Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Shooting images of water drops - fun stuff!

As a photographer, you always want to get outside of your comfort zone and try something new. With that in mind, I set out to try something new this weekend. After seeing a very cool image of a water drop that was posted by another photographer, I thought that I should give this a try.


The end results (some of which you are seeing here) are really cool, but it took a ton of images and trial and error to get these keepers. I took almost a thousand images with my Canon 5D Mark II in burst mode, hoping to get the water droplets in the right moment of action.


In many of the images, I had either no drops of water or nothing of interest in the frame. In others, I had the drops of water but they were out of focus or lit incorrectly.


You will notice that each image has a different color reflection in the water. I was pointing the camera at the bowl of water, but I was trying different pieces of wrapping paper in the background (and pointing the flash at the paper) to get fun reflections off the water.


In the shot above, I actually moved one of my wife's potted plants behind the bowl of water. The green and purple that you are seeing in the water is a reflection of the leaves and flowers. For all of these images, I used the Sigma 150mm macro lens.


Sometimes I would catch one drop of water coming down (from the plastic bag suspended above the bowl) and other times I would catch multiple drops.


It is amazing how beautiful water drops are. I was amazed at the shapes and patterns that I captured with the camera. All frozen at 1/200 sec using the flash to freeze the action.


You will notice that I changed the angle of my camera to get different looks. In the close-up shot (2 above) I was shooting almost directly across the water. In this last image, I was shooting from above, looking down at the water. In this image, the ripples were caused by a preceding drop and then this drop was just about to impact the same spot.

As I look back at all these images, it is hard to believe that I was using clear water. It looks like I used color additives or Adobe Photoshop, but trust me, this was all reflected colors.

11 comments:

  1. Those are great! That looks really fun. I never really thought about what it takes to get a shot like that. I think I like the second-to-last one best--it looks like another planet.

    What was your aperture setting, if you don't mind me asking?

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  2. I shot everything at either f8 or f7.1 using a couple of different lenses, mainly using the Sigma 150mm Macro Lens.

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  3. Hi Jeff,
    First class pictures and top photography...you have lots og great shots...Congrats:))

    Best,
    Naseer

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  4. These are beautiful Jeff. Hope you and the family are well!

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  5. Amazingly Beautiful!

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  6. I love it! I was wondering if you could do the same thing on PhotoShop and if so do you know how?

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  7. This would have to be done in camera and not in Photoshop. (Of course, almost anything COULD be done in Photoshop, but it would be difficult). :)

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  8. Hi Jeff, my name's Natalie, I'm doing shoots just like this for my A2 photography project, I only have a 1000D to work with but I have access to a studio, i really love these shots, they are amazing, and i love the wrapping paper idea.
    I was just wondering at what sort of angle did you have the camera in relation to the bowl, to avoid shooting the bowl, or the walls/floor around it, i'm struggling to get a shot that looks like only water is in the frame, and was wondering if you could help me!
    would be much appreciated!

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  9. Natalie, I shot the images from approximately 45 degrees or even less. I zoomed in to avoid the edges of the pan.

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  10. All of your water drops are really inspirational! Is it alright if I use one of your pictures for my blog, if I give you credit?

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