How To Photograph Water Droplets Using Off-Camera Flash

Off-camera flash is essential for this project - a decent flash gun with off-camera functionality is one of the most rewarding and most liberating gear upgrades you could ever treat yourself to and will elevate your photographic ability to a whole new level.

Some cameras have wireless flash control features built in, otherwise an off-camera extension cord will do just fine. You can also use a 3rd party wireless flash trigger like a Pocket Wizard if you can afford it or one of the cheaper options like the Phottix Aster trigger which I've used for some time now and which works just fine, certainly at close range.

Most important is that your flash has full manual functionality and that you have a way to trigger the flash when you release the camera shutter.

I haven't tried this but you could possibly use the built-in camera flash to trigger your off-camera flash via an optical flash trigger. You may have to shield the on-camera flash to avoid interference with the subject lighting.

The splash of a water droplet needs a very fast (short duration) burst of flash to 'freeze' the high speed action. An on-camera or E-TTL connected flashgun normally synchronises with the camera at a shutter speed of 1/200 or 1/250th sec but there is no way of telling what the flash duration will be as the flash duration is controlled electronically and the flash is shut off once correct exposure is achieved. This means that your water splash may be perfectly exposed but that it is blurred because the flash duration was too slow (long) to freeze the action of a fast-moving water droplet.

What works best for me is to set the flash manually to the required flash duration, anything from 1/8000 to 1/16000 works well. How to do this? Flash duration is directly related to the selected power output of the flash, and no, most flash manuals won't give you this information. In short, by manually selecting a reduced power output on your flash unit, the flash duration reduces correspondingly (i.e. it's faster). Low power also makes for much faster flash recycle times.

Flash durations for the various power output settings of the Canon 580EX flash unit is listed to the right - you should be able to reliably use these as a general guideline for whichever flash unit you have, 1/8 to 1/16 power should freeze the action in most high speed applications.

Once you've selected a power setting, you may need to move the flash unit closer to or further away from the subject or background to get the correct exposure. Take a few test shots to check exposure. This is easily done by checking the camera LCD screen but also check the histogram, and most importantly, if there are any highlight alerts. On most Canon cameras press the DISP button twice during single-image view or playback for a detailed shooting information display, including a histogram. Examine the thumbnail image, any overexposed highlight areas will blink.

If the image is too dark, move the flash closer. Too light and/or with overexposed highlights, move it further away or angle it. You can of course adjust the camera aperture and ISO settings as well to achieve correct exposure. NOTE:- Shutter speed is not adjusted for this exposure, you can set and leave it at around 1/200th sec. We are instead using the burst of flash in combination with the aperture (and ISO) setting to expose correctly.

An apperture somewhere between f8 and f22 should give you the required depth of field and overall subject sharpness, depending on distance to subject and angle of view, and of course the effect you wish to create.

CAMERA - just about any camera should do provided that it can be tripod mounted or otherwise secured; that it can be set to focus manually, can focus close enough on the subject and is able to trigger an off-camera flash.

LENS - A macro lens is ideal but any other lens that will allow you to focus manually and will allow you to focus as close as possible to the subject is OK. I wouldn't go any wider than a 50mm though as the droplet would appear too small in the image. I purposely took some shots with a standard kit lens (Canon EFS 18-55mm f3.5-f5.6) to show that acceptable results are possible with basic equipment. (See Closest Focusing Distance)

Sturdy tripod
Remote shutter release
Lens hood - essential to prevent light spilling onto or reflecting onto the lens.
Flash gun (or multiple flash guns) with full Manual mode
Remote flash trigger
A plain, clear drinking glass
A small plain, clear flat glass dish or tray
An eyedropper, squeeze bottle, intravenous drip, plastic bag etc. to release the water drops from
A stand, tripod or prop to secure the above water container to
Assorted coloured board or paper for background
Small reflector - silver or white or plain paper or board

My Gear For This Shoot:- Canon 450D DSLR, Canon EFS 18-55mm f3.5-f5.6 kit lens, Canon EF 100mm f2.8 macro lens, Canon 580EX flash, Phottix Aster Wireless Remote Trigger, generic camera remote, Manfrotto 055x PROB tripod, 60cm 5-in-1 reflector, generic screw-on rubber lens hood.

We're going to start off and find a basic setup and settings that work and that produces acceptable results.

(Once this is in place, creativity and experimentation can begin. The options are limitless - change the position of the flashgun, add an additional flashgun (to light the background for example) add and/or move reflectors around, possibly adding some coloured reflectors. Add a diffuser to the flash, change the backgrounds and/or reflected colours and patterns etc. etc.)

