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bit of an odd mix of techniques (portrait work)
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Cross Processing, Curves in Adobe Photoshop
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Freezing water drops with flash
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Capturing water drops
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Cheap camera Hacking: Poor Man's Filter
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Vintage Film Effect
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Cloudy days and reflectors
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Firework displays- any suggestions
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how to get this effect ?
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Fake-LOMO Adobe Photoshop Script
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Using a monopod etc.. to get to an inaccessible viewpoint
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Freezing water drops with flash

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bikeracer is a group administrator bikeracer  Pro User  says:

I decided to play around with my on-camera flash the other day. I thought it might be cool to try for one of those shots that capture the simple beauty of splashing water.

These are probably my best examples:
Explosion

The Juggler

I ended up making a dripping device out of a soda bottle, and just timing my shots by hand. I had to darken my bathroom (studio) to trick the flash into firing as brightly as possible.

I used a long lens (200mm) to keep the camera away from the splashing water, but the downside to that was a very slim DoF. I couldn't stop down past f/11 because the flash couldn't fire any brighter and most of my shots past f/11 are blurry or streaky, as if the flash was lit for a long time.

I managed to get several good shots (probably about 1 out of 5 shots were interesting) but I was wondering if there are any specific techniques to shots of this type to improve "good shot" ratios.
Posted at 11:10PM, 1 April 2005 PST ( permalink )

< Prev 1 2 3
(1 to 100 of 211 replies in Freezing water drops with flash)
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Jeffy Can (ultimaslair) says:

Interesting, thanks for sharing this. Out of curiosity, what is the water in? Sink? Some tub?
Posted 44 months ago. ( permalink )

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krazydad / jbum  Pro User  says:

You seem to be doing pretty well!

You'll probably find some interesting things if you look for articles on Harold "Doc" Edgerton, who pioneered the strobe and high-speed photography.

Here's a few interesting links:

www.agallery.com/Pages/photographers/edgerton.html

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harold_Edgerton

slashdot.org/articles/04/01/22/1347223.shtml?tid=152&tid=...

www.ammoman.com/gunshots.html
Posted 44 months ago. ( permalink )

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bikeracer is a group administrator bikeracer  Pro User  says:

Ultima: Thanks! Yes, it was shot in my tub, but the white you see is the dinner plate I was using as the drip catcher. The plate was raised above the surface of the tub on a precarious tower constructed from an upside down bucket (for height), a wet towel (for stability), and a large metal bowl (for adjusting angle).

At first I was just dripping into the bowl, but the water was too deep and the drips looked more like a tidal wave. I've also used the plate upside down (the shallower puddle made for more explosive drips) and I really liked some of those results. The black background was made by draping a black long-sleeve t-shirt across the back of the tub and wetting it to keep it stuck to the tub.
Posted 44 months ago. ( permalink )

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bikeracer is a group administrator bikeracer  Pro User  says:

jbum: Thanks! And, the links are great! I thought I wrote this reply hours ago, but it must have not stuck.
Posted 44 months ago. ( permalink )

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bikeracer is a group administrator bikeracer  Pro User  says:

Here is an example of some of my first attempts with the bowl:

Cold Water Splash

Although I still think it looks cool, and I used the same technique, the water was too deep for a good drop. Actually with this shot, I hadn't made my dripper yet, so I was just using my shower head to drip. I think it was dripping really fast for the big disturbance I got.
Posted 44 months ago. ( permalink )

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fd  Pro User  says:

I think 1 in 5 is pretty good. I did some of these in mid-March. I didn't count all of the photos but I estimate that I made around 500 exposures, captured maybe 50 splashes, and only ended up with 5 I liked.

But that included a lot of experimentation at the beginning. The last night I did it, I think I was getting about 1 in 5.

I was timing manually as well. By ear. I found that placing the dropper about 1.5ft (about half a meter) above the impact point was a good height. And I timed the exposures so that I was hearing the shutter open instead of the droplet hitting the impact point. If I heard the drop hit it meant I was too early or too late.

