now and had been getting accustomed to the feel of it. lol

 

[tasman]

Cool shots. I like them too. Like to see more.

 

[Ryan L]

#1 definitely is soft.

#2 might have just benefited from using a more narrow aperture (not sure what you used, but something more like f/8 maybe or something. The front of the splash is OOF, the back of the splash is in focus.

#3 I am on the edge with... Looks a little soft, but I guess not really enough to be "generalized" how I did in my original post It could just be my monitor too... It's currently uncalibrated (that will be fixed soon), and it's over 4 years old... Going to be time for a new one... very very soon lol

I agree 1 is def just a hair oof.

both 2 and 3 are taken at f9, but maybe the close up filters on the lens threw my off my dof? I used an ink pen with writing on it to focus on before I took them.

 

[D-B-J]

cool shots!

 

[JeffieLove]

you are absolutely right. It could have been the close up filters...

I use kenko close up filters and I know they definitely take away from image quality to a point. I'm pretty sure hoya is a bit better brand name... Not sure though :/