• Author / Uploaded
• Brent

Citation preview

***** I am pleased to present a very comprehensive guide to water drop photography. It is aimed at all levels from beginner to advanced. In this book I reveal a “magic” ingredient which helps to get the fancy shapes I have been doing. Most of the images have been created especially for this book, including manual set-ups and my modified set-up with The Time Machine. You will see how I achieve some of my backgrounds. Please keep in mind that this is my way of doing water drop photography. Every water dropper has their own methods and in here I explain what works for me and what I have learned in the past four years. You can see the results on my website - http://www.liquiddropart.com/ . A bit about me: I started my water drop art in early 2009. At that time and for over a year I did these manually with a medicine dropper. In the Spring of 2010 Bryan Mumford asked if I would try his new Drip Kit addition to The Time Machine. I was ready to advance to electronics and this certainly put a whole new perspective to my liquid art. In two weeks I had created the three drop splash which had never been done before. I also introduced the guar gum additive which Bryan had suggested I try. Other creations of mine were the splash with the bubble base, the bokeh background, multiple drops in one exposure, among others. My art is featured in many magazines, newspapers and websites worldwide. *****

Ultimate Guide

Page 2

Table of Contents My Studio........................................ 3

- Overhead Transparencies.......... 35

Equipment - Cameras.................................

Backgrounds

4

- Flash Gels............................... 36

- Lenses..................................... 4

- Refractions............................. 37

- Flashes..................................

5

- Bokeh.................................... 43

- Tripods...................................

6

- Others................................... 45

- Containers..............................

7

- Samples.................................

8

- Refractions................................ 52

Focusing Aids............................. 13

- Bubbles................................... 57

Liquids & Additives......................14

- Crowns................................... 59

Magic Ingredient.........................15

- Others.................................... 64

Birth of a Drop........................... 16

Time Machine Method................. 69

Evolution of the Splash................ 18

Steady Drip Method.................... 72

Drop Interval Samples................ 20

Medicine Dropper Method............ 74

Splash Reflections.......................21

Liquid Flow................................ 76

Lighting

Work-flow.................................. 84

Techniques

- Motion Blur.............................. 24

Journey of a Splash.................... 86

- Flash Exposure Compensation.... 25

Serendipity.............................. 100

- Yongnuo Flashes....................... 26

Closing Remarks....................... 111

- One to Four Flashes Samples..... 28

Credits.................................... 111

- Diffused Lighting...................... 29 - Bounce Lighting....................... 31 - Lighting with Milk..................... 32

Ultimate Guide

Page 3

My Studio

This is a wide angle view of my basement studio where I do all my water drop photography. It's convenient to have such a dedicated area for my liquid photography. I can leave everything in place until the next time I do a shoot. I thought it would be cool to show the layout. The desk is quite moveable, which I have to do from time to time depending on the set-up I am going to use. On my left, out of sight, is more equipment such as cables, background material, and the pail and siphon I use to empty the water tray. Also, on the left is a double window which I use as a cooler to store my xanthan gum mixture, because it gets stinky if left too long in the warmth. On my right is a small desk with a small audio system. Music is necessary! Above the desk you see the reservoir and valve supported by a one meter (3') length of a 90 degree aluminum angle. (It's all I could find at the time. To be modified;-)) This is attached to the beam by a couple of screws. It's quite sturdy! You will see this in most of the set-ups, but only the bottom part of it.

Ultimate Guide

Page 4

Equipment

It is highly recommended to use a dslr for this type of photography. It is necessary to have a camera with “Manual” controls. The Canon EOS 7D is the camera I am presently using.

A dedicated true macro lens is best for water drop photography. The lens I use is the one on the left, a Canon EF 100mm f2.8 USM Macro lens. In the middle is my kit lens 17 – 85mm. On the right is my Canon 70 – 200 lens. Sample pictures taken with these lenses are below.

Ultimate Guide

This is taken with my 100mm Macro lens at f16. The lens is 30 cm.(12") from the drop.

Page 5

This one is with my kit lens at 85mm, f18. This is at full zoom, 20cm (8") from the drop.

A 70-200mm lens at full zoom. f20 The lens is 100cm (39") from the drop which is as close as I could get for a good focus.

You can see that the water drop taken with the Macro lens is the best size and quality. If you have a diopter or extender, I would suggest to try these out to see if they are suitable for water drops. I don't have any diopters to try out to show you any samples. However, before you go spending a ton of money on equipment, I would start out with a regular lens and use your in-camera flash to see if this type of photography works for you. A sample picture taken with the pop-up flash is in the section on Flashes – Page 28.

I now use four Yongnuo Speedlite YN560-ll flash guns. I have a “Flash” section, Page 24, where I go into detail about flash settings, motion blur, triggering, flash sync with other brands, etc. The Yongnuo’s are great they go down to 1/128th power and if you order them through Ebay, all four are about ½ the price of one Canon Speedlite 580 EX ll.

Ultimate Guide

Page 6

Battery chargers for the flashes. Have lots of spares and keep them charged.

The tall tripods are used to support the flashes when they are positioned behind the frosted glass. My main tripod is in use to take this picture and I use that one for my camera and all my studio photography. The tiny one comes in very handy for light equipment; it is strong enough to support a small flash. I use a lot of other equipment, which you will see further into this book. The desk drawers are full of various items I use for my studio photography. A lot of people use a laptop computer to immediately see the results up close to make any necessary adjustments to focusing or lighting. I bought a used one for this specific purpose, but I found it was too slow, so I still rely on my camera screen at full zoom and do a double check on my desktop computer.

Ultimate Guide

Page 7

Containers

These are the main containers I use for my drops. The short black tray measures – 41 cm. (16”) x 28 cm.(11”) x 6 cm.(2 1/2”) deep. Inside this I use a non-reflective sheet of black plastic. I find this tray just a bit short for reflections. I just received a new tray, made of plexiglass – 65 cm.(25 1/2”) x 29 cm.(11 1/2”) x 7 ½ cm.(3”) deep x 6 mm (1/4”)thick. It is fitted with a plexiglass liner coated with flat black paint. These liners stop glare and reflections from the bottom of the tanks. Ideally, I would like something in between these two. I find that the large tank is too deep, takes too much water, and being this long, the water takes too long to settle between drops. Also, there is a far longer area to cover with the flashes, which makes it more difficult to arrange the light evenly. Trays are hard to find. You could buy some plexiglass from a plastics or glass supplier and then have them specifically made to your requirements.

I did many tests with very large drops and this is the deepest they descend into the water. For this reason, you don't need a very deep water tray.

To empty out the water tray, I use flexible vinyl tubing to siphon the water into a pail. You need a stir stick. I also keep a jug of clean water handy.

Ultimate Guide

Page 8

These are the containers I used for the tests in the following pages. The flat black plastic liner that is in the black tray is also used underneath the glass pan.

For the test with this image, I used a high contrast black and white album sleeve. focus aid was used to determine the drop zone.

A

Ultimate Guide

Page 9

What Color of Tray is Best? For me the answer is non-reflective black. The amount of color absorbed depends on the color of the surface - dark colors absorb better than light ones - flat black best of all. I'll show you the difference in light and dark containers: (All taken at f10)

Taken in a tray with flat black surface. Focus is on the reflected image. Note the sharp, clear details.

Also taken in the black tray with flat black surface. Focus is on the drop zone here. The tiny specks are from lint on the water surface.

