Refractive Drop C&C

[Timoris]

Ok, wow, this was educative.

Alright, SO, I free-lens'ed reversed my f/1.8 50mm prime and learned several things:
1- This totally works
2- The further the object is from the drop, the harder it is to focus in on it. It's like trying to balance a dime on its edge. You are much better off playing with the height of the subject than its distance.
3- The flatter the object, the better the focus, this should be a no-brainner. (Actually not entirely true, the more parallel to the image sensor, the better the over-all focus)

One thing I am still having trouble with is the clarity within the Drop itself. I do not have 1,000$ to spend on a micro lens, the extension tubes have yet to arrive (and my local Large Photo Shop is out of stock for Canon reversing rings). Untill these last two arrive, do you have any tips for this?

I.E.: I see pictures with a lot of depth within the Drop itself, how can I do / do you do that?

Onto the results! Although I restrain from naming my pictures, these just screamed "Time is Running Out". I love how ghostly they feel. First, as I would like to present it, then cropped to show more detail:

 

[ChrisA]

Whilst never perfecting some flower reflections like others I've seen. I've occasionally shot refraction shots, and tend to find that having the object that you are taking close to the drop helps it clarity. (Around 1-10 inches normally I find).

I like that rainbow you're getting. Quite strange...

 

[Bios.]

I think many people who do these use photo stacking. Check out Lord V on flickr he has some amazing ones, heres a little tutorial of his: Wonderful Photos: How to Photograph Refracted Water Drops

 

[ChrisA]

Yes that's a good tutorial. Although the stacking is only used to get all three drops in focus. If you're shooting just one drop you won't need to stack. The tutorial also explains how to get the item in focus in the drop