# Water Drops



## el_shorty

Some water drops I did last weeks, I used a HiViz photogate trigger delay unit to trigger my camera, drops were released manually with an electric valve.


----------



## Bitter Jeweler

You sir have the most interesting water drop images I have ever seen on this forum!

Congrats!


----------



## reedshots

These are very cool shots, what was your set up?


----------



## STM

Absolutely amazing stuff, very well done Rene!

These happen so quickly and on such a small scale, that without high speed photography, we would never be able to see such wonderous things! Thanks for sharing!


----------



## ronda

FANTASTIC!


----------



## mjbine

Awesome!


----------



## el_shorty

Thanks everybody for the comments.



reedshots said:


> These are very cool shots, what was your set up?



I used the HiViz Multitrigger to trigger my camera, it helps a lot with timing, I also used two strobes, an SB-600 to light the background and an SB-900 to light the drop from the right side. 
I used a solenoid valve for the dropper which I triggered with a switch and it's powered by 8 AA batteries, a drop is released every time I press on the switch. The water in the dropper was mixed with guar gum and food coloring and in the tray I had water mixed with rinse aid.
I didn't take any photos of the whole setup but I will put all together again tonight and take photos of it and i will post them here.


----------



## Mecal

excellent shots!

though I personally don't like the yellow background.


----------



## Bynx

Ive taken thousands of shots of water drops and that umbrella look has always alluded me. But I think the secret is the drop rate. All this time Ive been allowing too much time between drops. I imagine the drop rate is pretty quick to get this effect. Is that right Shorty?


----------



## mishele

Last month for my birthday, I asked for a timing setup system to get these shots....lol They said it would take 4 wks. I look forward to doing this!!
Nice shots!!


----------



## el_shorty

Bynx said:


> Ive taken thousands of shots of water drops and that  umbrella look has always alluded me. But I think the secret is the drop  rate. All this time Ive been allowing too much time between drops. I  imagine the drop rate is pretty quick to get this effect. Is that right  Shorty?


 
 You are right, I cannot tell you exactly how fast but it's as fast as my  finger can push on the switch continuously, but I need to figure out a  different system for the dropper because with what I have right now I am  not getting the results I want.



mishele said:


> Last  month for my birthday, I asked for a timing setup system to get these  shots....lol They said it would take 4 wks. I look forward to  doing this!!
> Nice shots!!


 Thanks, what timing system are you getting?



Mecal said:


> excellent shots!
> 
> though I personally don't like the yellow background.


 
Thanks, after going through hundreds of shots to pick the ones you see  here I started getting sick of the yellow and red I used for the shots I  took, next time I will make backgrounds with softer colors.


----------



## el_shorty

More water drops. For this set I used plain water in the tray and water mixed with rinse aid on the dropper and I added red food coloring for the last four.


----------



## mishele

Water Drops
http://www.bmumford.com/photo/waterdrops/dripkit.html

I can't wait!! Did you use a kit or did you do it on your own?


----------



## j-digg

Bitter Jeweler said:


> You sir have the most interesting water drop images I have ever seen on this forum!
> 
> Congrats!


 
Seconded! Amazing stuff, love the last ( currently ) visible one in the original post... Looks like a mushroom ha!.. Ever any issues with getting drops on the lens? They somehow find their way to my front element... even with the hood attached.. would also like to know more about the mechanical valve... I always figured my pinhole through a Subway bag was obsolete nowaday.


----------



## Bynx

I was using a hypo like gyzmo that was for refilling printer inks. But I moved up to a punctured ziplok bag. I wish there were a way to control the flow so the drops would come out very quickly. Having the drop hit the rising drop creates very explosive interesting shots as compared to the simple rising column or crown.


----------



## Miladymimi

I like the 5th one in the second set.  It looks like a skinny little alien.  Really interesting effects.


----------



## el_shorty

mishele said:


> Water Drops
> The Drip Kit
> 
> I can't wait!! Did you use a kit or did you do it on your own?



I have heard good things about the Time Machine, I looked at both the Time Machine and the StopShot but I didn't want to spend the money for them since I don't really do water drops that often.
Right now I am using the Hiviz Multitrigger to trigger my camera and a solenoid valve to release the drop which I do manually.



j-digg said:


> Bitter Jeweler said:
> 
> 
> 
> You sir have the most interesting water drop images I have ever seen on this forum!
> 
> Congrats!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Seconded! Amazing stuff, love the last ( currently ) visible one in the original post... Looks like a mushroom ha!.. Ever any issues with getting drops on the lens? They somehow find their way to my front element... even with the hood attached.. would also like to know more about the mechanical valve... I always figured my pinhole through a Subway bag was obsolete nowaday.
Click to expand...