I shot mine on a large wooden cutting board at a low angle. The reflection is created by a thin layer of water spread over the surface.
Posted 44 months ago. ( permalink )

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brfuk  Pro User  says:

Very nice. I tried a similar thing in the great outdoors but without a flash. The end result was many many shots fired and very dirty knees...

Plop
Posted 44 months ago. ( permalink )

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bikeracer is a group administrator bikeracer  Pro User  says:

great shots, fd & brfuk!
Posted 44 months ago. ( permalink )

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bikeracer is a group administrator bikeracer  Pro User  says:

Here are the shots that got me started with the frozen droplet idea:

www.dpchallenge.com/image.php?IMAGE_ID=159985
www.dpchallenge.com/image.php?IMAGE_ID=159986

I kept hitting the shutter, but it was too hard to get anything at all.
Posted 44 months ago. ( permalink )

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bikeracer is a group administrator bikeracer  Pro User  says:

Here's another:
Pop!

I realize now that if I'd had less water on the plate I could have gotten a more explosive splash versus the more bulbous effect I've been getting.
Posted 44 months ago. ( permalink )

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eecue  Pro User  says:

that's cool i'm going to try that this weekend or maybe even sooner!
Posted 44 months ago. ( permalink )

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bikeracer is a group administrator bikeracer  Pro User  says:

Do it eecue! It's fun. Just try to keep your camera from getting wet. =]
Posted 44 months ago. ( permalink )

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Hez says:

This was a fun excersize! thank you bikeracer fantastic ideas and helpful hints, keep up the great work!
Posted 44 months ago. ( permalink )

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goodlux  Pro User  says:

You might want to try not using a flash at all, with just really bright ambient light. This might get you past the f11 barrier.



I shot this one in ambient light, but the DOF is very small. This is with 100mm macro lens.

Your flash experiment has inspired me to do some more of these though.
Posted 44 months ago. ( permalink )

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TigerPuppala says:

bikeracer, nice shots. I attempted to do the same last night. took about 30 shots - none to remember! I do have a question on focusing.
If autofocus, no light so not-happenning (for me atleast). Manual focus hard time dropping the water at THE SPOT (pitch dark, so shooting in the dark - literally).
How did you (or others) manage focus. I am using a tripod, water in a dinner plate on inverted trash can in the bath tub.
Posted 44 months ago. ( permalink )

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fd  Pro User  says:

I picked a spot where the drops were going to hit and focused manually there. Then you need to make the drops hit close to that spot. The best way to do this is to setup some kind of apparatus to hold your dropper for you over that spot but you can do it without that if you have a steady hand and some light.
Posted 44 months ago. ( permalink )

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bikeracer is a group administrator bikeracer  Pro User  says:

For focus, I used a sponge. =] I placed it on the plate where the drops were hitting and auto/manual focused until the sponge corner looked perfect. The drops weren't hitting exactly the same spot each time, but they were pretty close.
Posted 44 months ago. ( permalink )

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deborah d. lattimore  Pro User  says:

i've been so surprised by the olympus D540 super macro feature. for a camera that only costs $180, it has incredible focus and DOF.

these were both taken outside without flash:




Posted 44 months ago. ( permalink )

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Hez says:

Thanks for the inspiration bikeracer, I posted this to the pool and got my hand slapped (oops!) so here is my atempt
water-img_3762
Posted 44 months ago. ( permalink )

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Rob & Amy  Pro User  says:

These were taken in the dark with my digital handheld camera (minolta f100) set on macro (don't have a digital SLR). They didn't turn out as nice as those with digital SLR's but it was fun trying. Thanks for the tips bikeracer. Anyone else try with with a small handheld? Any luck or tips?

drop

drop2
Posted 43 months ago. ( permalink )

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eqqman  Pro User  says:

Great topic. I'd love to try this out soon.
Posted 43 months ago. ( permalink )

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pdcawley is a group administrator pdcawley says:

I find myself wondering what would happen if you were to monkey about with a polarizer on the lens and (possibly) some polaroid material in front of the flash head...
Posted 43 months ago. ( permalink )

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Kaddy  Pro User  says:

Robert Matheson, I have tried this with a P&S here:

Part four of the trilogy

And PD, really interesting question....definately worth a try, I'm guessing some points will completely disappear?
Posted 43 months ago. ( permalink )

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Reitstoen says:

Just playing around with my EOS 300D and the internal flash (I really need to get a good external one).

