Water Droplets

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Lately I have found all sorts of inspiration for experimentation. Much of it has come from Jaymi at Live. Love. Travel. She's a talented photographer with a fantastic blog and she shares her tips and tutorials on how she sets up, shoots and edits her shots. I really enjoy reading her blog and totally appreciate all that she puts into sharing with the rest of us! I also have to credit Gina at Chic Homeschool Mama for some inspiration. She's always willing and ready to try something new and has given me the inspiration to do the same. If you haven't visited Jaymi or Gina lately, go now! ;)

 After seeing Jaymi's posts on water drops I knew I wanted to give it a try. It's not easy and requires quite a bit of patience! If you think capturing a busy toddler is difficult, try catching a water drop mid-air. What I love about all of these challenges, however, is that I always learn a ton about how to use light, how to adjust my exposure triangle, etc. So even when my pics are disappointing, I'm learning and improving with each click. And yes, there were a tons of throwaways. I did capture a few that I thought were cool, even if they weren't technically perfect.

 I used my tripod, but not the remote, which might have helped with sharpness. I set up my D5000 with my 55-300 mm lens at f/5.6, ISO 400 and 300 mm. I also know that shooting fully extended to 300 mm reduces sharpness so next time I might pull back a tad. And I'd try to lower the ISO because after cropping in tight in post processing, the noise bothers me.

I'd really love some macro extension tubes, but I just have the filters for my kit lens. I did try a few shots with those but I had to get super close and couldn't use my tripod for that, and I just couldn't get them sharp enough. Ideally I'd use the extension tubes with my 50 mm f/1.4 for tack sharp pics. Anyway, those are things I'll try in the future as I definitely want to give this another go. My favorite pics were these:







Pin It Gina had some great results with her shoot, check out her post today to be wowed!

You can also find more helpful resources at Mira Crisp and Photo Fairy - two awesome sites that I recommend!!

  Photobucket
Unknown said...

These are great! Water droplets are hard (even with a tripd and a remote) and yours look amazing. I might have to go try this myself. :)

Liz Mays said...

It's funny because I never really thought about droplets being different shapes, but clearly they are. Just beautiful.

PS. Have I told you lately that I adore your friendship? Because I do.

Gina Kleinworth said...

Don't be so hard on yourself- you did FABULOUS!!! I would be thrilled if these were my pics- pat yourself on the back!!!! Well done!

Michelle said...

Nice! It makes me want to play with water, too. Normally, I'm drawn to photos with color, but my favorite here is your third photo with the drop and the natural texture.

Tiffany said...

Awesome shots...I have not tried water shots in a while, perhaps a new project:) Love the drops on the flower, so pretty.

Tiffany

Anonymous said...

These are gorgeous. I had fun trying it out too. You did great!

Unknown said...

these shots are great!!! the drops on the flower are really beautiful, but I just love the shape of the fourth one down with the long drip. I haven't tried this before...definitely going to have to make time to do this!

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