Water Droplet

[MistyGeek]

Below is my first attempt at the water droplet, it was shot in a blue bucket in normal lighting conditions any tips for making this better? if you look carefully on the droplet you can see my face which is i think adds a nice personal touch to the pic.




MSR_0633 by Martin.Robertson, on Flickr

Exif Data

Camera Model Canon EOS 500D
Shooting Date/Time 07/02/2011 19:27:03
Tv( Shutter Speed ) 1/200
Av( Aperture Value ) 4.5
ISO Speed 400

[sourav]

Tv 1/250 suits water drops as it does not give you the tail.
It seems you have used flash......try capturing the same shot with a lower camera angle.
All in all, this shot looks great but a bit underexposed.
Cheers,
Sourav

[corvus2606]

try backlighting the shot with a flash and softbox. with a flash at 1/16 power, it can freeze things much better than a mechanical shutter can.

adding a touch of food dye to the water in the top can render some attractive results too.

other than that. for a shot in natural light, its very well done.

[MistyGeek]

thanks for your comments, one thing i struggled with was lighting, ill maybe try this in the daytime outside, i dont have professional lights or anything i have to make do with table lamps with flourescent bulbs.

is it possible to get a wider DOF on a photo like this?

oh and thanks for the dye idea gonna try that at the weekend.

[CBabcock]

That's a nice capture for not having a flash. A little underexposed, but you got the shot down. Pretty well done for your first attempt. Practice makes perfect. TFS.
I think it's great you caught yourself in the drop.

[chicagojohn]

Originally Posted by MistyGeek

if you look carefully on the droplet you can see my face which is i think adds a nice personal touch to the pic.

Exif Data
Camera Model Canon EOS 500D
Shooting Date/Time 07/02/2011 19:27:03
Tv( Shutter Speed ) 1/200
Av( Aperture Value ) 4.5
ISO Speed 400

Your face is actually the first thing I noticed, and not just a personal touch but also a perhaps inadvertent statement about the origin of man, who now has come to the point of photographing the water from which s/he arose.

While that point is perhaps best absorbed after a couple beers (not that I'm advocating the drinking of alcohol; and if you do drink, please do so responsibly!), but as others have mentioned, a strobe flash of some kind would cut the actual exposure to around 1/1000 even if your shutter speed is 1/200 or longer, since it would have been so many times stonger than ambient light

That fact, in addition, would no doubt have allowed you to use a smaller aperture, maybe f/11 or f/22, which is the principal key to getting wider depth of field. An off-camera "speed light" can be a very versatile device in situations like this, allowing as well optimization of lighting angles and shadow.

Nice capture and interesting hydrodynamics (no matter how many times I see it).

[MistyGeek]

wow thanks for all the help and advice. i am going to invest in some lighting so i can get a wider DOF and definatly try the food colouring idea. could be interesting....

thanks again

[T.R.R]

I cannot offer any advice on this subject, as for the reason that I cannot achive this effect. I have tried many many times and never achive a worth while result. But everytime I see results like this, I always have to try again.