Posted 42 months ago. ( permalink )

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geriatric says:

I do not think that it is strictly true to say the shots are brighter. It is the duration of the flash that makes it seem brighter. A flash can be very short,on some guns it can be 1/20000 of a second at full aperture. It is so short you hardly see it. I made a gizmo that triggers the flash at the sound of the water being disturbed.Every shot is a winner and you can delay it slightly to create an entirely different shot. the shot I submitted on the gallery of the coins hitting the water. the flash was triggered by the coin under the water.
Posted 42 months ago. ( permalink )

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Rodel  Pro User  says:

Thank you for the inspiration

CrownDrop2
Originally posted 42 months ago. ( permalink )
Rodel edited this topic 38 months ago.

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Rodel  Pro User  says:

Another little one ;-)

drop
Posted 42 months ago. ( permalink )

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Gibtach  Pro User  says:

bikeracer thanks for explaining this great technique.

Water Drops
Posted 42 months ago. ( permalink )

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Coffee_Break  Pro User  says:

the crown
Posted 42 months ago. ( permalink )

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~scott says:

If you really want to get snazzy, you can use a sound-activated flash trigger. Here's a place that sells cheap kits:
hiviz.com/kits/sk1.htm

And here's a gallery (not my work) with some shots using said trigger:
splutphoto.com/100%20Shot%20Browser/studioframes.htm
Posted 42 months ago. ( permalink )

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catherinelove  Pro User  says:

I would liek to post my try of this technique but dont know how to add a pic to the post...help?
Thanks
Posted 42 months ago. ( permalink )

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catherinelove  Pro User  says:

drip 6
Posted 41 months ago. ( permalink )

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.supernova.  Pro User  says:




Here's what I got from experimenting with a normal 35mm, flash, f/5.6, shutter 2000
Posted 41 months ago. ( permalink )

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bikeracer is a group administrator bikeracer  Pro User  says:

cool, supernova! i actually noticed yours when you uploaded them, and i was wondering what lens/settings you used.
Posted 41 months ago. ( permalink )

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ORBman says:

Water
Sunshine, without flash, plastic bathtub
Posted 41 months ago. ( permalink )

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fotobydave  Pro User  says:

What a wonderful way to spend a hot, muggy afternoon! With temp & humidity in the 90's a interesting photo activity in the basement was great. Here is my try:

244_4498sq

244_4493sq

I used a 200mm lens and off camera flash. Need to play with focusing, more later, I am sure!
Posted 41 months ago. ( permalink )

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Tea Lady says:

ORBman has my vote for favorite waterdrop shot :)
Posted 41 months ago. ( permalink )

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Tampen  Pro User  says:

I haven't got as far as the splash yet, but here was my first attempt at a drip.

Apart from selecting a colourful background, I used a macro lens, the in-camera flash, and manual focus (essential). The hardest part was persuading the tap to run at the right velocity - too fast and it was just a boring stream, too slow and I kept missing the drops....

Today
Posted 41 months ago. ( permalink )

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nucof says:

yeah, nice ideas bikeracer.
Now I just wanna ditch out of the office and go play photographer!

will have to try some this weekend. (with my dslr and my small digicam)

great shots everyone!
Posted 40 months ago. ( permalink )

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darold.smith  Pro User  says:

A little out of focus...

Blue Water2
Posted 40 months ago. ( permalink )

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herval  Pro User  says:

Mine didn't manage to drop from the tap :)

Ping, ping, ping...
Posted 40 months ago. ( permalink )

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dulcelife  Pro User  says:

Every Drop has a hidden alien

Water Man
Posted 40 months ago. ( permalink )

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ThenAndAgain  Pro User  says:

woohoo! finally got around to trying this. Many thanks to bikeracer for the inspiration.

