# Drops on top of drops.



## fotograph (Apr 13, 2016)

I have always enjoyed water drop photos, and recently I purchased some equipment to take it to the next level.  I even ended up with quite a few three drop collisions before it was all over. I think the background looked a little blotchy on some of them, I'm not sure if it was droplets on the frosted acrylic or the acrylic was too close to the drops and the texture of the BG is showing through. Suggestions, comments and constructive criticism is welcome. 












First three drop collision










Some of them I just thought were cool





Played with some bubbles and missed, this is behind the bubble





Actually got it to go inside the bubble...










This one was probably the best 3 drop collision of the day


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## goooner (Apr 13, 2016)

Wow, these are amazing. Well done! Love 'number 2', the little oscar statuette.


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## tirediron (Apr 13, 2016)

Excellent!


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## JacaRanda (Apr 13, 2016)

Impressive!


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## zombiesniper (Apr 13, 2016)

As has been said above, amazing shots.


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## Dave442 (Apr 13, 2016)

Great shots. Reflection in 1, #2 looks like a person or a bowing Oscar award, #3 with excellent form. Thanks for posting.


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## pjaye (Apr 13, 2016)

These are amazing.


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## otherprof (Apr 13, 2016)

fotograph said:


> I have always enjoyed water drop photos, and recently I purchased some equipment to take it to the next level.  I even ended up with quite a few three drop collisions before it was all over. I think the background looked a little blotchy on some of them, I'm not sure if it was droplets on the frosted acrylic or the acrylic was too close to the drops and the texture of the BG is showing through. Suggestions, comments and constructive criticism is welcome.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I have now been to the corner of Beauty and Technique. Bravo!


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## fotograph (Apr 13, 2016)

eal76 said:


> These are just fantastic! Would you mind sharing your setup/equipment? I'm becoming more and more interested in maco.



Thanks, these were all taken with a canon 5d mk iii, canon 100mm f/2.8 macro lens on a tripod. The water was dropped into a black pan, the background was a 12"x24" piece of frosted acrylic, behind that was 4 Yongnuo yn560 iii's @ 1/64th power flashed back towards the camera. Each flash had a different color gel attached. Some of the pics had a piece of colored plastic attached to frosted acrylic. 

The most important pieces of equipment are the valve/solenoid/processor combo. I found a semi-affordable kit on eBay and my daughter bought it for me for Christmas. If your interested I'll post a link to the eBay store. 

The next most important ingredient was Corrie White's E book "the ultimate guide to water drop photography" 

The water is not straight water, it is a xanthan gum - water mixture with a special "cleaning lotion" added. The xanthan gum thickens the water for stability and the rinse aid gives it elasticity.

If you're really interested, I highly recommend the e-book.

Here is a pic of the set up from the first session I did with water. Sorry for the mess.


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## weepete (Apr 13, 2016)

Epic! I love the reflections and those shapes are pretty awesome


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## fotograph (Apr 13, 2016)

eal76 said:


> fotograph said:
> 
> 
> > eal76 said:
> ...



I'm sure you could, in Corrie White's book she shows examples from a 100mm macro, a 85mm and a 70-200mm. While the 100mm looks the best they all look decent. Experiment and see which works best.


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## LarryLomona (Apr 14, 2016)

Well done, cool photo


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## kalgra (Apr 20, 2016)

Stunning well done!


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## Watchful (Apr 20, 2016)

Nice pics.


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## Watchful (Apr 21, 2016)

They are very nice pictures, and have a lot to offer as artwork. I would like to see some of natural water drops as well (clear and no thickener) just because I also like science pictures. I would like to see the differences between what nature produces and what a person can stage. White lights would be a nice touch also for the pure science shots. 

Very good work.


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## fotograph (Apr 22, 2016)

Watchful said:


> They are very nice pictures, and have a lot to offer as artwork. I would like to see some of natural water drops as well (clear and no thickener) just because I also like science pictures. I would like to see the differences between what nature produces and what a person can stage. White lights would be a nice touch also for the pure science shots.
> 
> Very good work.



If I think about it, I'll do some like you outline the next time I do these, maybe a month or so.


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## FITBMX (Apr 26, 2016)

I know nothing about water drop photography, but these are incredible!!!


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## fotograph (Apr 27, 2016)

Thanks


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