Equipment for Water Splash Shots
- Thread starter nickl360
- Start date
- Messages
- 1,732
- Name
- Robert
- Edit My Images
- Yes
chris321
I like the ginger one
- Messages
- 3,517
- Name
- Chris
- Edit My Images
- Yes
Not sure, what an 'audio/video freezer' is, but a flashgun is pretty important (when taking macro shots, you'll get a very thin depth of field, so you need to decrease the aperture (so a big f-number), which means you need to supply more light! A dedicated macro lens would help a lot, but you could make do with a set of extension tubes or a raynox adaptor!
Chris
Chris
- Messages
- 528
- Edit My Images
- Yes
I've done a few of these before and although my setup was over complicated it can be done a lot easier. You will need:
1 Camera
2 Lens - preferably macro but your telephoto will probably work too
3 Flash - you can use the flashgun on your camera, the only annoyance is the recycle time
4 Bowl - fill this bowl full of water
5 Plastic bag - Fill the bag up with water and then hang it up above the bowl, once it's hanging use a pin to put a tiny hole in the bag for the drops to come out
The above setup will give you nice regulated drops so it's just up to you to try and get them at the right moment. I found that using a remote release worked pretty well but for the most part it was trial and error. It's worth noting that shutter speed isn't all that relevant, I'd just set it to your highest flash sync speed (probably around 1/125th) and just play around. The flash freezes the water not the shutter speed!
1 Camera
2 Lens - preferably macro but your telephoto will probably work too
3 Flash - you can use the flashgun on your camera, the only annoyance is the recycle time
4 Bowl - fill this bowl full of water
5 Plastic bag - Fill the bag up with water and then hang it up above the bowl, once it's hanging use a pin to put a tiny hole in the bag for the drops to come out
The above setup will give you nice regulated drops so it's just up to you to try and get them at the right moment. I found that using a remote release worked pretty well but for the most part it was trial and error. It's worth noting that shutter speed isn't all that relevant, I'd just set it to your highest flash sync speed (probably around 1/125th) and just play around. The flash freezes the water not the shutter speed!
- Messages
- 3,836
- Name
- Trev
- Edit My Images
- Yes
not at all... you should be able to nail the shot 6 / 10 times with a lil prectise.
You need,,,
Tripod, shutter release.
bowl of water, food colouring, straw to drop water, backing card.
That's a cracking shot Trevor! looks like molten glassnot at all... you should be able to nail the shot 6 / 10 times with a lil prectise.
You need,,,
Tripod, shutter release.
bowl of water, food colouring, straw to drop water, backing card.
Brian
It is a gizmo that I made up that triggers a flash by sound or light.It has a delay calculated in micro seconds for instant or delayed flash.
- Messages
- 3,836
- Name
- Trev
- Edit My Images
- Yes
thanksSeriously.. get a tripod, u will need it lots and realy is an essential bit of kit.
Untill then, I would say any glass would do, and rest the camera on books or something to geth the impact areal in view.
Manual focus on the center of the bowl (use the straw, lay it across the bowl and focus on it MANUALLY)
Then be sure to drop the water into the center.
Use a small fstop.
I also bounced light from a flash off the ceiling for the above shot.
- Messages
- 821
- Name
- Tim
- Edit My Images
- No
Definitely use a tripod. I tried one of the electronic flash timer things, but gave up and went back to manually tripping the shutter as the drop landed ... I average about a 1-in-10 success rate. I also use a piece of coloured card behind the scene, the flash bounces back off this and "colours" the whole area. Also you do not have to drop the drop into water ... I use the black surface of my ceramic hob - get the angle right and it blends into the background. A couple of examples below - quality is not brilliant as the pics were just shot to show someone else the method (a few more on flickr if you are really desperate ...)