I'll have my results up in a moment.

Edit: here we go!

Splash

Splash


I must add as a side note though, with these types of shots, it's rather hard to compare actual attempts to acceptable results when a good deal of this relies upon good timing rather than good composition
Posted 40 months ago. ( permalink )

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trevc  Pro User  says:

These are all great shots in their own right as there is no control over the timing or effect. You have to take a chance.
Posted 40 months ago. ( permalink )

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hot_tea  Pro User  says:

this is a beautiful beautiful thread! wow! I'll have to try this too;-)
Posted 40 months ago. ( permalink )

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Brenda Anderson  Pro User  says:

Here's my first attempt with my Kodak DC4800 p&s on macro mode. Taken in a stainless steel kitchen sink, hence the reflections and strange colour patterns. The first was with a flash and the second without.

waterplay

waterplay
Posted 40 months ago. ( permalink )

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ksquires  Pro User  says:

My Attempts:
Drop-01
Drop-03
Posted 40 months ago. ( permalink )

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.supernova.  Pro User  says:

Bikeracer, sorry for the belated response. I used my canon digital rebel and used a standard 35mm lens. I set my shutter to 200, since that was highest it could go with flash enabled and f/5.6, only using the built-in flash from the camera about 30cm away and started in complete dark (the only problem was I had to clean my lens afterwards from the water). I used the manual mode so I could set everything I wanted as well as setting the camera to take multiple shots so that I can take many pictures consecutively.

Setup, I used a plate full of water, then used an empty eye dropper such as the kind you can get to lubricate your eyes with and filled it with water. I would stick my finger in the area I wanted to capture and have the lens auto focus on the contact point of my finger and water. Then I set the lens back to manual so that it would not readjust on accident. I would get constant dripping action in the location I wanted and snapped away. I would probably get 1 good picture for every 5 as you said. It's a very difficult task to perfect unless you have a nice apparatus or mechanism to release the water. Hope it helps.
Posted 40 months ago. ( permalink )

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RS_Photography  Pro User  says:

I am so happy with this thread!! Last night I had my very first attempt at the drop freeze. Unfortunately I had not seen this thread yet, so I have not been able to try out any of your tips, but this is even more of a motivation to get that great shot. I will share my moment of shame anyway, just so people can see how NOT to do it.


Posted 39 months ago. ( permalink )

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Hughes500  Pro User  says:

I also love this thread!!!
Last week I was inspired by .supernova´s fruitsplashes. But now I´ll try out this technique too!
This group really is needful and offers great pics. This thread only contains best and high quality Photos!!!
I hope to add my part soon! ;-)
Posted 39 months ago. ( permalink )

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I moved...  Pro User  says:

Pyrex bowl full of water on dining table. Bit of blue foood dye. Tripod, flash and fixed pre focus. Touch of USM in ps. My best effort so far.


Posted 39 months ago. ( permalink )

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Tasslehoff Burrfoot  Pro User  says:

this is my attemps:
with milk



with water




Posted 39 months ago. ( permalink )

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karo.lina says:

My attempt:

Drop

I was actually kinda surprised my little camera was able to achieve a pic with such great detail (but then, this was the best one out of about 30 pics. Dang, it's hard to time the drops!).
Posted 39 months ago. ( permalink )

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kyle stauffer says:

My attempt this week at high speed motion with water:


Posted 39 months ago. ( permalink )

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darkmatter  Pro User  says:

I don't have a macro lens to capture individual drops as nicely as the examples above, so I created a sheet of water instead (the water is spread by a spoon). This gives interesting droplet effects on the edge of the sheet, but also distorts the background in unusual ways, like the circular ripples in this shot:

Fish Eyes

The droplets and the edge of the sheet act like fish-eye lenses to give very distorted miniature images of the striped background (best seen in the large version).
Posted 39 months ago. ( permalink )

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joaobambu  Pro User  says:

Wow, I am glad I found this thread. Last night, I tried to capture some water drops while taking a shower. I finally was able to get somewhere when I turned off all the lights, used Fill Flash, macro setting, and played with the ISO on my 4 megapixel Canon Powershot S410 Elph..

