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DPChallenge Forums >> Tips, Tricks, and Q&A >> Water Drop Focus
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09/17/2006 05:08:24 PM · #1
Today ive been experimenting taking shots of water droplets falling in a bowl, and i cant get the whole thing in focus. The depth of field is way to shallow, but with high shutter speeds i need the light so keep the aperture open.

Also, i noticed the that sharpness is reduced with motion blur, i started at 1/800 - which was too slow, moved up to 1000 and i still wasnt getting the crisp images i see everywhere. so i upped the iso to 400, put shutter at 1/2500 with a f/6. - that gave too much noise and was WAY underexposed.

So how do people get the whole droplet in focus, and get a high shutter speed to stop the motion?
09/17/2006 05:23:12 PM · #2
for me the key is using a flash. That way it freezes the water. Also if you up the f stop to somewhere around f/4 or so you should still be ok. If you dont have an external flash it is a greeat investment. I would recommend the canon 430ex, and a stofen omnibounce.

Dan

edit: also if you could give us an example of the pics your getting that would help.

Message edited by author 2006-09-17 17:23:54.
09/17/2006 05:34:06 PM · #3
Certainly.

I was using natural light, which i thought would have been plenty.



Notice how the base is in focus, while the ball part isnt. Ideally, i would want the whole thing in focus.
Also, at full size, the base isnt that sharp, due to what i think is motion blur. And im using a sharp lense, the cannon 60mm marco.
09/17/2006 05:37:19 PM · #4
While I have no "drops" in my portfolio, I feel and read that using a flash is almost "standard" for these types of shots.

In fact, I found a way to sync my flash at over 1/2000 sec. Check portfolio for some shots like this one.



This was done at 1/2000 with a flash on my D70.

Good luck and keep trying!

KS
09/17/2006 05:42:48 PM · #5
are you using manual or auto focus?

also seems like your getting the timing right, its just your focus area is too small, do you have a flash, because with it you would be able to up the f stop to 4 or 5.6 and it would be much easier.

Remember, it takes a bunch of tryes to get these shots right, on both of my water drop shots i took over 100 photos till i got one that had correct timing and was in focus.

-Dan
09/17/2006 05:46:00 PM · #6


i suceeded once. never again :-), no flash AFAIK
09/17/2006 05:55:18 PM · #7
Soooo consensus is use flash, haha. Okay, ill give that a try next time.
09/18/2006 06:52:19 AM · #8
I read an article on water drops, and whether folks do it like this here or not, I'm not sure. It stated that you need to invest in a couple of cheap slave units that will go off when your flash goes off. You don't need much flash, really, so if you have the capacity to reduce the strength (My camera has a minus setting) then do it. Fill-in flash is all you need. The shutter speed is important, so try it very high. If you have limited dof, you may not get the full image in focus, so put that to around a 9 or 10. Anyway, the idea is when your flash goes off ,it triggers the slave units. You need to play with placement of them to get the best position.
You might also just try using some added light flanking where you are photographing the drop. The image will not be as sweet as with slave units, but it might get the job done. I also have discovered that putting the camera on burst mode helps, because then it takes as many frames as your camera can do (mine is 3fps, some Canon's get up to 7fps)
09/18/2006 07:05:39 AM · #9
depends on your process
set your flash on minimum power - that will decreace the duration of the flash - i still prefer dark room drips (long shutter times) with trigger
f/16
i also focus on a clear ruler placed on the surface before shooting - DOF is roughly 1cm or so &don't forget 1/3 in front , 2/3 in back will be 'mostly' in focus
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