Water Drops Thread

[iamdlewis]

So since I didn't find a thread anywhere for this and I've started to give this a go for days in which going out may not be fun.

Think these are a nice start. Will need to find some other subjects and a much better piece of glass to shoot through. Any suggestions?
On a side note two of these I also did with the pixel-shift and it turned out great but an 867 mp tiff file might be a little much.

• ILCE-7RM4
• FE 90mm F2.8 Macro G OSS
• 90.0 mm
• ƒ/10
• 1/3 sec
• ISO 1000

• ILCE-7RM4
• FE 90mm F2.8 Macro G OSS
• 90.0 mm
• ƒ/10
• 1/3 sec
• ISO 1000

• ILCE-7RM4
• FE 90mm F2.8 Macro G OSS
• 90.0 mm
• ƒ/10
• 1/3 sec
• ISO 1000

 

[Brownie]

Explain the process?

 

[iamdlewis]

Rather simple. A sheet of glass treated with RainX or car wax (so you get nice water drops) elevated over a phone or tablet with the image displayed. Then focus on the image in the water with like an F10. With no light sources from above.
I thought a single drop with a simple image was a good starting point. Feel maybe color patters and maybe messing with different light sources will be next or just more drops.

 

[Brownie]

Very cool!

 

[Unframed Dave]

Try your local picture framer for a glass offcut. They'll have a piece of ultra clear glass kicking around somewhere that they'd be pleased to get rid of for the price of a pint.

 

[iamdlewis]

So thought I would give this another go with a few more drops. Think I need to work on just the setup a little more and maybe figure a way to work the drops with more accuracy.
Think this was cool in that the actual photo got mostly hidden by the center drop. This is a photo I took of Saturn.

• ILCE-7RM4
• FE 90mm F2.8 Macro G OSS
• 90.0 mm
• ƒ/16
• 1.6 sec
• ISO 500

This one I didn't take

• ILCE-7RM4
• FE 90mm F2.8 Macro G OSS
• 90.0 mm
• ƒ/11
• 2.5 sec
• ISO 200

This one suggests that maybe I should use a larger screen for the subject

• ILCE-7RM4
• FE 90mm F2.8 Macro G OSS
• 90.0 mm
• ƒ/8
• 4 sec
• ISO 200

 

[iamdlewis]

Finally got to combine a few cheap items I picked up recently. Trick was finding some cheap glue.

• ILCE-7RM4
• FE 90mm F2.8 Macro G OSS
• 90.0 mm
• ƒ/11
• 1/5 sec
• ISO 100

• ILCE-7RM4
• FE 90mm F2.8 Macro G OSS
• 90.0 mm
• ƒ/11
• 1/1 sec
• ISO 100

• ILCE-7RM4
• FE 90mm F2.8 Macro G OSS
• 90.0 mm
• ƒ/11
• 1/5 sec
• ISO 100

 

[iamdlewis]

Not all water drops but stuff

• ILCE-7RM4
• FE 90mm F2.8 Macro G OSS
• 90.0 mm
• ƒ/14
• 1.6 sec
• ISO 100

• ILCE-7RM4
• FE 90mm F2.8 Macro G OSS
• 90.0 mm
• ƒ/14
• 1.6 sec
• ISO 100

• ILCE-7RM4
• FE 90mm F2.8 Macro G OSS
• 90.0 mm
• ƒ/16
• 1.3 sec
• ISO 100

• ILCE-7RM4
• FE 90mm F2.8 Macro G OSS
• 90.0 mm
• ƒ/16
• 1.3 sec
• ISO 100

 

[iamdlewis]

Yes me with more drops while watching the race. Been experimenting with some other stuff but don't have it down quite yet.

• ILCE-7RM4
• Sony FE 50mm F2.8 Macro (SEL50M28)
• 50.0 mm
• ƒ/11
• 8/10 sec
• ISO 100

• ILCE-7RM4
• Sony FE 50mm F2.8 Macro (SEL50M28)
• 50.0 mm
• ƒ/11
• 1/2 sec
• ISO 100

• ILCE-7RM4
• Sony FE 50mm F2.8 Macro (SEL50M28)
• 50.0 mm
• ƒ/11
• 8/10 sec
• ISO 100

 

[Deleted Member 5003]

So since I didn't find a thread anywhere for this and I've started to give this a go for days in which going out may not be fun.