Ultimate Guide

Page 10

This is taken in a white tray with focus on the reflected image.

Also in a white tray - focus on the drop zone.

Ultimate Guide

Page 11

This is in a clear glass tray with flat black liner underneath the pan. You can see glare on the curve of the pan. Focus is on the image.

Here again, a glass pan with the liner underneath it. Focus is on the drop zone.

Ultimate Guide

If you leave the water sitting too long, it will pick up lots of lint from towels, etc. I focused on the pink disk to show the details on the surface.

For this test I used fresh tap water and left it overnight. The focus is on the disk on the surface with the coin directly behind it . It shows the lint on the surface of the water, as well as air bubbles on the bottom.

Page 12

Ultimate Guide

Page 13

Focusing Aids

These are some of the various methods I use as an aid in pre-focusing. It is a calculated guess, at most, and after you take a few shots, you need to double check and possibly refocus or do a small tweak on the focus ring. I like to have my main focal point from the front of the drop to the jet. You will not get the whole of the splash in focus since the focal range in a macro lens is very shallow. You can back the camera up to get a wider focal range and do a crop, but by doing this you will lose a lot of quality and pixels. It's better to come in closer and have your focus close to the front which is where the viewer's eye is drawn. I place the item close to the drop zone and adjust until the drop lands close to the middle of the focus aid, then focus on the front of that. Then I set the camera on "Bulb" mode and turn on "Live View", zooming to the 5x view. This way I can focus very clearly on the front of the item. Usually this works, but sometimes when the drops get larger and wider I may have to tweak the focus ring a tiny bit. There are so many things you can use to help with focus. A lot depends on the depth and width of the container you are using. Look around your home and use whatever works. *****

Ultimate Guide

Page 14

Liquids & Additives The most common liquids I use are a milk/cream mixture and plain tap water with additives. I always use skim milk at home, so I use this with a few drops of cream to thicken it. It is the fat content of milk that gives it that slow moving quality with nicely rounded droplets on the rim of the crown. Milk is very easy to work with because of this. Water is not as dense as milk and I prefer to use additives for this to give it a similar consistency as the milk. Some early experiments with additives for water included glycerine, dissolved white sugar, clear corn syrup, among others. These all have some degree of making the water thicker but they also give the water a cloudy appearance. By far, the best thickener for water has been the guar gum. I, personally, use xanthan gum which is similar to guar gum, but I can use less and it is easier to mix.

For the xanthan gum, I measure out 5 ml (1 tsp) into 6 cups of lukewarm water. I then blend it into a "smoothie" mixture and strain to a very clear mixture through a coffee filter. I have made a couple of holes in the bottom of the cone filter holder so it will drain more quickly. If it is too thick, dilute with some more water. I have found that the xanthan gum is much easier to strain than the guar gum. I usually make a large batch because it takes a long time to strain to a clear, smooth mixture. These gums are plant-based so they will get stinky if left in warm temperatures. The gums do leave a certain opacity to the water, but not nearly as much as the glycerine and syrups. For the reservoir, I use a ratio of approximately 1/3 cup gum mixture to 2/3 cup cold water for the drop. Surface Tension is a property of water in which the molecules are attracted to each other and stick together. The molecules at the surface of a glass of water do not have other water molecules on all sides of them and consequently they cohere more strongly to those directly associated with them (in this case, next to and below them, but not above). Rinse aid is a surfactant which reduces surface tension on water. If you have a small container filled to the brim with water, add a couple of drops of rinse aid and the water will flow out of the vessel. The drop mixture can now enter the water with ease and result in a higher jet. A couple of drops of rinse aid is commonly added to the water in the drip tray.

*****

Ultimate Guide

Page 15

The Magic Ingredient I have a special additive that I use. On it's own it is unstable, but when used along with the xanthan (or guar) gum, it is essential to producing the tall and fancy shapes I get. It is this:

Nature Clean All Purpose Cleaning Lotion Add a few drops of this to your gum mixture in the reservoir and the drops will go crazy. You can add more, but I would suggest starting with just a few until your drops are back under control. You will have to reduce your drop size considerably because this cuts through the water like nothing else! You can also add a small drop to the water in the catch tray as a tension reducer, but soon enough you will have all you need from the reservoir liquid. You don't need to use rinse aid anymore because this is far superior in reducing surface tension. It acts as a surfactant in both the drop mixture and the catch water. This ingredient adds a lot of elasticity to the water mixture. The downside to using this is that it leaves bubbles on the water. Simply blow them away or clone them out in post-edit. The end result is worth a bit of annoyance. Later in this book, I will be showing samples of the effects of this additive. You can get the information here: http://www.naturecleanliving.com/all_purpose_cleaning_lotion. Click on the “Where to Buy” to find a list of retailers. If you cannot order this or find it locally, there should be something similar to use in place of this. I have tried so many various additives, but after seeing the results from this product, I stopped looking. *****

Ultimate Guide

Page 16

Birth of a Drop

These images show the stages of a large drop after it leaves the valve. There is no suction on valves to hold back the liquid so what is left in the valve follows the actual drop. This also happens with a drop from a faucet. As you can see, the "after-drop" compacts until about 2/3rds of the way down to the catch tray where it retains a spherical shape. The larger the drop, the less spherical some of them can become, hence, a variety of flubs in the results. The little “cap” on the 3 drop splash comes from this “after-drop” since I have the Time Machine programmed for only 2 drops. There is always a resulting second drop and with the larger drops, this is more pronounced. With smaller drops, the effect is minimal and will not result in much more than a stray drop to clone out.

Ultimate Guide

A drop leaving the jet, about to collide with the drop coming down. This is a smaller drop and the resulting stray is tiny.

Page 17

The trailer from a larger drop.

This is from a drop so large it would just make a big plop in the water.

This is a sequence of drops after they enter the water. I used a large drop size for effect. At impact, a crown splash is created, then a small crater emerges which immediately starts to collapse due to the hydrostatic pressure of the surrounding liquid. Then, this crater closes and shoots out a jet, known as the Worthington jet. It appears that the smaller secondary drop extends this formation, possibly resulting in a higher jet. Smaller drops have tiny strays and are of little or no consequence. *****

Ultimate Guide

Page 18

Evolution of the Splash

The Coronet. The milk coronet was made famous by Harold Edgerton who invented the stroboscope, or flash, in 1931.

The Worthington Jet. A phenomenon named after A. M. Worthington who wrote “A Study of Splashes” in 1908.

The Three Drop Splash. A discovery by me with The Time Machine. This had never been done before and led the way to a new line of fancy splashes.

The Two Drop Collision. Accidentally discovered by Martin Waugh, well known for his "Liquid Sculptures".

The Bubble Splash. Using a large drop to create a bubble with a Worthington Jet coming up through it. By me.

*****

Ultimate Guide

Page 19

How Tall Is A Drop?

These are done simply as a test to see how high they would go with the liquid I was using.

****

It's important to let the water settle between splashes or you will get this ripple effect. The colours in this picture are explained in the Backgrounds section, Page 51.

Ultimate Guide

Page 20

Distance Between Drops The interval between the drops plays a great factor in determining the shape of the splash. The following drops were done with the same drop size and flash lag – only the timing between the descending drops was altered to produce various shapes. Note the difference in the ripples at the base of the splash – from a small crater at the short interval, to the widening ripples from the longer time period between the drops. It's one way to judge the interval someone is using when you see their splashes.

