My second attempt at shooting water drops

[BluewookieJim]

I made my second attempt at shooting water drops last night. The setup was 20D + Canon 100mm Macro F/2.8 + Tamron 1.4x TC. Manual flash set to 1/64 power.

The container was a small Bailey's glass, with a wide rim. The glass was wrapped with a light blue/purple wrapping paper. Another piece of green wrapping paper was used for the background.

FYI, these weren't cropped at all. On a couple of them I played with some alternative white balance settings for some really cool effects, imo.

http://photos.kodanja.net/img/v6/p513767871-5.jpg

http://photos.kodanja.net/img/v6/p210993048-5.jpg

The rest of the gallery can be seen at: http://photos.kodanja.net/drops

C&C is always welcome.

[Violator]

GREAT.
I like the 2nd on best.
Did you have fun? It's very frustrating, but when you get a shot like one of these 2 it just keeps pushing you to keep clicking....at least that's what happens for me.
Thanx for sharing your work.

[BluewookieJim]

It is both fun and frustrating at the same time. I enjoy pushing myself though, trying to get better.

For this particular setup, the most frustrating thing is the focus. That could certainly be better. These are somewhat front focused, but I thought the effort was good. I feel like I got a good understanding of the technique and timing necessary for these kind of shots in the process. In time the I'll get the focusing better, but all in all, it's fun.

I guess most people don't follow the links, so I figured I'd post a few more samples.

Alternative white balance, changed it to shade in Lightroom to bring out the purple...
http://photos.kodanja.net/img/v4/p273251884-4.jpg

Different alternative white balance, this one was changed to flourescent, really making the shot vivid.
http://photos.kodanja.net/img/v6/p213037246-4.jpg

This one is with the WB as shot. It's kind of boring, but I like it, its like a little egg floating on the water...
http://photos.kodanja.net/img/v6/p112329453-4.jpg

[Violator]

That last one is AWESOME.....just the slightest "splash"...VERY COOL.
..and I did admire your work via the link.
Thanks again.

[BluewookieJim]

Thanks. This was only my 2nd time trying to shoot water drops, but I can easily see how addictive this can get. I was admiring some of the sophisticated setups people have posted about to get some of these types of shots... it's really eye-opening to see the work that goes into the really great shots.

[vikingbino]

These are very cool. I like the choice of colours used in the background. Where did you situate the flash?

[BluewookieJim]

Thanks. The background colors are just some green and purple wrapping papers I had laying around.

Right now i'm limited to on-camera flash, using my 580EXII.

[DennisE]

Whilst you call the last one boring I really think its the best ---- IMO of course
Good stuff keep it up

[BluewookieJim]

Thanks, it was fun. I will certainly shoot more of these, just want to work on the setup a little bit.

[siddr20]

would love to see the behind the scene shots?

As in how big was that glass.. where did you mount your flash etc..

ta

[jgrussell]

The focus is the hardest part of water drops -- but it's still fun!

[David Tullar]

I really enjoy your photos, I never thought of creating a whole landscape of drops but with enough patience and editing skill there is no limit what one could do with water drops.

[BluewookieJim]

Thank you everyone. This is definitely a type of shooting I will continue trying more of. It's both difficult and rewarding. Next time I do it I need to try it somewhere other than my kitchen sink.

Sorry, I didn't think to take any shots of the setup. The setup was my 580EXII mounted on camera, manual, set to 1/64 power. The head was tilted all the way down to the 'macro' position.

The container was a medium sized wide rim glass that came in a Baileys Irish Cream gift box. I wrapped the back half of that glass in some light purple wrapping paper from Ikea.

A couple inches behind the glass I hung a small piece of light green wrapping paper, also from Ikea.

The drips themselves were straight from my kitchen faucet. My camera, with the 100mm Macro and the 1.4 Tamron TC was about 5 inches from the lens to the dripping water.