Water Drops – Behind the Shot
One of the things I love about what is happening over in our forum area is that we’ve got thousands of photographers (there are actually 55,000 registered members now) all experimenting with different styles of photography.
While some are Pros (we have a growing community of them) many are practicing their photography in their spare time using the resources available to them.
As they learn they share what they discover and how they’re achieving their results.
One such example of that this one of our members Arlon who recently give us a glimpse behind some of his Water Drop photography (see his Water Drop Gallery here).
Arlon wrote:
“Water drops have always been a fascination of mine. Awhile back I tried my luck at a few and settled on a way that worked pretty easily for me. Here are a few drops and a self explaining shot of my setup. Takes me about 10 shots for every keeper.”
Arlon also went to the trouble of photographing the setup of these shots and annotating it as follows:
The full thread in our forums (others are sharing their setups too) on this topic is located here. Stop by to share your own experiences.
21 Responses to “Water Drops – Behind the Shot” - Add Yours
August 10th, 2009 at 2:05 am
Great explination! Very simular to what I used for some of my water play shots. I tweeted this on twitter :D
August 10th, 2009 at 3:42 pm
The diagram above is a very good explanation of the article itself. Thanks for sharing.
August 11th, 2009 at 1:55 am
Thanks Arlon! Iloved seeing your set up and what you rigged to “Get the shot”. Although still very much a beginner, I appreciate knowing that it takes you about 10 shots to get one good one. That is what keeps me shooting.
;-)
August 12th, 2009 at 6:46 pm
Nice one Arlon!
I was watching Time Warp the other day and they were recording water drops with high speed video. Made me want to do exactly what you’ve done here.
I’ll definitely make use of your tips.
Thanks
August 13th, 2009 at 9:38 am
THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU for this! I’ve been trying to figure out how to set up a water droplet shoot for SUCH a long time–I saw this post, set it up, and got some of the best shots I’ve ever attempted–THANK YOU again!! :)
August 13th, 2009 at 4:46 pm
Thanks for a great tip.. my friend had a set-up with Burette (chemical lab) to control and capture those drops
August 14th, 2009 at 1:52 am
Using a P&S creates a few different problems…but it is achievable
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sue90ca/sets/72157613993496229/
August 14th, 2009 at 6:07 am
I’ve been wanting to try this very thing. This was very useful. Thanks !
August 14th, 2009 at 9:04 am
I’ve just recently done water drops for a mono competition. I had a similiar set up but had the camera on a slight angle. I also found a aluminium oven tray gave an excellent background reflector. Biggest tip? Turn AF OFF. Use the little stick or a pen as I did to place where the drop lands and manually set your focus. Take pen away and you are then assured you have the correct focus. Keep a towel handy…Good luck.
August 14th, 2009 at 12:19 pm
Terrific tips for an always eye-grabbing shot. Thanks
August 14th, 2009 at 11:24 pm
Just tried it out and i got some great shots. Thanks so much for the post!
August 15th, 2009 at 12:42 pm
Can you explain what you do with the popsicle stick and nut?
August 15th, 2009 at 8:15 pm
Hi Angie, I think the popsicle stick and nut are used exactly the same way I used a pencil in my comments a few further up. It is very hard to focus on the drop or where it lands in the dish. When you have the drips dripping, place the nut exactly where the drip lands….so it splashes up on everything….now look through the lense (AF OFF) and manually focus on that nut. Now take the popsicle stick and nut away your camera will be focused exactly where the drip is landing. As I say..I used a pencil. This I found the biggest single tip in this shoot. If you move the lense or origin of drip, you best grab that popsicle stick and repeat the process. Thats it…and I have to admit, the whole process was easier than I thought.
Varying heights of water drip origin will give different splashes and effect. Watch your background too.
August 16th, 2009 at 5:08 am
Great tips.. thanks!
I`ve tried here, look the results: http://www.flickr.com/photos/andrediogo/3823223517/
André
August 16th, 2009 at 12:53 pm
I have always wanted to try this but never could get the water drop slow enough. Now I will try this set up to see if I am able to catch it. Thank you.
August 17th, 2009 at 7:23 am
Great shots. Thanks for sharing. l will have to try it myself.
Sabira
August 17th, 2009 at 9:01 am
Here is one of mine.
http://www.fotocommunity.com/pc/pc/display/18201084
August 26th, 2009 at 9:32 pm
Very nice shot and interesting setup right at the source. Try with a shallow water next time to get a water crown!
September 3rd, 2009 at 11:12 am
I had a friend in the medical field get me a defective drip bag like you see in the hospital TV shows. It is pretty easy to control the timing between drops.
For some different effects, try milk instead of water. Let it drip on a piece of glass on a dark colored piece of paper. Only problem is that you have to wipe it dry between drops so it takes longer.
dlm
September 9th, 2009 at 4:53 am
Thanks so much for the explanation for this awesome assignment! I set up at home and produced some startlingly brilliant (IMHO) results – way better than expected. Used my Canon 100mm f2.8 macro lens and a pan filled with water. Drip setup was a plastic shopping packet with a needle hole.
Also tried dripping milk onto a Teflon coated pan. Luck was with me – the first shot was a dream white crown! The next 15 were stillborn.
Focus set up is key with the very shallow DOF, so I used a very fine plastic toothpick as my manual focus.
Worked like a dream!
Thanks again :)
November 16th, 2009 at 3:30 pm
I definitely retweet’d this, I’m going to try tomorrow and film it…awesome awesome tip, I’ve wanted to try this for a while, definitely want happy to find this article (can you tell by the amount of times I’ve repeated myself…)
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