This was done with a very short distance between drops.. Much lower and you would get a blob in the water.

A basic mushroom shape with a moderate interval setting

A higher interval. With larger drops, these can be very high.

A longer distance results in a mid-air collision. Here there is time for the jet to release a drop to collide with the descending drop

Here the distance is so great, the jet has completely disappeared

The Slo-Mo guys have a great video on YouTube - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cNI-LIVs-to which shows the first drops at a setting between the first two images on the top row. The last splash is done at the same setting as the one on the top right. You will notice that they are also using The Time Machine and Drip Kit for these. I did a “time lapse” of a sequence of drops – http://bit.ly/NllEd7. It shows how a drop is consistent in it's shape, but falls on an angle a lot of the time. I have another similar one with milk on Flickr -http://bit.ly/12vitbI. *****

Ultimate Guide

Page 21

Splash Reflections The best way to get a good reflection is to have the camera at an angle as close to the water level as possible. The lower the angle, the better the light and the taller the reflection. Light has to travel farther to the reflection so it is necessary to adjust the light as much as possible for this. In the following examples, the drops are all about the same height.

This was taken with the camera at a high angle to the water. You can see there is not as much light at this angle. There is also less of the drop in focus because of the high angle. The front of the drop is in focus, but the jet is not, and the height of the reflection is very small. Iso – 200 f13

This is the setup for the picture above. The camera is at a very high angle to the water surface.

Ultimate Guide

This drop was taken at a lower angle than the previous one. There is more light now, plus the front of the crown, the base of the drop and the jet are now in focus. Also, the height of the drop is reflected a bit more. Iso – 200 f14

This angle is a bit better for light and reflection. The result is the picture above.

Page 22

Ultimate Guide

Page 23

In this shot I have the camera at a very low angle to the drop. The front and back of the tank are just out of the frame. You can see at this low angle there is much more light. Also, the reflection is longer and there is much more of the drop in focus. Iso – 200 f16

This is the best angle to have the camera for the tallest reflections. It is much lower and takes advantage of the light as well. This tray is 42 cm (16") long and it could easily be at least 10 cm (4") longer without having to stretch the light.

*****

Ultimate Guide

Page 24

Lighting Motion Blur/Flash Power It is not the shutter speed, but a quick burst of light from a flash which freezes the motion in drops. For water drop photography I use an exposure of 0.5 second, which is the time it takes for the process of the drops to take place with The Time Machine. I activate the push button, the shutter opens, the drops fall, the flashes fire at the preset time, and the shutter closes. The flashes fire at approximately 1/25,000th of a second. Most commonly I use a flash power of 1/64 to stop the action.

These are samples of the various flash settings and the results of the longer light exposures. 1/128 gives the least blur, but is also the darkest. 1/32 is starting to show considerable movement so your focus should be very sharp to make up for this. I try not to use 1/32 unless I need the extra light. Anything below this is unsuitable for water drop photography. This test was done with the Yongnuo flashes. Also, they were taken in a dark room so there wouldn't be any conflict with the blur from ambient light. Another way to reduce motion blur is to use “Mirror Lock-Up”. This action flips the mirror up well before the shutter opens, allowing the vibrations to die down before the shutter opens. In macro photography, this is a very important feature. Cameras vary in the way this feature is activated. Check your camera manual for the setting on this.

Ultimate Guide

Page 25

Ambient Light & Motion Blur

This was taken in a room with low backlight. There is just enough light to see my way around.

This is in a room with bright overhead light. You can see a washed-out appearance now.

Lights on. You can clearly see the light trail from the drop before the flash fires. Exposure 0.5, f8, Flash power 1/128

Flash Exposure Compensation If you are starting out and want to use your in-camera flash, then you should set your “Flash Exposure Compensation” setting to a lower setting between -1 to -3 (in a Canon). This lower setting gives a shorter burst of light which is what freezes the motion. I didn't know about this when I started doing drops and you can see a lot of motion blur in my early experiments with water drop photography. I used an Exposure of 1/200 to sync with my flash. A lower exposure does nothing more than let in unwanted ambient light.

You can also shoot in “Bulb” mode in a dark room and fire the flashes manually, but chances of catching the drop collision go down dramatically. With external flashes you can control each one separately. I have tried using wireless triggers for my flashes, but at these short bursts of light, they are slightly out of sync and leave slight motion blur on the drops. My flashes are triggered by the Time Machine control box and are totally in sync. They must be set on “Slave” and “Manual” in order to work this way.

Ultimate Guide

Page 26

Using the Yongnuo YN560-ll Flashes

Motion blur using two Yongnou flashes and two Canon Speedlites together.

Ultimate Guide

Page 27

For the picture above, I used two Yongnuo Speedlite YN560-ll flashes on the left and two Canon Speedlite EX580 ll's on the right. The Yongnuo flashes will not work in conjunction with the Canon Speedlites. They are not in complete sync and result in some motion blur. You can see a lot of blur on the descending drop and you can see it also on the rim of the mushroom shape of the splash. The flashes I use for water drop photography are triggered by The Time Machine. This is the most effective method. They must be set on “Manual” mode. With the Yongnuo 560 flashes there is no “Master” mode, and since the flashes must all be on “Slave” mode, this works perfectly for water drops. I tried a wireless system once, but there is just enough of a delay between Master and Slave to cause some motion blur. One interesting thing I discovered recently is that they work wirelessly with my Canon Rebel xti (450D). I was doing a set-up shot with this camera and as long as I had the popup flash open, the Yongnuo's would all fire on the S1 or S2 settings. This camera is an introductory dslr and does not support wireless so this was a total surprise. Take care of your flashes. Keep them clean. If things get messy, you can cover the flashes with plastic or put a cardboard barrier between them and the liquids. Also, they do give off a lot of heat, enough to warp certain gels. Flash guns in water drop photography are set at a low power, still caution should be used to avoid overheating them. The Yongnuo's have overheating protection, however, it is good to give them a cooling down period when you are using them a lot in quick succession. When I am setting up the flash positions, I check each one individually to make sure it is covering the assigned area. When they are all set, I do a final light check by using a small aperture of 29 or so where I can best see any discrepancies in the lighting. I am very pleased with the results of using four flash guns. They cover the area very smoothly and I don't have that vignetting effect on the edges. When I position the flashes, I like to have them directed just outside the area covered by the frame of the camera so there are no blown-out areas.

Tip: If you don't have adequate lighting, don't forget you can raise your ISO setting. If you experience noise issues, there are lots of ways to reduce these in today's software programs. If you increase your ISO, you will be able to reduce your flash power, plus gain some depth of field with a smaller aperture. There are so many advancements made with today's technology in cameras and software, it makes it so much easier.

Ultimate Guide

Page 28

Examples of Lighting with One to Four Flashes These samples are taken with the flashes bouncing off a coloured transparency taped to white paper (explained in the Backgrounds Section, Page 35). For the first five, I used an ISO of 200, Aperture f16, flashes 1/64.

Four flashes evenly placed on both sides of the bowl.

Three flashes – a little darker at the top now.

Two flashes - placed to cover the whole background.

One flash from the left, directed at the centre of the background.

One flash, this time in-between the bowl and background at an upwards angle towards the coloured sheet.

