Splash - trigger or not?

Phil V

Phil V

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Okay so this might be a daft question - but I'm home alone with a single simple project in my head.

Can I photograph an ice cube or similar splash shot without a specialist trigger?

If not - what do I need to buy?
 
I've managed without a trigger on a couple of different goes at it. After a few trail drops of (in these cases a strawberry and cherry's), you get a pretty good idea of when to press the shutter button. So, ok, not all drops are perfectly timed, but I'd say it can be done.

2020-04-29_01-26-36.jpg2017-08-09_05-53-24.jpg
 
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Phil V said:
Can I photograph an ice cube or similar splash shot without a specialist trigger?
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It's possible but could prove rather frustrating!
 
Phil V said:
He’s working full time from home, so there’s just a little extra time in his life (the saved commute 3 days a week)
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Go for it :D

I've been thinking about it for a while. I'd be worth it for one half decent result.
 
 
TonyT said:
Trouble is if the ice is dropping into a whiskey then by the sixth take you will be p*ssed
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He said he was hoping to photograph the splash, not get sloshed ;)

PS the video I linked shows the teetotal 'way' :)
 
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I borrowed a Miops kit for this a while ago. It was pretty fiddly to setup and control the drops. Pot luck with a flash on high speed might have been faster overall!
 
You can home in on the right setting but each attempt will be at the risk of experimental error. Something released from stationary will accelerate at 9.8 metres per second squared. Something released at 20cm over the surface will take 0.2 seconds to arrive.

Some cameras have a 2s self timer but something would drop approx 20 metres and hit the landing zone at approaching 20 metres per second.

Dark conditions, slow shutter speed and second curtain sync flash?
 
A good few years ago I managed shots of a dripping tap and got splashes and ripples etc.
Used a Panasonic G3 and kit lens with built in flash.
Turned out pretty good.
Don't think I've still got the images unfortunately.
 
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TonyT said:
Trouble is if the ice is dropping into a whiskey then by the sixth take you will be p*ssed
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Or, perhaps worse, by the tenth drop, the ice will have diluted the whisk(e)y too much. Best to use what they use in some films - cold tea. Then the real thing can be kept at the favoured dilution.


More seriously, IIRC there was a member here who was marketing a trigger set which could be programmed to release drops and fire flashes to achieve the correct timing for lots of different splash effects. Sorry, no idea who it was but a couple of commutes worth of perusing forum searches might throw it up.
 
Possibly. IIRC it was before 2012 that they were developing it. Again, IIRC, they had it at the last Megameet in 2014.
 
Sounds about right!

Must be a different lot - the one linked above is fairly local to me and I'm sure the Megameet one wasn't!
 
Could have been triggertrap? I still have that and the app looks like it still works
 
huxleypiggles said:
Universal Credit at a guess.

You know the rules.
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If you are suggesting that’s what I do... I also know the rules for lots of other benefits, I may have worked for DWP at some point, and I know a lot of people who do. Also HMRC, the Home Office. :)
 
Well the trigger I bought is a pile of sh*t and is going back - sensitive enough to hear the clock ticking, but refused to be triggered by a lemon landing in a glass - so this was done with simple trial and error.
Lots of lessons learned, wish I'd used an IGBT flash rather than my mains unit as I'm sure that'd have been a crisper splash.
lemonSmall by Phil Vaughan, on Flickr
 
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How many flashes can your setup do in one burst? Might be worth trying a machine gun approach using a higher ISO and lower powered flashes. That might should probably read MIGHT!!!
 
Nod said:
How many flashes can your setup do in one burst? Might be worth trying a machine gun approach using a higher ISO and lower powered flashes. That might should probably read MIGHT!!!
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This would have probably been a better option than the trigger - I used a 6d and mains lighting so that wouldn't have been useful, but I could have used a 7d and an AD200 which could have done what you suggest.
 
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