water droplet / splash

[ketan]

Hi,
I saw some beautiful absolute sharp and clear photographs of strawberry being splashed in milk or water dripping etc at dpchallenge site. Many of them were taken with Canon 1D mark II.
I understand that this is a function of shutterspeed.
With 3200 speed, is it possible to take such snaps with 30D?
Thanks
ketan

 

[Digital Matt]

It's actually not done via a fast shutter speed. You won't get a shutter speed fast enough to freeze this action. You'd need more light than you can possibly muster. It's done with a strobe light or off camera speedlight flash. The flash of light from the strobe is very bright and the duration is more than fast enough to freeze any motion.

 

[gizmo2071]

Check this little tutorial out.
It's not exactly what your after, but kinda gives an insight to the world of splash photography.
http://richallen.deviantart.com/art/Water-Drop-Tutorial-47103251

 

[ketan]

Thanks and wow...superb. I never knew that it needs so much of the dedication.:blushing:

 

[Jon, The Elder]

KETAN - outside of being a great way to test your reflexes, it is a fun shot. The 30D is the best all-around camera I've found, it makes me a lot of money.

The strobe and tutorial method mentioned above, is one way of getting these....assuming you have the bucks to spend.

Your kit lens may be the limiting factor here.

It takes up to 80 clicks to get the one I want at times. Patience is the key. Here how I do a basic setup.....

I use 2 cheap, 100w, Halogen work lights from Home depot. A piece of black non-reflective cloth for a backdrop.

Setup your camera (tripod of course) as close as you can to the target area. A remote cable release is almost mandatory. Vibration of any kind is a kiss-of-death.

Now, get a round cake pan that is at least 2" deep. fill to about 2/3 with water and place it on your tabletop, not too close to the backdrop.
Rig a crossbar about 18" above the pan. use handy clamps so you can raise and lower the crossbar. Find a straight piece of rod or pvc tubing and clamp it temporarily to the crossbar. Be sure it is vertical.

Now, trot around behind your camera and do all your manual setups for the camera, focusing just above where the "drop" will fall. Mark the crossbar with a sharpie.

The tricky part is to release whatever you are dropping and trigger your shutter with the right timing. Don't forget, the higher you drop from, the more time you have to react. Also the higher, the greater the 'splash'.

It is a fun project for a rainy afternoon.

Variations of this I've done are.... golf ball in milk, large ball from a wheel bearing into thinned oil, anything into a water/glycerin mix

When you acheive succes, you'll be hooked.

 

[RacePhoto]

Check this little tutorial out.
It's not exactly what your after, but kinda gives an insight to the world of splash photography.
http://richallen.deviantart.com/art/Water-Drop-Tutorial-47103251

What he does say is how he gets two different colors and drop one right after the other, right in line!

Very creative and great shots.

 

[Garbz]

The tricky part is to release whatever you are dropping and trigger your shutter with the right timing. Don't forget, the higher you drop from, the more time you have to react. Also the higher, the greater the 'splash'.

The photographer in me is thinking this would be a pain but well worth the hassle. The engineer is thinking very sensitive sound or IR reflector based triggering. Actually I think I may try and hobble something together like that soon.

 

[ketan]

Sorry to ask this! But how do you protect your camera from the splashing?

 

[Jon, The Elder]

Ketan....if that is a concern, lay your lens face down on a piece of black crescent board. Trace around the rim and then cut out the center. A tight fit helps. A drop on the lens surface is possible, but never had that happen...yet.

Garbz.....Yeah I do it occasionally as a "rainy day" project. You have to be in a 'puzzle solving' mood. A triggering device or more sophisticated setup, would increase your "keeper" rate quite a bit.

It isn't often seen in the 'sharing' or C&C sections.