Done with the camera pop-up flash. It leaves a shadow from the water drop. Exposure 1/200, f10, Iso 200

Notice how repeatable the shapes are with the same settings - only slight variations. *****

Ultimate Guide

Page 29

Diffused lighting

In this set-up I have the four flash guns behind acid-etched glass, which acts as a diffuser to soften and scatter the light. It is a very effective form of lighting. The flash guns are strategically placed to spread the light evenly and avoid the common vignetting effect in so many water drop images. Again, the low angle of the camera to the bowl (or tray),gives you the best light. If the flashes are placed further back, you will get more diffusion, but less light. If the glass is placed closer to the splash, you will get more light, but will also show any imperfections in the glass or background. The acid etched glass was bought at a stained glass warehouse. It is 3mm thick. It is not the best material for diffusing light, but it's all I could get in the city. You can also get opaque plexiglass, acrylic or perspex material. It has to be the type to let in enough light and diffuse it properly. Look for something with a very smooth surface. The acid etched glass has a bit of texture, so I cannot have it too close to the drop zone or this will be evident in the image. The glass is supported by a wooden block 9 cm (3 1/2”) both ways and 50cm (20”) long to hold the large sheet of glass. I have two sheets of acid etched glass – one is 30 cm (12”) x 43 cm (17”) which is a suitable size for my needs. The other is 46 cm (18”) square. The only reason I have one this size is because I got a deal on it ;-) You don't need a very large sheet because you only get a small portion in the frame of the camera. The coloured sheets I explain in an upcoming chapter on background colours, Page 35.

Ultimate Guide

Page 30

This is another way to position the flashes behind the glass diffuser. No need for tall tripods this way. I am using my two glass diffusers here because there is a lot of glare from the light through the glass, even with the flashes at 1/128 power. Distances between the splash, diffuser and flashes vary. These are sample pictures taken with this style of lighting. Experiment with positions of flashes and diffuser to get the best lighting effects. Want to see something very cool? In the picture on the left, there is a long tendril coming out from the drop, which is refracted neatly through the water column!! ISO - 200 f22.

You will notice that the light is quite harsh here which is why I would like to get an opaque plexiglass diffuser. It would give a much softer light.

Ultimate Guide

Page 31

Bounce Lighting

Here I have the light from the four flashes bouncing off a white sheet of paper with a coloured overhead transparency (page 35). I like the richness of the colours in this type of lighting and have been using this lately. There is some glare from the lights in certain areas, though.. Try to use non-reflective paper. The flash guns are positioned to be directed only at the background, not the drops.

This image is done with the light bouncing off the white paper with coloured plastic as directly above . Iso - 200 f-20 Flashes at 1/64

This one is taken with the flashes behind the glass diffuser. There is considerable more light using this method. Iso-100 f-29 Flashes -1/64

Directing the flash at the drop has little effect on extra light other than causing flash glare. Placing a gel over the flash does show a result.

Ultimate Guide

Page 32

Lighting with Milk

Two flashes directed at the splash. f16

Two flashes behind the frosted glass. Only where the milk film is thin can the light shine through. f16

Two flashes towards the splash & two to the background. f16

Here there are two flashes behind the glass & two towards the milk. f20

The lighting with milk is quite different than with the water. Water is transparent and light travels through it, but milk is opaque so the flashes will have to be directed more towards the milk splash itself so the milk can reflect the light.

Ultimate Guide

Page 33

This is a sample of lighting for milk with the flash guns very close to the splash. I have the top yellow flash suspended from the ceiling with a wire, although for other pictures I used a tripod situated behind the glass of milk. For this type of lighting I used plain white skim milk with a touch of cream. The colours are achieved using gels on the flashes – blue on the left and red on the right. Sample splashes are directly below. The black background is from a black t-shirt over a sheet of plexiglass.

These two samples are done using the set-up directly above.

*****

Ultimate Guide

Page 34

Blue gel on flash from above, red on the left and yellow on the right.

Blue gel on flash from above and red gels on flashes each side of drop.

Ultimate Guide

Page 35

Backgrounds

I also make my own gels out of school supply plastics. These are simply taped to the flash guns. You can also use velcro to hold them in place.

For the past while I have been using overhead colour transparencies to get the coloured backgrounds. These are transparent sheets, so for pictures with the flashes behind the diffused glass, I tape them to the glass as on the one on the left. When I use flashes in front of this to bounce the light, I tape them to a piece of paper with a dull finish so I won't get a lot of glare on the splash. You can make them yourself: In Photoshop: Under File, hit “New” and a window opens up. Give the document a name – Colour 1 or whatever Make it - 8 1/2” x 11” (which is the max the printer will allow) Resolution – 300. Hit “OK”

-

RGB Colour -

Background – Transparent

Now select your “Gradient Tool” and hit the “Sample Box” at the top. Choose your gradient sample and use sliders to get the colour you want. “OK” and apply gradient to the Background. You can use Gaussian Blur to smooth the colour transitions. You can have these printed at an office supply store such as “Staples”. Alternatively, you can order the transparencies from a printing supply store and print them on your inkjet printer. Make sure you use the “rough” side for printing. Check your printer's capabilities before you order. A caution about these - keep them light. There is quite a lot of banding, especially with darker colours, so you don't want them too close to the splash zone or it will be quite noticeable.

Ultimate Guide

Page 36

Here I have four coloured gels on the flashes to get the effect shown below. These particular gels are found in the school supply department. Professional filters can be bought at http://www.rosco.com/filters/index.cfm. These are also available from B & H, Amazon, and Adorama. I have a blue and red filter I bought from a camera shop and they do show signs of warping from the heat. I use a lot of masking tape;-)!! Gels are a good alternative to the overhead transparencies, but you do lose a bit of light using them.

The flat surface on the drop reflects colour and light well.

Ultimate Guide

Page 37

Refractions from Background Colours

This is a set-up to show how some of the colour refraction effects are achieved with samples in the pages following.

Ultimate Guide

Page 38

Overhead coloured transparency taped to white paper

Ultimate Guide

Page 39

I placed a red plastic sheet on each side

Ultimate Guide

Page 40

Then I added blue plastic sheets to the top & bottom

Ultimate Guide

Page 41

Finally, I added green plastic sheets beside the red ones.

Ultimate Guide

Page 42

Add some special effects from wrapping paper (below).

Ultimate Guide

Page 43

Add some bokeh from coloured glitter paper (below). Taken at f10 This glitter paper can be bought at a craft supply store.

This bokeh style from the above set-up.

Made with

http://www.bokehmasterskit.com/.

Ultimate Guide

This is another method of applying the bokeh technique. Crumple and flatten tinfoil and place behind tray. Use gel strips over the flash guns to get the colours. It's difficult to get the colours balanced properly. The one flash facing this way is to show the gel strips. I use one flash without a gel at the front to light the mid area. A sample below. Aperture f8 Iso 200

Page 44

Ultimate Guide

Page 45

Other Backgrounds

Overhead transparency

Ultimate Guide

Page 46

Spirograph Lid

Ultimate Guide

Page 47

Three coloured plastic sheets

Ultimate Guide

Page 48

Favourite spider-web shirt

T-shirt. A printed image is much better for symmetry and straight lines. Patterns like this leave very cool effects in the ripples.

Ultimate Guide

Page 49

Painting. Cool effects in the ripples.

Compact Disk

Ultimate Guide

Page 50

CD behind drop

Simultaneous soap film & drop. I held a large wand with soap film directly behind the bowl.

