Strawberries and Cream

[Glayva]

I have been waiting for some time to have a go at "Splash Photography." Thought I would try something a little different from the water droplet shots we see so often. My photography colleague, Paulo, came round for the afternoon so we set about trying this out.

I set up a round "Lastolite" screen with a 580 EX flash gun behind set at 1/16th power. The flash head was covered with a dark red gel and on top of this I placed a sheet of plastic diffuser. To the right of image I set up a 580 EX flash gun and, again set the power to 1/16th. The main purpose of the low power settings is to provide a very short flash duration. I would think, possibly, about 1/10,000th of a second. The flash head was about 1m from the strawberries. A third flash gun was set to left of image, about 1.5m from strawberries and set at 1/64th power.

I stuck a pin in each strawberry to which was tied a thin piece of white cotton and suspended the three from a boom arm. All of this was suspended over a kids paddling pool to try and contain the "mess" created.

I next mixed up a "solution" of yoghourt with milk to get a creamy like substance. I had my Canon 5dmk2 set up on a sturdy tripod with a remote trigger. I used my favourite 100mm macro lens set at f8. ISO was 100 and shutter was 1/100th. The camera was about 1m from the strawberries.

The trick is to fire the flash at just the right moment and this did take almost 100 shots. I fired the camera and Paulo threw the yoghourt at the fruit.

We still have a lot to learn about this sort of shot. In hindsight, I should have set my flash guns up more accurately and used my exposure meter to calculate the settings - but that is for next time.

..........

[MattJohnRobinson]

Originally Posted by Photoboothguy

It also looks like there's ghosting in the image, but it's really hard to tell with that background. If you're using Canon's wireless system, don't. It sends out a pre-flash that will cause ghosting. Generally it's best to stay away from wireless triggers when doing this type of photography, as there are hidden delays as well.

Thanks for this info, just last night I started to rummage around the net for remote triggering information, options, prices, etc. This little tidbit helps a lot right off the bat. And after a brief glance at your Flickr, you obviously know what you're talking about :-D

[TNH]

Originally Posted by Glayva

I have been waiting for some time to have a go at "Splash Photography." Thought I would try something a little different from the water droplet shots we see so often. My photography colleague, Paulo, came round for the afternoon so we set about trying this out.

I set up a round "Lastolite" screen with a 580 EX flash gun behind set at 1/16th power. The flash head was covered with a dark red gel and on top of this I placed a sheet of plastic diffuser. To the right of image I set up a 580 EX flash gun and, again set the power to 1/16th. The main purpose of the low power settings is to provide a very short flash duration. I would think, possibly, about 1/10,000th of a second. The flash head was about 1m from the strawberries. A third flash gun was set to left of image, about 1.5m from strawberries and set at 1/64th power.

I stuck a pin in each strawberry to which was tied a thin piece of white cotton and suspended the three from a boom arm. All of this was suspended over a kids paddling pool to try and contain the "mess" created.

I next mixed up a "solution" of yoghourt with milk to get a creamy like substance. I had my Canon 5dmk2 set up on a sturdy tripod with a remote trigger. I used my favourite 100mm macro lens set at f8. ISO was 100 and shutter was 1/100th. The camera was about 1m from the strawberries.

The trick is to fire the flash at just the right moment and this did take almost 100 shots. I fired the camera and Paulo threw the yoghourt at the fruit.

We still have a lot to learn about this sort of shot. In hindsight, I should have set my flash guns up more accurately and used my exposure meter to calculate the settings - but that is for next time.

This is a really cook shot! I've always wanted to try something like this. TFS.

[kath12]

Nice shot! I really like photography but I still don't have enough skills. Still need more trials to be perfect.

[JudiRose]

Looks like a fun shot to set up. My dh and I love doing this type of stuff, but we are noobs and don't get the results you have.

I agree about the background. I think it might be more striking with some color besides red.