No issues with getting the lens wet, I usually place the camera about 12" from the water in order to capture the whole drop since some of them go as high as four inches.
As far as the mechanical valve, I will post some pictures of it tomorrow.



Bynx said:


> I was using a hypo like gyzmo that was for refilling printer inks. But I moved up to a punctured ziplok bag. I wish there were a way to control the flow so the drops would come out very quickly. Having the drop hit the rising drop creates very explosive interesting shots as compared to the simple rising column or crown.



There is a way, actually more than one, and they are not cheap, The Time Machine, the StopShot and the Camera Axe. with them you can control the number of drops and how fast they are released, also you can control the delay to trigger the camera and flashes, pretty cool but like I said earlier not cheap, that is why I bought the HiViz, but it only controls the delay to trigger the camera and flashes.



Miladymimi said:


> I like the 5th one in the second set.  It looks like a skinny little alien.  Really interesting effects.



Thank you, that little alien is one of my favorites photos of the set.


----------



## MWG

amazing work


----------



## el_shorty

This is my setup for the water drops, I put it together last night for  the purpose of taking pictures of it and that is the reason there is no  water in the tray.







*1.* Camera with macro lens and CST Sybersync transmitter.
*
2.*  Laptop running Nikon Camera Control Pro to view photos, because of the  cable that connects the camera to the Hiviz Multitrigger there is no  preview in the camera.
*
3.* SB-600 and SB-900 with CSRB+  Cybersyncs.  SB-600 is pointing towards the background and SB-900 with  snoot (not pictured) and Rosco gels pointing at the drops.
*
4.* HiViz Multitrigger.
*
5.* 11x14 print mounted on foam board as background.
*
6.* Trays with water and rinse aid mixture.
*
7.* 8 AA Battery holder with push switch.
*
8.* Solenoid Valve
*
9.* Photogate.
*
10.* Syringe and silicon tubing to hold the water, food coloring and guar gum mixture.


This is the schematic for the solenoid switch





and this is the final product.





Every time I press on the switch the valve opens letting water through, so to get those collision shot I press on the switch twice very fast, works well but not as well as if I had a Time Machine or a StopShot.

And this is the cable that connects the HiViz with my D300s, there is a tutorial on the Hiviz website showing how to make it.


----------



## mishele

I can't wait to get The Time Machine....it was a birthday gift from my hubby. I did the research and sent him the link and said buy what I need.....lol Surprise..I got it. I didn't really think he would. I'm sure the two of us will have a lot of fun figuring it out. Still 2 weeks yet til it comes.....=(
Keep the shots coming!! I love them!!


----------



## MiaLahhve

Those are so interesting and pretty! Love the colors


----------



## Dani41780

love


----------



## Bynx

Now this isnt talking sour grapes, but I dont think I would enjoy using a Time Machine. Being able to predict exactly what the pic will look like before its taken takes the surprise and fun out of it. Besides who is taking the pic? The OP or the gyzmo? Ive taken well over 2000 drop shots. Everything is so critical, the distance of the drop from the pierced bag to the tray of water, the camera focus, the precise time to click the shutter, allowing for shutter lag. To get that exact moment with crystal clarity is not an easy task. But when it happens, its a joy to look at, since it was all you. A gyzmo would take all that away. Its like a machine you load with paint that when pointed at a canvas produces Rembrandts. Whats the fun in that? And who is doing the painting?


----------



## mishele

I don't think the machine is going to be a turn key tool. I think it's going to take a lot of time to get what you want out of it. Is it even possible to get the double splash w/ out help? Have you done this before?


----------



## el_shorty

Thanks.



mishele said:


> I can't wait to get The Time Machine....it was a birthday gift from my hubby. I did the research and sent him the link and said buy what I need.....lol Surprise..I got it. I didn't really think he would. I'm sure the two of us will have a lot of fun figuring it out. Still 2 weeks yet til it comes.....=(
> Keep the shots coming!! I love them!!



Congratulations on your birthday gift, doing water drops is fun, but you can easily considerably raise the number of actuation on you camera, two weeks ago I did more than 1200 shots of water drops in about four hours while trying to figure out how to get the shot of water drops colliding, then a few days later I did 400 more.

