Water drop photography

[GerritSmith]

Hey! What do you think of water drop photography? This guy has a cool video of how to photograph it. YouTube - ‪How to photograph a splash of water - Week 52‬‏
Anyway I tried it and here are some pictures of what turned out. Give any advice or anything. Thanks!

 

[Triple A]

I think you should try to get more shots like the fourth image. The others don't really have any structure. That same guy in the video has another one where he uses a multi-color bounce card to capture a more interesting photo. I used his techniques to capture this: Aaron Acosta Photography: Water Drop

It's a little soft on the top of the water drop and the front could have used a fill card, but I was very happy with what I got.

 

[Paul Ron]

You can do this yourself... here is how....

High-Speed Flash Photography For Amateur Photographers

HiViz - Guidebook Table of Contents

 

[TordFuglstad]

I did these (Drops v2 - a set on Flickr) yesterday. Wasn't that difficult, but you really need an external flash to make it bounce back and forth.

 

[TordFuglstad]

I just made this quick PS, on how to make drop photography easy. Only the lighting and stuff. Not the actual drops themselves.
Hope this will help. And as you can se you really need to have that external flash, or the water will just be transparent, as the flash will go directly through the water and light up whatever tray you are having your water in.
Sorry if a show some bad English skills. I'm Norwegian.

 

[Bynx]

The main problem I see is the pattern in the bottom of the tray holding the water shows, overpowering the actual water drop. To catch the crown stage of the drop a landscape image is good. To catch the water column part a portrait mode is good. That way you can zoom right in and your water drop is prominant. Your focus is good on all the shots. You could use a colored sheet that would reflect on the water giving it some color.

 

[mishele]

I just made this quick PS, on how to make drop photography easy. Only the lighting and stuff. Not the actual drops themselves.
Hope this will help. And as you can se you really need to have that external flash, or the water will just be transparent, as the flash will go directly through the water and light up whatever tray you are having your water in.
Sorry if a show some bad English skills. I'm Norwegian.

lol...A NORMAL DROP SHOT DOESN'T need ALL THIS CRAZINESS!!!

YouTube - ‪How to photograph a splash of water - Week 52‬‏

 

[TordFuglstad]

I just made this quick PS, on how to make drop photography easy. Only the lighting and stuff. Not the actual drops themselves.
Hope this will help. And as you can se you really need to have that external flash, or the water will just be transparent, as the flash will go directly through the water and light up whatever tray you are having your water in.
Sorry if a show some bad English skills. I'm Norwegian.

lol...A NORMAL DROP SHOT DOESN'T need ALL THIS CRAZINESS!!!

YouTube - ‪How to photograph a splash of water - Week 52‬‏

Lol, gavin is actually using the same stuff that i do. except i leave the flash unit on the body.

 

[Bynx]

All what craziness? You need a tripod, camera, flash, something to catch the water, a table for that something to sit on, and something to give some color to the water (reflector). Whats missing in the diagram is the dripping water source. Its all pretty basic, so whats the craziness?

 

[Paul Ron]

The camera setup is very nice but how are you going to time the shot just as the drop is crowning? You need a trigger which no one mentions here.. unless you use a high speed flashing strobe, you'll be catching a cold at best.

Read the links I gave, they tell you how to make simple triggers for this and many more high speed captures experiments,

ALSO using milk will make the drops n crown much more visable with out all the hastle.

 

[TordFuglstad]

The camera setup is very nice but how are you going to time the shot just as the drop is crowning? You need a trigger which no one mentions here.. unless you use a high speed flashing strobe, you'll be catching a cold at best.

Read the links I gave, they tell you how to make simple triggers for this and many more high speed captures experiments,

ALSO using milk will make the drops n crown much more visable with out all the hastle.

If you just practice enough and take enough pictures you'll end up with a bunch of nice drop-shots.

All what craziness? You need a tripod, camera, flash, something to catch the water, a table for that something to sit on, and something to give some color to the water (reflector). Whats missing in the diagram is the dripping water source. Its all pretty basic, so whats the craziness?

For the dripping water source i just took an old tripod i had and made a little rig to hold a bag of water steady over the paint-tray.