Yet Another Splashing Fruit Post - C&C if you want

[TimothyJinx]

Well, I've been experimenting with all kinds of things lately. I had planned on shooting at a walking bridge today but it was spitting rain and the sky was covered with boring, dull gray clouds. So, I went shopping and bought some strawberries and decided to give this s shot. Yeah, I know - this has been done to death. But this is a first for me. And aside from making a complete mess, it was pretty fun!

 

[KrisztinaK]

I think these types of shots are so much fun.

It looks pretty good to me, but I am in no position to provide any cc, sorry.
I think I'd like to see the drops of water more frozen in the air though.

I would, however, like to as about your lighting setup. Do you mind sharing ?

 

[kathyt]

Oooooh. I like this one. Very nice.

 

[kathyt]

How did you do it.

 

[TATTRAT]

Could be sold as stock shots for any restaurant P.O.S. system.

 

[TimothyJinx]

I think I'd like to see the drops of water more frozen in the air though.

I would, however, like to as about your lighting setup. Do you mind sharing ?

Kris, I totally agree and I was a bit disappointed in that. I read somewhere that your flash was at its fastest at its lowest power. But no matter what I did I couldn't seem to freeze the drops any more than on this example. If any of you pros out there would like to chime in and help out that would be great.

The lighting setup was very simple. I had an AlienBee 400 with a 30º honeycomb grid attached directly to the left of the glass. On the right side I had a silver reflector. That's about it. Later I moved the light still to the left but a little more behind the glass. I actually like that better but I couldn't get a splash I liked as well.

Oooooh. I like this one. Very nice. How did you do it.

Thanks Kathy! After setting up the light I just dropped the strawberry into the glass and clicked the remote shutter release as it hit the water. It took a while to get the timing right - I have several shots of the strawberry in mid air!

Could be sold as stock shots for any restaurant P.O.S. system.

Wow, thanks!

 

[TimothyJinx]

I think I'd like to see the drops of water more frozen in the air though.

Turns out I had it backwards - it seems the AB400's shortest flash duration is a max power. I think I will retry this tomorrow!

 

[Buckster]

I think I'd like to see the drops of water more frozen in the air though.

Turns out I had it backwards - it seems the AB400's shortest flash duration is a max power. I think I will retry this tomorrow!

Yeah, speedlights are the ones that get faster the lower the power, and they're MUCH faster than studio strobes. The AB400 flash duration is something like 1/2000 sec, while a 580EXII is about 1/60,000 sec for serious stopping power. The Yongnuos may be as much as twice as fast as that:



So, if you have a speedlight (or more than one) your best bet is to use that/those instead.

All my water/milk splash stuff is done with speedlights for that reason.

 

[TimothyJinx]

Yeah, speedlights are the ones that get faster the lower the power, and they're MUCH faster than studio strobes. The AB400 flash duration is something like 1/2000 sec, while a 580EXII is about 1/60,000 sec for serious stopping power. The Yongnuos may be as much as twice as fast as that:

Thanks Buckster. I don't have a speedlight but I'm definitely going to pick one up soon. I've seen some of your splash shots and they're really good!

 

[PixelRabbit]

This is cool Timothy, I haven't tried the drops yet, great tip on the speed light Buckster!

 

[Buckster]

Thank you kindly! I really like the shot you've posted above as well!

 

[TimothyJinx]

Ok, I picked up a canon 430ex ii this morning and did some more experimenting. I have been using the AlienBees studio strobes and I don't have any experience with Speedlights nor do I have any hardware, grids, etc. that go along with them. So I used an AB 10º honeycomb grid fastened to the 430 using a rubber band. The only Canon compatible cable available was a 4' one for around $80 so I decided to pass. I'll get one online somewhere. So I had to use the flash on my 7D to trigger the 430. At first I tried flagging off the on-camera flash in such a way that is was still visible to the 430. But after a few tries, I realized the on-camera flash was very weak and in fact had a slight positive effect on my overall exposure. So that simplified things.

Anyway, though I don't care for the overall tone of this version compared to the original, I think this clearly demonstrates what Buckster pointed out in that the speedlights definitely will freeze motion much better than the AlienBees.

One other note: my strawberries were not quite what they were the other day - definitely going in the garbage today!