Little photography project anyone can try...

[Pint]

Think I might try again this weekend, is sure one that needs patience and a whole lot of luck!!

Too True!! As you can see from my above post i threw a paddy when i couldnt get it right! Got there in the end after over 100 shots!

 

[mace¬]

Football was off this afternoon so I decided to have another little play.

And my favourite... shame I was to lazy to clean the water really.

As the water was pretty much grey I decided to try a few different things aswell

Kitchen is now right mess!!

 

[realnumber 1]

Thought I would add a few that my brother did after seeing this thread when it first started lol.

 

[Revels]

Love the last one!!

 

[mace¬]

Had a go at croppingone but looks a little noisy and not as sharp as everyone elses!!... not easy this photography lark..

 

[Brasseye]

Just cropped nothing else

 

[Andy.]

Awesome shots! Sharp, lovely colours, and nice crowns too.

 

[Maggiore]

Right, time to revive this I think.

I am new to the wonderful world of photography. this was my first challenge. epic fail.

how the hell are all these so crisp? I had a few "focus" issues. I tried all sorts of settings etc but they just look blurry and rubbish.

I dont have a macro lens but neither did the original poster and his were awesome.

This is not as easy as I first thought.

Advice required?

Im using a 450D with a 50mm 1.8 lens. dont seem to be able to get close enough to get the shots some people are getting.

 

[Ribena]

Right, time to revive this I think.

I am new to the wonderful world of photography. this was my first challenge. epic fail.

how the hell are all these so crisp? I had a few "focus" issues. I tried all sorts of settings etc but they just look blurry and rubbish.

I dont have a macro lens but neither did the original poster and his were awesome.

This is not as easy as I first thought.

Advice required?

Im using a 450D with a 50mm 1.8 lens. dont seem to be able to get close enough to get the shots some people are getting.

Go for the closest focussing distance your lens is capable of and prefocus using manual focus.

 

[Maggiore]

so manual focus instead of auto?

one thing to check of my list

thanks will give it a go tomorrow

 

[Revels]

Stick a pen in the middle, focus on that, then remove the pen and turn AF off.

Your camera can't focus quick enough to capture the drops so it will just search and not catch anything.

Depends what camera you have as I'm not 100% sure you can turn it off on the D40/D60 as there's no motor in the body (I couldn't find the option anyway)

 

[Maggiore]

I have a Canon 450D and the AF is on the lens so I will be able to turn it off.

So, as im a noob. What's the difference between using AF to focus then switching to manual - and leaving in AF, pressing the button halfway to focus, then dropping the water and pressing the rest of the way?

My shots were too blurry. horrible. wish I had talent.

Revels seems to have some skills

I followed your strawberry post and was gonna give that a go aswell

 

[Ribena]

Depends what camera you have as I'm not 100% sure you can turn it off on the D40/D60 as there's no motor in the body (I couldn't find the option anyway)

The switch is on the lens for AF-s lenses.

So, as im a noob. What's the difference between using AF to focus then switching to manual - and leaving in AF, pressing the button halfway to focus, then dropping the water and pressing the rest of the way?

You've just mentioned the difference...you have to hold the button down to lock focus! Switching on to manual means you can take your hand off the button and do whatever you need to prep the shot...

 

[Maggiore]

But if thats the only difference, I still dont get why my photos were stupidly out of focus.

It still got the splash etc... just shoddy quality.

Ill give it another blast tonight.

 

[Revels]

Depends where you focused to start with. Have you ever tried to focus on something the same colour as the background? You can hear it spinning and trying to focus but it can't quite manage it?

Basically as the droplet falls, it will try and focus but might get a big of the background, then droplet, then glass, depending on your angle, focus etc but it's not quick enough to focus and shoot to catch it.

If you set the focus for where the droplet will land, then turn the af off, then it won't try anymore and will be focusing. Then just hold the shutter, drop, then let go and check to see what you have. Curse because you didn't get the shot you wanted and try again! Lol

If all else fails, stick it at f22. Most things are in focus then

 

[Maggiore]

I will give it a go tonight and then I shall be on CS to describe in detail how I failed again.

Thanks for the help

 

[planetx]

Can't believe this thread has been running for near on two years....love it.

here are my efforts

 

[Maggiore]

They look class - im sure mine will look awesome aswell

 

[planetx]

The reason a lot of you are getting droplets out of focus is also down to the flash power output/ flash duration...it is bit of a science, but in simple terms.......

my top tip of the day is turn the power right down on your flash gun, and move the flash closer - it will improve the sharpness of the drops massively.

So if you are using a ratio of 1:1 at say 3 feet, try switching to a ratio of 1:64 at approx 8inches (approx)

Ignore your shutter speed for this type of shooting as it has no influence on what you are doing - here we are dealing with flash speed.

Flash fires approx at 1/30,000 of a second when powered down, more than enough to freeze water droplets.

Stick your camera on bulb - 400 iso - F11, and flash settings as above and control the light with your flash to subject distance.


there are some good tips on here, Kev is a local photographer to me with years and years of experience.

Also check out his Pellet photography....that is talent!!!!

http://www.photosbykev.com/wordpress/tips-and-trick/water-droplet-photography/

 

[smonty]

Some of these shots are awesome, got a day off today and mum's out so will nick her camera new one sure she wont mind when she sees the results. Cant believe the thread's been going 2 years.

