A lot of people have been asking how i did this shot and i just wanted to share :)
Also if you have another way or any questions feel free to share!
Before i start thank you all for your support and inspiration, you guys have made me so much better than i was when i started up here :)
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Okay info:
Camera: Canon EOS 1000D (10)
Lens: The one it came with
Exposure: 1/200 - With flash!!
note: I found using flash extremely helpful
Setup:
(on the coffee table)
- A large baking tray almost completely filled with water
- A large sheet of scrap booking paper - (background) resting inside the tray (vertically)
- another large sheet of scrapbook paper - in the bottom of the tray (submerged) - (warning; it did wreck the paper completely)
- A bend over desk light - positioned to hit the background and not directly at the water droplets
- A plastic zip lock bag clipped onto the light hanging over the tray
other helpful things:
- towel
- pen - or alternative
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a lot of people say you need a tripod and a macro lens but it's not true, you can get perfectly good results freehand with a general use lens
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How i did it:
Firstly, i set my camera to 'Tv' 1/200 and put on flash
I put a hole in my zip lock bag - with a pin
which then let out a consistent amount of drops into my tray.
Next i got an eyeliner pencil (pens work too :P ) and positioned it so the water droplets were hitting the end of it consistently but not only that i also positioned my eyeliner so that the drop was *rebounding at the same height as it.
- * I don't exactly know how to explain it but when the droplets hit the water in the tray a small drop rebound into the air and this is usually what is caught by the camera not the initial drop - it makes sense when you see it
Then i focused on the exact spot the drop was hitting my eyeliner without taking a shot, after that i then change the setting to 'manual focus' and kept my camera in the same position as when i focused
- this doesn't need to be perfect but this is why a lot of people use tripods
personally i find it unnecessary :]
Then it is a patience and luck game i took a whole heap of shots using the continuous shooting setting. Zoomed right in to where the droplets where falling.
It took ages to finally get a good method which gave me good results - it was all trial and error and constant re-focusing.
i found shooting from a slightly above angle gave me the best results
while shooting straight down only showed rippling water and straight across lost the actual water and only gave me a slim chance of getting the drop.
Hope this helped, just ask if there's anything else you want to know :)
lol, just realized i called in rain droplets instead of water droplets :) oh well you get the idea
ella-marie you're a sweetheart for posting this ;-))
but i'm really not "getting" the eye-liner pencil part, at all : can you explain it differently? or maybe post a pic of what you mean? coz i'm lost on that bit lol
i've used scraping paper before for photography too ;-)
@andrewwood - honestly i don't enjoy using sport's mode it always focuses wrong for me, also i really didn't think about using it at the time :) maybe i'll try it next time and see what results i get. Thanks :] @roth - lol, yeah it does :)
Wow, great explanation. If you don't mind, I'm going to copy and paste this into a file I have set up on my computer titled "Photography 101" which gives me helpful hints that I want to remember. Your shot was fantastic, BTW! You were very creative in pulling this off.
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thanks, your welcome :)
but i'm really not "getting" the eye-liner pencil part, at all : can you explain it differently? or maybe post a pic of what you mean? coz i'm lost on that bit lol
i've used scraping paper before for photography too ;-)
Just out of interest, Why did you choose Shutter Priority (mode) over Sports (mode)?
@roth - lol, yeah it does :)
@aj1268 - no that's fine :)
just not the shot itself if that's ok : ]