\"Shower

\"´A
Posted 39 months ago. ( permalink )

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kuriakonz  Pro User  says:

moi attempt

888_8879copy
Posted 38 months ago. ( permalink )

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Rodel  Pro User  says:

One of the best yet.
Posted 38 months ago. ( permalink )

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Coffee_Break  Pro User  says:


Posted 38 months ago. ( permalink )

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RS_Photography  Pro User  says:

I like this a lot (as do I like a lot of your other pics, but that is not related to this thread). I'm impressed by the overall sharpness and the different color reflections.
Posted 38 months ago. ( permalink )

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Atomicode  Pro User  says:

Kitchen Sink BW
This is a little different - inverted the sink sprayer, turned the water on just enough to get a nice stream. Used a tripod and flash for this one, then removed color in PS. Not as focused as I would like. Water looks a little like glass shattering to me. Need to try this again using some of the tips I've read here.
Posted 38 months ago. ( permalink )

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RS_Photography  Pro User  says:

Not bad at all for a first try Atomicode. I remember doing a lot worse myself, but I found a lot of helpful tips here. As for the focussing, what I ended up doing is setting my lens to maual focus, put and object in the main focus field and manually focus on that, perhaps that will help.
Posted 38 months ago. ( permalink )

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Atomicode  Pro User  says:

My shot was I think day 2 after I got my Nikon D70, so I hadn't bothered to figure out manual focus yet (doh!). I was putting my hand where the water stream was and letting the camera focus on that, then making the shot.
Posted 38 months ago. ( permalink )

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ocellnuri  Pro User  says:

I gave this a shot tonight:



Though I have to say my favorite shot so far was the one where I didn't catch a splash...

That Instant
Posted 38 months ago. ( permalink )

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kuriakonz  Pro User  says:

oh yes very true!!! its Gorgeous! one more moment and CHAOS!
Posted 38 months ago. ( permalink )

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JanneM  Pro User  says:

A pretty different picture and different effect, but as it technically is "freezing water drops with flash", here it is. It's shot in rain, with the focus set close (about 1.5 meters), deliberately underexposed about one stop, and with fill flash to define the raindrops in the plane of focus a bit (they come out better in full size).

I took it to use as a desktop background, so the lack of crisp detail is deliberate. Anyway, since it technically fits the subject...

Background Rain
Posted 38 months ago. ( permalink )

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kellybelly  Pro User  says:

20051002150424.jpg

I need to figure out a better setup; I didn't have a lot of room to move and get these better composed.
Posted 38 months ago. ( permalink )

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RS_Photography  Pro User  says:

I actually like the way this picture is "off center" and the way the light is coming from the right rear. In fact the entire angle of the picture is different than most drop freezing pictures. I like the reflections in this one and the overall sharpness.
Posted 38 months ago. ( permalink )

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Mike Cohn  Pro User  says:

Moonrise Over Crater

You guys have done an excellent job of capturing water drops. I've tried it in the past with mixed results. It's really a lot harder than it looks. This discussion thread prompted me to try again this morning. I don't like the results as much as some of yours but I'll keep trying.
Posted 38 months ago. ( permalink )

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Tarzen says:

Hi, this was my first attempt capturing water drops. After 30-40 shots I get this one. Greetings!

Originally posted 38 months ago. ( permalink )
Tarzen edited this topic 38 months ago.

