How to shoot water droplets

In order to shoot beautiful water droplets, some people use expensive high-tech equipment. For example, an electronic valve is used to generate water drops for a fixed time, and then a dynamic capture device is used to trigger the flash. In fact, amazing shooting results can be achieved with the simplest equipment and means.

The first thing we should consider is how to automatically generate dripping water droplets. In fact, there are many ways, such as drilling a small hole in a plastic bag, turning on the tap a little bit, dipping a towel or sponge in water, or finding a straw. There are two key points, one is to ensure that water droplets can fall in the same position every time, and the other is to ensure that the frequency of water droplets falling is basically the same. We used a syringe connected by a hose, which was installed on a bracket as a water source.

Besides preparing the water source, we also need a container to catch the falling water drops. Although any plate or box can do this, their depth and shape will affect the ripple pattern. If you want to get enough regular water ripples, you must choose a container large enough, preferably round.

Source of water droplets

We use a syringe mounted on a simple bracket and connected with a hose as a water drop source. It is very important to ensure that water drops fall in the same place every time. A small syringe with a capacity of only 1mL can help us control water droplets more accurately. We need to test the strength of adding water repeatedly in order to master the law.

The position of light

There are many ways to irradiate water droplets, but remember one thing-the irradiation range of the light source must be controlled in the water droplets rather than on the water surface. Only in this way can the water drop become the obvious protagonist in the picture. So in addition to the off-board flash, you need to use a large piece of cardboard to reflect light, or directly put the flash behind a large translucent film to provide lighting.

Put a piece of ground glass behind the water container, and then put the off-board flash behind the ground glass. This is the simplest light distribution method we found through experiments. The flash is triggered by synchronous flash, and the light output power is manually set to 1/32. This kind of cloth can create a pure gradient background.

Camera settings

The camera is mounted on the pan/tilt and set to manual focusing and exposure mode. First, find out where the water drops fall and place a marker to help focus. Please confirm the focus before removing the mark for actual shooting. After adjusting the tripod, try to avoid touching the camera. Every slight movement of tripod legs will affect the composition.

Play with water drop effect

Use different kinds and colors of liquids to get different shooting effects.

Putting the camera in a position parallel to the water surface can capture a more obvious reflection of the water surface and get a more artistic picture feeling. A clean background is very important at this time.

Adding different colors of pigments to the liquid can enrich the color changes of the picture. If you add different colors to the water droplets above and the water surface below, the effect will be more interesting. You can carefully pour a layer of dyeing water on the milk.

The viscosity and characteristics of different liquids are completely different. Using milk as a substitute, you can get a completely different shape and effect from water droplets. Here we can see that milk has the same effect as this crown.

After mastering the shooting skills of a single water drop, we can speed up the dropping frequency of the water drop, so as to capture the moment when two water drops collide in the air and get a more shocking effect.

Matters needing attention

After everything is ready, the only thing we need to do is to grasp the right shooting opportunity and release the shutter at the moment when the water drops touch the water surface. It takes some practice to get the right time. According to the device we set up when shooting the illustration, the best time to release the shutter by using the remote control is the moment when the water drops just fall from the syringe.