Start by placing your first selected coloured background or pattern (about A5 size or smaller) on the table top, put the glass dish over this and then place the drinking glass inside the dish, the dish is only there to catch the overflow and splashes. You're going to be focusing more or less on the centre of the glass, make sure that you place the glass so that you will be able to place your camera and tripod close enough.

Mount or place the flash unit to camera left, about 10cm from the centre of the glass, at a right angle to the camera for side lighting. Start off with the flash height just above or level with the surface of the water in the glass. The glass should be filled right to the brim, just before it overflows so you don't see the edge of the glass in your shot.

Place your second selected background 10 - 15 cm vertically behind the glass - you can either place it upright or place it so that it curves upwards from just behind the glass. The area between the glass and the background gets reflected in the water and/or water drop so you have a choice of what you want to place in this area, play around with this once you're setup and you've taken a few successful practise shots.

Place a small reflector, a plain white paper board or a board or card covered in tin foil, to camera right, next to the glass (opposite the flash), angled towards the background. This will bounce some light back onto the subject and onto the background.

Secure your water container so that it is about 15 - 20cm above the centre of the drinking glass.

FLASH: Set to Manual mode, select 1/16th power, set zoom to 35mm if your flash has this feature.

CAMERA: Set to Manual, set Apperture to f16, set Shutter speed to 1/200sec, set ISO to 100, set to manual focus, set White Balance to Flash or Daylight (or leave on Auto). Connect remote camera shutter trigger and also the remote flash cord or trigger.

Make sure a lens hood is fitted or otherwise shield the lens from light that may spill into it from the flash unit or from reflections.

NOTE: Make sure to switch IS (Image Stabiliser) off when your camera is tripod mounted.

Mount the camera in portrait orientation to allow for the upward movement of the droplet. Position the camera so that the surface of the drinking glass fills roughly the bottom 3rd of the viewfinder. Release a few drops to check that they fall more-or-less in the centre of the water surface.

Focus is critical, bear in mind that we're setting our focus for a subject that is not yet there. Once you've determined where the drops are landing, hold a pencil or ruler vertically at the impact point then focus about 2cm to 2.5cm above the surface of the water - this is where we want to catch the droplet!

Take a few test shots without releasing a drop just to check that your basic composition and exposure is correct and adjust as necessary.

Ready? Well, go ahead, take a few shots. Don't worry if you miss the first few, just work on your timing and coordination 'till you're able to catch the drops as they rebound above the waters' surface.

Play around with your colours and background to give you some variation, most of all, have fun! It's quite possible to fire off 200 shots or more in the process - it's real easy to get carried away once you get going. And don't worry if you don't get it right initially, just keep trying!

NOTE: Avoid getting dust onto the water surface, even the tiniest speck of dust will light up like cat's eyes in the flash light.

And, why stay with water droplets, try capturing a piece of fruit, a slice of lemon or a cherry or maybe an ice cube as it splashes into the water - get creative! You can also try using a very shallow dish such as a watch glass or petri dish, available from laboratory suppliers, for a different effect. Angle the camera to shoot downwards through the water towards the background underneath.

Hint: Aiming the flash directly towards the water drop generally creates bright highlights and reflections which can be very effective in some shots. You can avoid these highlights by aiming the flash towards the backround and bouncing the light off it toward the droplet.

I hope that you will have as much fun and get as much enjoyment and satisfaction from water drop photography as I do - Enjoy!

You can get excellent results using a kit lens, typically of the 18-55mm f3.5-f5.6 variety but you will need to be at or close to the closest focusing distance so that your subject fills the frame.

Set your lens to manual focus then turn the barrel to maximum zoom eg. "55" which is normally marked on the lens barrel. Now, manually rotate the focusing ring so that the lens extends outwards to its furthest distance from the camera body - the lens is now at its closest focusing distance. Looking through the viewfinder you will need to physically move closer to or further away until your subject comes into sharp focus - this is typically about 10cm, amazing huh!

If you haven't tried this before it could open up a whole new world of creativity for you - still think you need that macro lens? Why not spend an hour outdoors (or indoors) without moving your lens off the closest focusing distance, only focusing by moving right up close, filling the viewfinder! Only use the focusing ring for minor adjustment. For close-up work like this you need to select a small apperture, f16 or f22, for maximum depth of field or in other words a wider range of front-to-back sharp focus. And, essential, use a tripod for best results, even slight movement can cause blur.

Try adding some interesting side lighting to your subject or to freeze a flower that's moving in the breeze by introducing a burst of flash.