I will recommend that you get guar gum to mix with water, it will make the drops more interesting, you can see the difference of using it by comparing the first set to the second set of pictures I posted, I used guar gum in the first set.  It's not expensive, about $5 for 8 ounces, and I believe I used about half a teaspoon for 20 oz of water.

And for inspiration look at the work of these photographers on flickr
rifi2
Cymaii
Maianer


----------



## Bynx

Ive never been able to make a collision shot Michelle. Im sure its because Ive always concentrated on the single shot. Ive never had a short enough time between the drops to have them collide. There are so many variables. The height of the drop, the depth of the water, the viscosity of the liquids if you were using milk for example, or guar gum as suggested. How about cooking oil and water? This is all so much fun and it takes only a few minutes to set up. That solenoid switch does look interesting. You would be able to control the number of drops.


----------



## mishele

Thanks a ton!!!! 
I think I have at least one of those people bookmarked....lol


----------



## mishele

Bynx said:


> Ive never been able to make a collision shot Michelle. Im sure its because Ive always concentrated on the single shot. Ive never had a short enough time between the drops to have them collide. There are so many variables. The height of the drop, the depth of the water, the viscosity of the liquids if you were using milk for example, or guar gum as suggested. How about cooking oil and water? This is all so much fun and it takes only a few minutes to set up. That solenoid switch does look interesting. You would be able to control the number of drops.



I've done lots of single shots also. I can't even imagine doing a double w/ out help. Maybe it's the non-techie girl in me.....lol


----------



## el_shorty

Bynx said:


> Now this isnt talking sour grapes, but I dont think I would enjoy using a Time Machine. Being able to predict exactly what the pic will look like before its taken takes the surprise and fun out of it. Besides who is taking the pic? The OP or the gyzmo? Ive taken well over 2000 drop shots. Everything is so critical, the distance of the drop from the pierced bag to the tray of water, the camera focus, the precise time to click the shutter, allowing for shutter lag. To get that exact moment with crystal clarity is not an easy task. But when it happens, its a joy to look at, since it was all you. A gyzmo would take all that away. Its like a machine you load with paint that when pointed at a canvas produces Rembrandts. Whats the fun in that? And who is doing the painting?



There are some types of water drops photos you cannot get without help from the time machine, and no, it doesn't take anything away, at least to me, since you will still be  the one setting up everything, the mixture of the water, the angle of the camera, the speed in which the water is released, the position of the flashes.  The Time Machine is just another tool to get the kind of shots you are trying to create, it just makes it a little easier.


----------



## Destin

mishele said:


> Bynx said:
> 
> 
> 
> Ive never been able to make a collision shot Michelle. Im sure its because Ive always concentrated on the single shot. Ive never had a short enough time between the drops to have them collide. There are so many variables. The height of the drop, the depth of the water, the viscosity of the liquids if you were using milk for example, or guar gum as suggested. How about cooking oil and water? This is all so much fun and it takes only a few minutes to set up. That solenoid switch does look interesting. You would be able to control the number of drops.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I've done lots of single shots also. I can't even imagine doing a double w/ out help. Maybe it's the non-techie girl in me.....lol
Click to expand...


I've gotten the collision shots without any kind of timing device. I use a small eyedropper to release the drops, it takes some patience, but you can time the drops close together with it. I'd show you an example but they are all on my external hard drive, which I don't have with me.


----------



## Bynx

I saw an example of the Time Machine and the guy demonstrated how he could make multiple shots of multiple drops look exactly the same. Now in less than an eye blink to be able to do that is impressive. But after you set it up the machine does all the work and you just sit back knowing what the result will be. Since my last post I tried another water drop shoot. I used watered down milk. The whole thing was just a waste of time. Lots of nice shots, but nothing any different than countless ones Ive taken before. Those umbrella shots are great. The first drop hitting another was very memorable for me. It was a pink rising column piercing the bright red drop which looked like one of those chinese umbrellas. The column rose through the red drop about 1/4 of the way. I remember thinking that it was a great illustration for the loss of virginity. Thats what I would have titled it. It was a very impressive shot. So impressive Im still typing about it.


----------



## PhotoTish

I loved the first set but the second set is even better!  I prefer the background colours on the second set.  I think pics 4, 5 and 6 in the second set are my favourites. :thumbup:


----------



## Davor

These are so awesome! and very inspiring , i have never seen such form of water drops like that. Its usually the boring one drop in the air and that's it but this adds allot of excitement to the photos. Great work i can't wait to do some myself this week


----------



## Drake

Spectacular shots, now I know what I am going to be trying to do for the rest of the day. Great work!


----------