Ultimate Guide

Page 51

This background is a record album sleeve from the electronic music group Kode IV. The set-up below is how I got the colours. f10

In this set-up I have the album sleeve upside down from a previous demonstration. It doesn't make any difference to this shot, however. The liquid is plain tap water. The colours in the drop come from the plastic sheets the way I have them placed here. This also shows a good example of refraction and reflection. The colours are reflected on to the water as placed behind the drop. The cylindrical shape of the column of water, however, refracts those colours to the opposite sides. Yes, lego blocks are useful to raise the water tray. I have to raise it to be slightly higher than the block I use for the glass diffuser, etc.

*****

Ultimate Guide

Page 52

Techniques Refractions/Reflections A very cool technique is to put an image inside a drop of water. The image needs to be placed upside-down behind the drop, which is then refracted right side up through the water drop. This method takes advantage of refraction, which is the bending of light as it passes from one medium to another. Water is a natural lens with a wide-angle/fish-eye effect. Spherical refraction flips an image upside-down because the sphere, which is acting as a lens, has a negative magnification. It is also inverted horizontally. This is why the image behind the drop needs to be placed in this manner. In a reflection, the image is mirrored and inverted only vertically, hence any wording will appear backwards.

For this one I have the camera 33 cm.(13") from the valve. The picture is 29 cm.(ll 1/2") behind the valve. At this distance there is a black border around the image.

Here I moved the background picture up to 11 cm. (4 1/2") behind the valve. Moving the image this close gives a fish-eye effect and includes less of the total image.

Ultimate Guide

Page 53

The Set-Up for the Hawkeye Refraction

For each image, the flashes are strategically positioned near the edges of the image to get the least amount of flash glare as possible. I prefer to use a black backdrop for the refractions; it gives a nice touch of a black border in the drop.

Ultimate Guide

For a refraction in a drop, the image must be placed upside-down behind the water valve. The image gets totally inverted vertically and horizontally. In the drop it will appear as normal.

Page 54

In a reflection, the image is placed upside-down behind the tray to get it right-side up in the water. However, the image is reflected vertically, there is no refraction, so letters will read backwards.

Ultimate Guide

Page 55

When focusing for a refraction image, I use the front of the water valve as a focus aid. It seems to be pretty accurate. Sometimes I need to do a small tweak on the focus ring to get it as clear as possible. Remember, the image is refracted on to the front of the drop, not the middle.

Ultimate Guide

Page 56

In this one, instead of directing the flashes at the image, I pointed them at the drop itself. It causes a lot of glare on the picture. It's much better to aim them at the background image, away from the drop.

Ultimate Guide

Page 57

Drops in a Bubble

Drops in a bubble are fun to make. I use the regular bubble-blowing liquid for these; dish detergent diluted with water will also work. Add a few drops of glycerine to strengthen the bubble mixture. Simply blow a bubble on to the surface of the water. Check your drop zone and either gently blow the bubble to that area or move it with the bubble wand. Another way to reposition the bubble is with a wet finger. A dry finger will not work - it has to be wet. You might have to increase the size of the drop because it does lose some momentum after it hits the soap film.

Ultimate Guide

Page 58

Ultimate Guide

Page 59

Crowns The milk coronet was popularized by Harold “Doc” Edgerton. It consisted of one drop of milk falling into a pool of milk or water. The following cream shapes are made with a drop of cream falling on to a base drop made from cream or acrylic paint diluted with water. These particular drops are not falling into a pool of liquid, but on black plexiglass.

Both these drops are from the reservoir, not done manually. The base drop has landed and the 2nd drop will make the crown. Colours from gels.

Here again, the base drop is from the reservoir. Table cream with yellow food dye. The other colours come from gels on the flash guns.

The base drop of red is placed slightly forward to give a “lip” effect.

One drop on the base is good. The next one makes a big mess. Neon acrylic paint. This one is done using a faucet washer with a steel ball on top of it.

Ultimate Guide

Resized and sharpened only. There is very little mess with the acrylic paints when thick enough

Page 60

An overhead view of the way I apply the base drops. These are acrylic paints diluted with water and applied with a toothpick.

Ultimate Guide

Page 61

Made with thick acrylic paint for the base drops.

Here I used neon acrylic paint and set a later flash lag.

Ultimate Guide

Page 62

This is the set-up I use for the cream crowns.

This is how I make the cream bowls/crowns. These are triggered electronically. In the drop reservoir I use table cream with some food dye. For the colors in the base drop I am using regular or neon acrylic paint diluted with a bit of water. If the bowl doesn't form, I dilute some more. I am using black plexiglass for good reflections. This is held in place with non-skid pads. The black backdrop does very little here because the plexi is quite long. I have made a mark on the glass to show where the drop will land. On here I use a toothpick to place tiny drops of paint. I then release a drop on to this. If the cream and the paint are thick enough, you will get a bowl with little or no mess. To get one with more droplets on the rim, dilute more. A second drop on to this mixture will make a huge mess, so only one drop for me. Then clean up with paper towels and a damp cloth, buff with a dry towel and you're good to go again. I also use a no-static dryer sheet to stop the paint from streaking out from the static. It travels!!! I like having two flashes aimed at the front of the drop for reflections and one on top for the inside.

Made with thick acrylic paint. I like how these look like glass.

Four yr. old Phoenix did this one.

Six yr. old Winter arranged the tiny droplets for the base in this.

Ultimate Guide

Page 63

The Bowl of Valentines

How I made this composite image:

I took the cap on this splash,

“Liquified” it into a heart,

and put some in a cream bowl.

I have all three pictures open in Photoshop. I duplicated the originals and used the “Liquify” filter to make the heart. Always work on the duplicate! I left some flash glare on it so it wouldn't look flat. I used the Quick Selection Tool and selected the heart. I hit “Refine Edge” and did a small smooth and feather. I'll not use shortcuts here. I hit Edit – copy. Then I went to the image with the bowl. Edit – paste. There's your heart. Take the “Move” tool and drag it where it should go. Under Edit – hit “Free Transform”. Now you have a square box around the heart. Use the arrows to resize, shape and angle. Hit the check, okay! For every heart you want, do the same thing – Edit – paste – move – free transform – okay! Go crazy. You can even reshape some with the Liquify filter if you want. For every heart you put there, you are making a new layer. To make any changes to an existing heart, simply click on that one to make changes. When you are done, under “Layer” - hit “Flatten Image”, and that's it. *****

Ultimate Guide

Page 64

Some Other Techniques

In this, I triggered the drop, then lit a lighter hoping to get it in the right spot. Exp.-1.6 sec. Iso–320 f18

Ultimate Guide

Page 65

I inverted the colours in Photoshop.

Ultimate Guide

Here I also triggered the drop first, then used finger led lights for some lightpainting effects. A bit of distortion in this one. Exp.-2.5 sec. Iso-200 f20

Page 66

Ultimate Guide

Page 67

This is my pan & drop method. I keep the push button held down and while the drops are falling, I am panning the camera to catch them all in one exposure. Exp.-2 sec. Iso-250 f20

For this one I used black & white papers behind a wine glass half filled with water. The background gets refracted through the water. Exp.-½ sec. Iso-100 f16

Ultimate Guide

Page 68

Here I manually triggered the blue flash from above to get the splash at an earlier stage. Red gel on the left; green on the right. Exp.-½ sec. Iso- 200 f16

In post-edit, I selected the drop with the Quick Selection Tool, inversed this and put a zoom blur on the bokeh background. Exp.- ½ sec. Iso-200 f8

*****

Ultimate Guide

Page 69

The Time Machine Method

This is the basic equipment needed for The Time Machine.