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RS_Photography  Pro User  says:

It only took you 30-40 shots? I'm not even going to tell you how many shots I took in total :-P. Yours looks great.
Posted 38 months ago. ( permalink )

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marcodede says:

Ploc

Splash
Posted 38 months ago. ( permalink )

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kellybelly  Pro User  says:

@UrbanMdCowboy: Thank you. I would have liked it if I could have got just a bit more to the left, so that some of the bigger ripples weren't cut off. But with these water photos, it's a bit more luck than good photograph composition. :)

Oh, and I did do a little bit of USM on the photo.
Posted 38 months ago. ( permalink )

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King of Jive  Pro User  says:

funny how waterdrops all over the world look so the same:
druppel-kroon
Posted 38 months ago. ( permalink )

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FlyButtafly  Pro User  says:

I just joined Technique a short while ago, and just found this thread. I've been doing water-shots for a while now, and thankfully my camera's flash is super-bright, so I can get some good shots. :) I have an entire "Waterful" set, but a couple of my faves from it are these:

SWS: In defense, the fish spewed venom. Suspension

This one is one of my most-popular though :)
Splash of Color
Posted 38 months ago. ( permalink )

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matthewtc says:

I did my photo from a more, over top view
Blue Water
Posted 38 months ago. ( permalink )

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GWcumbria  Pro User  says:

Here`s a fun attempt with a little helper...
splashing fun
Posted 38 months ago. ( permalink )

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King of Jive  Pro User  says:

and another one... druppel bal
Posted 38 months ago. ( permalink )

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HybridTheory says:

i finally got a couple shots in...took a while to figure out how to set this up, but here goes nothing.
splish splash
droplets
waterfall
Originally posted 38 months ago. ( permalink )
HybridTheory edited this topic 38 months ago.

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Sospitis  Pro User  says:

I tried to up the ambient light, but i needed the flash in the end:

Agua
Posted 38 months ago. ( permalink )

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N8ster  Pro User  says:

Here is a great article by water drop artist Martin Waugh regarding his techniques. Fascinating.
Posted 38 months ago. ( permalink )

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i am your hero says:

This was pretty fun!

Here is my first attempt. I got this shot after only 3 tries. Check out some more here.

Picture-071
Posted 38 months ago. ( permalink )

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Curlylocks says:

I managed to get these:

Purple Rain...

Cool Water!

H2
Posted 37 months ago. ( permalink )

ferg690 [deleted] says:

this is the best one out of my 30 or so attempts
www.flickr.com/photos/29826937@N00/55652490/in/set-1205446/
not too bad for a newby 'eh?
Posted 37 months ago. ( permalink )

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B, K & G  Pro User  says:

A penny, a coke glass and a flash.

Water
Posted 37 months ago. ( permalink )

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Domk  Pro User  says:

here a couple trys of my own...
unfortunatly i dont own a macro and i think you can tell ;)

water drop
oil drop
drops in water
drop in color
Posted 37 months ago. ( permalink )

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nKarthik says:

amazed by all the tips and photos..
Posted 37 months ago. ( permalink )

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Joshb60796  Pro User  says:

There are some techniques for additives here www.liquidsculpture.com
Posted 37 months ago. ( permalink )

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honey_dew_melonlove says:

Those are some really nice shots!!!!
Keep up the good work, I'm much of a camera expert, but I just like looking at pictures.
Posted 37 months ago. ( permalink )

ferg690 [deleted] says:

Image hosted by Photobucket.com
Originally posted 37 months ago. ( permalink )
ferg690 edited this topic 36 months ago.

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cosmic_jeebus! says:

my first attempt:
drip
Posted 37 months ago. ( permalink )

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Diseuse  Pro User  says:

All of your pictures are much better than mine (although now I know what to do differently next time). The macros are amazing, and what an interesting way to enhance these photos. Here is my attempt with my favorite granny smith apple.

-- from Diseuse - (?)
Posted 37 months ago. ( permalink )

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B, K & G  Pro User  says:

Gave it another go with Milk the other day. Here are a couple.

Splash 2 Cropped

Splash 3 Cropped

Splash 1
Posted 37 months ago. ( permalink )

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CharlesLam says:

I got this. :P

Tail Up and Then.......
Posted 37 months ago. ( permalink )

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whiskymac  Pro User  says:

An interesting site of captured fluids is - Liquidsculpture.com
Posted 37 months ago. ( permalink )