Water droplets

[snapdragon]

Originally Posted by A Team

Thank you, thank you, thank you! I have been trying to get a water droplet shot with no success until I tried your set up. I definately need to tweak it some more, but I am happy with the results and that I was able to get it in relatively few shots.

I am a little confused by the metering step???? I'm farily new to DSRL photography and I have a Nikon D80. This is something I have not been doing with my photos and to be quite honest, I'm not sure how. Any tips?

You are welcome , looks like you are getting the hang of it , it is the easiest way I have found , I wish I had your camera ,I am afraid I do not know alot about such a fine camera . with my camera I use a grey card , or my hand to make sure that my camera is not focusing beond my water stream, the fine stream sometimes broken could cause the focus to be on the far side of the sink ,and my water droplet would be out of focus .sorry I am not a very teck kind of Gal , some one like Jiminy could explain it so muck better . I find too that I was shooting for the droplets above the apple and not the splash on the water , that is easier I think to focus on . Hope this helps , or someone else who knows more about cameras will explain it better . I just do what works for me .

[snapdragon]

Originally Posted by snickies

Oh wow, this is really cool! Most of my attempts to photograph water droplets has ended in failure. I'll have to remember this setup for if/when I get my hands on a better camera and tripod...

trust me on this one , my camera is not a good one and if you have manual settings so you can set a fast shutter speed it can be done ,no tripod needed . I have not tried it but if you don't have manual settings ,but do have sports mode you should give that a try ,ya never know till ya try

[snapdragon]

Originally Posted by mysticeyesx

very nice. thanks for posting the setup shot as well. very helpful.

your welcome , I look forward to seeing others capturering those hard to catch water droplets , this is the easiest , and least time consuming way I could come up with .

[spellbound]

Originally Posted by A Team

Thank you, thank you, thank you! I have been trying to get a water droplet shot with no success until I tried your set up. I definately need to tweak it some more, but I am happy with the results and that I was able to get it in relatively few shots.

I am a little confused by the metering step???? I'm farily new to DSRL photography and I have a Nikon D80. This is something I have not been doing with my photos and to be quite honest, I'm not sure how. Any tips?

That's a very nice shot! Well done!!

[Cemil97]

Great idea that I definately have to try! Thanks for posting such an excelent description of the setup.

[A Team]

Thanks Spellbound. With Snapdragon's set up it was pretty easy to do. Now I want to get closer shot.

[sgrbear724]

WOOHOOO Thanks so much! Maybe I CAN conquer it. MAYBE. ;-) PS. I LOVE it when a photo is taken so low-tech...gives me and my poor self hope that I can achieve good stuff without spending more than I am worth...

[Granpa]

Thank you for such detailed instructions i'am certainly going to give it a go.

[cheasie]

very nice tutorial, and even though your setup was low tech...it still worked wonderfully!

[Oliag]

Originally Posted by snapdragon

I have found that for my camera I get the best results with these settings Jan 17, 2008
1129×1226 pixels – 234KB

Filename: 100_8228-1.jpg
Camera: EASTMAN KODAK COMPANY
Model: KODAK Z650 ZOOM DIGITAL CAMERA
ISO: 80
Exposure: 1/800 sec
Aperture: f/3.0
Focal Length: 8mm
Flash Used: Yes
Latitude: n/a
Longitude: n/a Lots of light is a must ,with the fast shutter speed a tripod is not nessary . I use the kitchen sink ,with the tap running a fine dribble ,for this one I placed an apple on a clear glass dish under the stream ,with 2 mirrors ,one on each side to catch & reflect the light back to the droplets , and a piece of green poster board around the sink as a back drop that might & did get reflected in the droplets . I meter off of a card I place so that the water stream is hitting it ,once focused remove card and and start shooting in burst hand holding camera in one hand and a tin foil pie plate over the top to bounce the flash down on the apple . This is a photo of my setup , pretty low teck. The hardest part is getting the water stream fine enough . I have tried other settings but for this set up & my camera I liked this one the best , There are more apple droplet photos on my picasa acc if any of you would like to check them out . Have fun I did .

I loved this pic on the DOF challenge thread and I'm very thankful for you're info and picture of the set up...Like many others,I'm going to give it a try soon and will post any pics that actually turn out ok.