The Time Machine method with modifications I have made.

The picture on the left is the basic set-up for the Drip Kit which is an accessory to the Mumford Time Machine - http://www.bmumford.com/. You need a small, sturdy tripod for the reservoir, that's it! It's very portable. No stationary contraption to build to hold the reservoir. It's very easy to assemble and the instructions to put it all together are very clear. You will also need a shutter cable to connect your camera to the Time Machine, shutter button, cables, flash extensions, sync splitter for multiple flashes, etc. Bryan will let you know what's needed for your particular camera brand. Above right is a picture of some slight modifications I made for the reservoir and valve. These are supported by the aluminum angle which is attached to the ceiling beam and is quite sturdy. It is stationary, but the desk is moveable if it needs to be repositioned. It will be modified when I find the right materials. The new reservoir has the same capacity as the old one. It is held fast to the angle with a hose clamp, fitted snugly, but loose enough to freely move up and down. I have melted a hole in the reservoir and inserted a brass extension to which a small flexible hose is attached. The other end, then, fits on the extension on the valve. The valve is supported by a small clamp. This way, the valve, plus the reservoir can be moved independently. This allows one more variable to the settings. Moving the reservoir up increases the pressure of the drop;moving it down decreases pressure. So when the fluid in the reservoir decreases, moving it up will help replace that lost pressure.

Ultimate Guide

Page 70

This is The Time Machine and black Control Box for the Drip Kit. Bottom left is the push button & cable to initiate the drop sequence. Bottom right is the shutter cable. Top right is the solenoid valve plus cable. Top center, a cable to send signals from the Time Machine to the control box. Top left – power cord, and to the right of this is the cord to the flash guns. The Process: Hit the push button, the shutter opens, the drops fall, the flashes fire, and the shutter closes. All this takes ½ second which is why my Exposure is always set to this. If I have the interval between drops set ridiculously high, or I use an extra long flash lag, then I have to use a longer exposure. The Time Machine itself has a closed interface and panel, so there is very little chance of liquids entering the box and messing up the controls. As well as the Drip Kit, the Time Machine has some other great functions which you can see on the website. As with all equipment, care must be taken to keep it dry and clean. Have caution where you position it so that it won't fall on the floor. Keep all cords positioned so you won't trip over them and risk damaging the equipment. Care of the valve is important. When you are finished the session, run clean, warm water through the valve to ensure no sticky, fatty residue from cream or additives is left in the valve. To do this, fill the reservoir with some warm water, then hit the red reset button which will send a short stream of water through the valve. After a few of these, empty the reservoir and again hit the reset button to remove any water left in the valve outlets. Remove any extensions and clean them out with a pipe cleaner or similar. To further clean the valve, I use a short piece of pipe cleaner with the wire ends completely bent back so no damage will come to the valve.

Ultimate Guide

Page 71

Here you set the parameters for the drops.

Set the drop count. I always have mine set to 2 drops.

Set the time, in seconds, when the flashes fire.

Set the interval/distance between the drops in seconds.

Here you can advance the timing of the drops by 1/1000th of a second. This is useful for time lapse sequences, etc.

*****

Set the size of the drop. This is the time, in seconds, that the valve stays open to form a drop.

Hit the trigger!

Ultimate Guide

Page 72

Manual Methods Steady Drip Method

This is a manual drip method I rigged up to show a way to get drops without the use of electronics. This is my usual reservoir I use now, but attached to it is an air regulator valve I purchased at an aquarium shop. It has a handy dial at the top of it to control the rate of flow. It is designed for air flow in a fish tank, but works well for drops. To trigger these, I used the remote shutter release cable and my Canon 7D wireless to activate the flashes. The Yongnou flashes were set to “Manual” and “Slave”. In the camera settings, with the Yongnou's, you can set the Wireless function to “Disable” and they work. For the Speedlites, you have to “Enable” the Wireless function. Open the valve until the flow of the drops are about 1 cm. (¼”) apart. To leave the water undisturbed, hold a cup under the flow. It's the first two drops you want to capture. Remove the cup and let the drops fall. When you think the timing is right, hit the shutter button and have a look. Don't forget to replace the cup or turn the valve off. This takes a lot of trial and error to get the timing right. I did one session of these and got a success rate of about 10 out of 50 with some sort of shape. I'll include samples on the next page.

Ultimate Guide

Page 73

Samples Using the Steady Drip Method

Ultimate Guide

Page 74

Medicine Dropper Method

I started out in water drop photography with this method and I used this for a year before I got electronics. It's a hit and miss operation, but I had the timing down and had a lot of success with it. Again, I used a remote shutter release cable to trigger the shutter and the flashes wirelessly, as with the Steady Drip Method previous. The Yongnou flashes were set to “Manual” and “Slave”. I use gentle pressure to release two drops and hit the shutter button when they land in the water. A lot of trial and error in this method as well. When I was doing these a lot, I got used to the pressure and the timing, but for one session after three years, I had a low success rate. I had a better rate with the regulator drip method because at least the drop rate was constant. With a dropper, the drop rate fluctuates every time and you hope for a lot of luck with a decent shape. The drop size was a bit larger with the medicine dropper.

Ultimate Guide

Page 75

Samples Using the Medicine Dropper Method

*****

Ultimate Guide

Page 76

Liquid Flow

All these images are inverted 180° to give it an effect where it looks like the fluids are rising. This technique takes advantage of the Rayleigh Taylor instability effect of an interface between two fluids of different densities. In the case of these liquid images, when the cream enters the fluid of a lesser density, the water, gravity pulls the denser fluid through the lighter one.

This is table cream with food dye. It is smooth and has a nice flow. You can see how the cream branches out as it descends into the water.

This is with acrylic paint. When the red is introduced to the water, it reacts wildly and forces the other colours to the rim to form a type of wall.

Ultimate Guide

Page 77

This is the set-up I use for the liquid cream drops. I use a small 5 litre (1 1/3 gal) plastic aquarium filled with water. The liquids I use are table cream coloured with food dye, and acrylic paint diluted with water or cream. Acrylic paint and cream or water don't get along well and cause quite a commotion in the tank. Cream is smooth and easy to work with, but the acrylics bring some cool results. I use the remote shutter cable to trigger the shutter and my Canon 7D wireless feature to activate the flashes. For the wireless transmitter to operate, my pop-up flash needs to be open for the sensor to send the signals to the flash guns . Unfortunately, the camera still sends out a small flash from this, so I cover this with some foil or paper so that the flash won't cause glare on the front of the tank. This way, the sensor can still send the signal, but the light from the pop-up flash is redirected away from the tank. Take care not to place anything directly over the flash or it may overheat and damage it. One flash is a little higher than the other to cover both the top and bottom portions of the cream flow. The flash above the tank takes care of the base. You can see that the angle of the camera to the tank is low in order to include the base of the drop at the water surface. The third flash is suspended over the tank, supported by the aluminum angle you see in many set-up pictures. The cloth is there for protection from scratches. I use regular food dye (the tall bottles), acrylic paint and cream. I make the paint/cream mixtures in shot glasses and use small medicine droppers to release the drops into the tank. My settings are – Exposure – 1/250 to sync with the flashes, Iso 100 or 200, Aperture – 25 to 29, Flash power – usually 1/64 or 1/32.