 

[planetx]

Have a read through that thread i have posted, it really will help out if your new to the game.

check this clip on his Blog to understand what happens in slow motion.
http://www.photosbykev.com/wordpress/photography/water-photography/water-videos/high-speed/

 

[Revels]

The reason a lot of you are getting droplets out of focus is also down to the flash power output/ flash duration...it is bit of a science, but in simple terms.......

my top tip of the day is turn the power right down on your flash gun, and move the flash closer - it will improve the sharpness of the drops massively.

So if you are using a ratio of 1:1 at say 3 feet, try switching to a ratio of 1:64 at approx 8inches (approx)

Ignore your shutter speed for this type of shooting as it has no influence on what you are doing - here we are dealing with flash speed.

Flash fires approx at 1/30,000 of a second when powered down, more than enough to freeze water droplets.

Stick your camera on bulb - 400 iso - F11, and flash settings as above and control the light with your flash to subject distance.

I'm not doubting you as you're a pro, but surely shutter speed is still important?

Agreed about flash power though. I tend to go for 1/64 because then at 500ths it will still fire with every press of the shutter and doesn't skip one because it's repowering.

I do it at 200 ISO. f1.8. 500ths.

But I guess different things work for different people.

 

[Maggiore]

Shame I have the gym before home time as I wanna have another go. I also have the girlfriend trying it. lol CS photo games FTW.

 

[planetx]

Actually this is kind of work is not my forte, I do it for fun so don't confess to be an expert.

I have only gone from what my friend has on his blog and it has worked for me.

Something he also mentions is ambient light impacting on shutter speed, so the Bulb setting works better in a totally blacked out room.
If you read his blog I think he mentions 2 or 3 different techniques, and what you are saying is also true.

if you think about it logically - lower flash power settings are much quicker that that of a full power.?

A lower flash setting of say 1:64 is firing at approx 1/30,000 of a second ( still with me?) so having a shutter speed of 1/500th is irrelevant. It is the flash exposure that is "freezing" the water drop not the shutter.
All the shutter is doing is controlling the ambient.

here he explains it far better than I can.

http://www.photosbykev.com/wordpress/tips-and-trick/water-droplet-photography/flash-and-motion-blur/

and here is how good his work is

all of his camera settings are below each image NOTE: how low his shutter speeds are.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/23362014@N06/sets/72157622430455740/

 

[Revels]

TBH, I have no clue. i just couldn't imagine 1/10th catching a droplet that's sharp. Regardless of flash speeds. Obviously I'm wrong! :S

I've only ever tried at 500ths as that's the fastest my flash will sync with and just presumed that you'd need it fast. I used to try it before I got my flash and was using 4000ths to freeze, so just a continuation really.

I know you're right but I just can't seem to get my head around it. I'll stick with 500ths! Lol.

 

[planetx]

try it my way.

slow things down a little.......stick your camera on Bulb, f11, 1/64.flash ...turn the lights down low(getting all romantic now lol) leave he shutter open for 20 seconds or so...fire your flash and drop the water in unison...and the shot will be PIN SHARP - trust me.
Rather than firing off hundreds of images, by slowing things down you will concentrate more on drop pattern, lighting , reflections etc.

chop chop

 

[Maggiore]

OK, so I gave it another go. They are better but not great. I blame the materials I used :rasp:

Anyways, here is a preview of a couple. I too had to crop them due to the lack of a macro lens.

 

[DeeKay86]

AMAZING!

 

[Ribena]

try it my way.

slow things down a little.......stick your camera on Bulb, f11, 1/64.flash ...turn the lights down low(getting all romantic now lol) leave he shutter open for 20 seconds or so...fire your flash and drop the water in unison...and the shot will be PIN SHARP - trust me.
Rather than firing off hundreds of images, by slowing things down you will concentrate more on drop pattern, lighting , reflections etc.

chop chop

Interesting, I'm gonna give this technique a go. I normally use Revel's technique.

 

[Revels]

Lol. I wouldn't trust me.

I don't really know what I'm doing or the proper way to do things. I just know how I want things to look and sometimes manage to achieve it.

 

[Ian]

Planet x is right in terms of flash speed being quicker than shutter speed. That's why you adjust the shutter speed to alter the ambient light levels in a mixed flash/ambient photo, as it doesn't effect the flash lit area of the photo.

[youtube]Xnn5nzPvoIM[/youtube]

(Relevant bit starts about 4 minutes in.)

 

[dunganick]

I've just given this another go, failed again, only really got one shot i liked:

Struggling not having any off camera flash or a macro lens. Only a 50 1.8 and a 270 flash on the body.

 

[Gaz.]

Cracking that Nick, especially with no Macro or off camera flash.

 

[dunganick]

cheers mate

 

[planetx]

really like that Nick, could improve it with some coloured paper or card behind....maybe red?

 

[capturedbyjames]

I've still not given this a go - maybe one night when i'm in the mood for making a mess!

 

[dunganick]

I just had another quick go at it with some different background. Couldnt find a plain red background unfortunately, Ended up getting the best few (more through luck than judgment) with black and blue. Unfortunately neither were as clean as the above shot.

 

[Ian]

Was going to suggest black, looks pretty good Nick.

 

[planetx]

black looks awesome, getting some good refraction too.

confused????

check here http://fiveprime.org/hivemind/Tags/cd,refraction

 

[theduck]

Something a bit different...