Ultimate Guide

Page 78

Gentle pressure on the medicine dropper results in a shape like the one on the left, which branches out as it descends; a quick squeeze of the bulb produces a plume (or jet). The flash glare is just out of range of the frame.

The Process: I fill the tank with cold tap water, then use a bundle of pipe cleaners to wipe any bubbles from the front and back of the tank. It is advisable at this point to let the water settle for a couple of minutes until all the tiny bubbles have disappeared. Use gentle pressure on the bulb for a single drop, a quick hard squeeze for a jet, (or plume). Then use the remote cable release to take a couple of shots as the cream descends. You can do a few single drops before the water gets too murky, but once you use the jet, there's too much cream in the water to get a nice, clear shape.

Eject a lot of cream to the bottom and take advantage of a large cloud of the cream rising. This one is not rotated.

Ultimate Guide

Page 79

The line I have coloured green is a fishing line which fits through two holes I have melted in the sides of the tank. This is my guide for dropping the cream. To get good focus, I rest a ruler upright against this line and focus on the lines of the ruler.

A plume of cream dyed with food colour dropped into a sea of white cream and light acrylic paint.

Ultimate Guide

Page 80

How I Did the Five Plumes

I was determined to get five plumes in one shot. It really was very difficult. I went out and bought a chip bag clip for this and taped a couple of smooth pieces of wood to the inside for even pressure on the bulbs. The hardest part was to get all the plumes an even height. In most of them, the middle ones were always a bit shorter. I had to make some adjustments and put more pressure on the middle ones. I had the shutter cable release taped to the floor to trigger it with my foot because I needed two hands for this one. Then it was a matter of getting the drop and the shutter timed properly. It took a lot of shots to get it close to the way I wanted it, but the challenge was met.

Ultimate Guide

Page 81

Cream Flow/Splash Combination

Here is where I fill the tank to the halfway marker and use the top half to do a mushroom splash over the cream flow. Now I have the drip kit situated above the tank as well. The flashes are now triggered by the Time Machine. I quickly drop some cream into the water and immediately activate the drop sequence before the cream gets too low. The trick is to get your hand away in time before the drops fall. The picture above right shows that I was a bit late. This is a double exposure where I take one of the three flashes and trigger it manually to show the splash in a later stage and get extra colour below.

Set-up for the splash/flow combo.

Ultimate Guide

Page 82

Mirror and Flip Technique

Some of the images are suitable for the mirror and flip method. I will explain this: 1. Open the image in Photoshop. 2. Do a free-form (clear) crop on half the image. (I like my images the same ratio as the original, so I try to get it exactly half or do a small tweak in Image Size when I'm all finished .) Hit check when you are satisfied with position. (It is at this point where you will need to do any editing work to your image. For this one, since the black background is messy, I used the Brush tool, Normal setting, selected black as the colour, and painted the background at 100% opacity. To do any shading, I reduced the opacity and darkened some of the areas at the top with a soft brush. If the background is not too bad, simply darken the black areas with “Levels” and save yourself a lot of time. ) 3. Layer – Duplicate layer – Ok 4. Image – Canvas size – New size – Width - drop down and choose % - 200% - anchor to left or right (left for above sample in this case) – Ok. (now you will have a full size image with one side blank. 5. Edit – Transform – Flip Horizontal (this will flip the image over and put it on top of the original crop.) 6. Choose the “Move” tool and slide the flipped image over to the blank side. Voila! (At this point, if I am not satisfied with the result of the crop, I simply Undo and go back to the crop stage. If something needs to be moved slightly, you can use the Liquify filter to make a small adjustment. ) 7. Layer – Flatten Image. 8. Check that the seam in the middle is smooth. You may need to use the Clone tool to smooth out any lines left from the merge. As in the sample above, I drop different colours in quick succession to get as much in the frame as possible. You can see at the base of the drop, the outside of the circle is white from the first drop, then blue, then red. Someone asked me once about the reason for the colours in the base circle and it's from the order of the coloured cream drops as they enter the water.

*****

Ultimate Guide

Page 83

Split in half

The original – cropped to fit on this page.

The finished product – mirrored and flipped. I highlighted some of the darker areas with the Dodge tool and used the crop tool to extend the bottom of the picture for better balance.

*****

Ultimate Guide

Page 84

Work-flow First, I will clarify that this is not a Photoshop tutorial. It is simply a brief description of the methods I use for my water drop images. I open a Raw image in Adobe Camera Raw. I make any changes to exposure, light level adjustments, clarity, etc., that need to be tweaked. If there is any noise, I will adjust with the luminance sliders. Then I open it in Photoshop CS5. I duplicate the original, and work on the duplicate. This way you always have the original file. Next, I use the “Tiff” file format so that I can save after every adjustment is finalized. If I make a mistake or don't like the adjustments, I can go back to a time before the adjustments were made. Also, the Tiff file is uncompressed so no quality is lost. The first thing I do is to crop out any edges of the water container and straighten, if necessary. Next, I get rid of all the stray droplets, sensor spots, bubbles, etc. For this I use the Spot Healing Brush tool along with the Clone tool for larger areas and spots that are very close to the parts of the splash. First I use the Spot Healing Brush to get rid of stray droplets, smudges from the background, sensor spots, etc. Then I attack the bubbles on the water surface with the Clone tool. The next thing I do is to make an Adjustment – Levels “Check” Layer. I bring the midtone slider over to darken the image. On the background layer, I now catch all the spots I missed on the first pass. If I am working on an image with a black background, I will move the slider over to lighten the image. Also, on this Adjustment Layer, I can easily spot any areas that are too dark or too light and very softly use the Dodge (lighten) and Burn (darken) tools to adjust these. When I am satisfied, I delete this “Check” Layer. This Adjustment “check” layer is a good way to check all your photographic images. It's surprising how many sensor spots you will notice, especially in a shot with a sky. Next, I make another Adjustment layer for selective colour and use this to bring out certain colours. My red food dye has too much magenta in it, so I will tweak that to bring out a richer red. A good tutorial on Adjustment layers -http://www.youtube.com/watch? v=zk4gpNVwPd8 – you may have to copy & paste this link in the YouTube search bar. Lastly, I make a Levels Adjustment layer for light and contrast balance. I save the Tiff file with all the layers in order to safely make any adjustments in future, if necessary. I then save as a Jpeg. For display on the web I resize and sharpen. I usually save at 1,000 pixels on the long side, and to sharpen, I use Unsharp Mask at Amount -100%, radius – 0.2 pixels, threshold – 0 levels. Then I hit Ok a few times until it looks too sharp, then bring it back a bit until it looks realistic. Save as a Jpeg, mid-quality, and I'm done.

Ultimate Guide

Page 85

Before

After Exposure ½ second, Aperture – f18, Iso – 200.

I used this one as a sample because it needed a bit of everything. The lighting was a bit too dark, it had lots of stray droplets, a bit of the container showing, and a few bubbles on the water. The ideal thing is to have the proper lighting, keep the bowl filled, and blow away the bubbles as you go so you don't have too much to do in post.

Before

After

*****

Ultimate Guide

Page 86

Journey of a Splash This is a sequence of drops showing how I get the fancy splashes and how the changes in the settings on The Time Machine affect the shape of the splash. I did four series of these and they were all different. This is not a guide to get the three drop splash – so many factors are involved with splashes and even while I chose the same settings for all four series, each was different in the results. Slightest changes make a difference. For this series, I used the regular drip kit that is held on by the tripod above the water, as in the picture on the left under The Time Machine Method section, Page 69. I did not use my modified version as shown in the picture on the right on this page. For this series, the distance of the tip of the valve to the water surface is 42 cm. (16½”). The distance from the camera lens to the drop was 46 cm. (18”). Flashes at 1/64 power. Exposure – 0.5 seconds. ISO – 200. Aperture – f18. I kept the reservoir at 250 ml. I did a batch edit on these – just resize and sharpen. For the captions under the pictures, I show the difference in the interval between the drops, the size of the drops, and the flash lag which is the stage in which the flashes fire. For ease of describing the settings I show: Example – I-50 S-80 FL-265. “I” is for the interval between the drops. “S” is for the size of the drop. “FL” is for the flash lag, the timing I set to have the flashes fire. For the first few, I am starting off with food dye and plain tap water, no additives.

I-50 S-70 FL-280 This is my basic starting point

I–30 S-70 FL-280 Changing the interval between drops.

Ultimate Guide

Page 87

I-18 S-70 FL- 280 It is quite short and stubby now.

I-65 S-70 FL- 280 With a higher interval it becomes taller.

I-80 S-70 FL- 280 Even higher – a collision above the jet.

I- 95 S- 70 FL- 280 Note the change in the base between this and top left.

Ultimate Guide

Page 88

I- 110 S-70 FL- 280 The jet has almost disappeared.

Back to basic. I-50

I- 50 S- 75 FL- 280 Now changing the size of the drop.

I- 50

S-80

S-70

FL- 280

FL- 280

Ultimate Guide

I- 50 S-85 FL- 280 With plain water you lose control easily.

I- 50 S- 50 FL- 280 Too small to make a collision.

Page 89

I- 50 S-60 FL- 280 Going down in size now.

Back to basic. I-50

S- 70

FL- 280

Ultimate Guide

Changing flash timing. I-50 S- 70 270 Too early for a collision.

I- 50 S- 70 FL- 300 A very late flash delay.

Page 90

FL-

I- 50

S- 70

FL- 290

I- 50 S- 70 FL- 310 Far enough. No shape left.

Ultimate Guide

Page 91

I- 50 S- 70 FL-280 This time I added some xanthan gum mixture. I added 1/3 cup mixture to 2/3 c. water

I- 50

S- 85

FL- 280

I- 50 S- 80 FL- 280. I needed to make the size larger with this thicker mixture

I- 50

S-90

FL- 280. Out of control!!

Ultimate Guide

I-25

S- 94

Page 92

FL- 280. Getting taller.

I- 24 S- 93 FL- 264. Sometimes you get just a blob after adding the lotion

I- 25 S- 94 FL- 260. Added some of the "magic" lotion. It cuts through the surface tension of the water like crazy. Added blue dye to the water in the bowl.

I- 26 S- 93 FL- 260. Since this one emerged, I'll continue with this style.

Ultimate Guide

I- 25 S- 93 FL- 266 You get these with an extra large drop size.

I- 24

S- 94 FL- 266. Slight changes in any setting make a difference.

Page 93

I- 25 S- 94 FL- 266 When you hear the “plop” when it lands, you get these.

I- 24

S- 94 FL- 266 Each one is different at these sizes.

Ultimate Guide

Page 94

I- 14 S- 95 FL-251 A very short interval gets another shape.

I- 14 S- 96 FL- 245 A later flash delay.

I- 14

S- 97 FL- 245 Notice the shape of the drops coming down.

I- 50 S- 94 FL- 264 A very late flash lag. The bubble is gone.

Ultimate Guide

I-25 S- 85 FL- 265 A smaller size results in this one.

I- 25 S- 85 FL- 270 A later flash lag and the little cap slithers down the jet.

Page 95

I- 25

S- 85 FL- 265 same as before. They go this way/that way!

I- 25

S- 85

FL- 275

Ultimate Guide

I- 25

I- 25

Page 96

S- 85

S- 88

FL- 280

FL- 255

I- 25 S- 88 FL- 265 Catching the splash at an earlier stage.

I-18 S- 88 FL- 255 A shorter interval shows impact much sooner.

Ultimate Guide

I- 16

I- 33

Page 97

S- 88

S- 96

FL- 255

FL- 289

I- 17 S- 98 FL- 272 Added some more gum mixture.

I- 33

S- 96

FL- 277

Ultimate Guide

I- 28

Page 98

S- 94

FL- 273

I- 24 S- 111 FL- 284. Added a large squirt of the lotion.

These last two I don't have settings for. Usually when I'm finished for the night, I end up dumping great amounts of additives in the reservoir. Lots of gum, lots of magic solution. This is what came out of it. Pretty cool. It's fun to experiment and see where it takes you. Serendipity !!!

Ultimate Guide

Page 99

I- 23

S- 90

FL- 268

My Signature 3 Drop Splash

Ultimate Guide

Page 100

Serendipity The “happy accidents” or pleasant surprises” that turn up in a drop session.

Ultimate Guide

Page 101

Ultimate Guide

Page 102

Ultimate Guide

Page 103

Ultimate Guide

Page 104

Ultimate Guide

Page 105

Ultimate Guide

Page 106

Ultimate Guide

Page 107

Ultimate Guide

Page 108

I think maybe I added too much gum and magic solution :-)

Ultimate Guide

Page 109

Ultimate Guide

Page 110

Ultimate Guide

Page 111

Closing Remarks If I have omitted any information, it has been purely unintentional. I have included what works for me and for the methods I use. It is a constant learning curve. There are many areas where I can make improvements. I am always looking for ways to improve the lighting situation, which I feel is most important with photography. In the past four years, since I started with water drop photography, I have never asked for any help or advice in the how-to's. If I couldn't figure it out, I didn't do it. There were few tutorials when I started out and the little I found was of great benefit in getting started with the basics. The aim of this book has been to help you get started in water drop photography, and learn from my experiences over the years. It's quite mind-boggling starting out, and I hope the information here will be of some help. Over time, I have studied the drops and how they behave. It's good to learn the basics, understand the situation, and know from looking at a drop what changes you need to make to get the desired result. Don't be afraid to experiment! It's what brings the unique. Be inspired. Stand out and be unique! Most of all – have fun with it. It's an exciting feeling to have something show up on your screen which is totally different from anything you've done before. There is always something new to be found. Water drop photography relaxes me! When I'm in my studio shooting some drops, there is nothing else. The creative experience is refreshing and exciting. *****

Credits I am deeply grateful for input from a couple of people in the making of this ebook. A lot of the information would not have been included without their invaluable suggestions. Bryan Mumford: Inventor - The Time Machine - http://www.bmumford.com/ Ellen Anon: Photographer/Writer/Instructor - http://ellenanon.com/ ***** Udi Tirosh: http://www.diyphotography.net/ - (hasn't been involved with this book but has been extremely generous over the years in sharing my techniques on his website.) Martin Waugh: http://www.liquidsculpture.com/ - My inspiration. ***** No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form whatsoever. Copyright - ©Corrie White – 2013 – All Rights Reserved

*****