Think these are a nice start. Will need to find some other subjects and a much better piece of glass to shoot through. Any suggestions?
On a side note two of these I also did with the pixel-shift and it turned out great but an 867 mp tiff file might be a little much.

View attachment 33522

View attachment 33523
View attachment 33524

Have you visited Don Komarechka's web site....he is the acknowledged Guru concerned with complex macro images related to snowdrops, water drips and many other more complex macro set ups and images. If you are developing your interest, as your images suggest, his is a must see web site.

 

[iamdlewis]

Have you visited Don Komarechka's web site....he is the acknowledged Guru concerned with complex macro images related to snowdrops, water drips and many other more complex macro set ups and images. If you are developing your interest, as your images suggest, his is a must see web site.

I've seen his stuff. Working on some of the basics and getting the setup down. The reflection of an object in a water drop is pretty easy but getting the background reflection to be located where you want it has its challenges. There are also a lot of options in the surface for reflection. I don't think I'll be working with insects or any of the cold stuff.

 

[iamdlewis]

Wet feathers

• ILCE-7RM4
• FE 90mm F2.8 Macro G OSS
• 90.0 mm
• ƒ/7.1
• 1/3 sec
• ISO 400

• ILCE-7RM4
• FE 90mm F2.8 Macro G OSS
• 90.0 mm
• ƒ/7.1
• 1/3 sec
• ISO 400

 

[Clix Pix]

This is very, very cool! I have used glycerine sometimes when shooting a macro of a flower or something and wanted a reflection in a water drop. The glycerin makes nice drops and they stay in place, don't go dripping or dropping off when they're suspended at the end of a leaf or something.

I have sometimes used my 12.9" iPad as the base for an image, too, pulling up a colorful image and then placing a crystal or glass item right on the iPad (can't be too heavy, though) and then shoot the interesting reflections which result. If doing this during the daylight hours, I usually do this in my bathroom and put up a piece of black foam core to block out reflections in the bathroom mirror) as well as shoot in darkness, so that the subject is lit only by the iPad.

 

[Clix Pix]

Rather simple. A sheet of glass treated with RainX or car wax (so you get nice water drops) elevated over a phone or tablet with the image displayed. Then focus on the image in the water with like an F10. With no light sources from above.
I thought a single drop with a simple image was a good starting point. Feel maybe color patters and maybe messing with different light sources will be next or just more drops.

Well...... I experimented with this today but most of my results didn't come out to my satisfaction. Part of the problem, I suppose, is that I used glycerine, since I had it on hand, rather than using car wax or RainX. I did have a piece of clear glass so retrieved it from where it had been in my props storage and after first washing off the glass, which was a bit dusty, put a few drops of glycerine on there. Then I fired up my 12.9" iPad and set it to never automatically lock (shut off) and chose what I thought might be a suitable image.

Then there came the challenge of just how much to elevate the piece of 11 x 14" glass over the tablet and with what. Turned a couple of kitchen glasses upside down and used them, but I don't think they provided enough elevation as when I was trying to focus on the drop, each time it would look like a big blob of whatever color the background image was. Also I tried a few different images but I think I need to spend some looking for better ones, ones with more definition and so on. Getting the right angles with the camera also was rather challenging as well. I used my 90mm macro at different apertures trying to get something decent out of this whole project.

Guess I'll have to try again, this time using RainX and a different strategy in the setup and shooting.....

• ILCE-7RM5
• FE 90mm F2.8 Macro G OSS
• 90.0 mm
• ƒ/2.8
• 1/200 sec
• ISO 640

• ILCE-7RM5
• FE 90mm F2.8 Macro G OSS
• 90.0 mm
• ƒ/10
• 1/200 sec
• ISO 10000

 

[Deleted Member 5003]

After a number of personal experiments with this macro process it is important that you have a
glass platten and use RainX only and not glycerine ....RainX has a unique property of forming
globules which lend themselves to reflecting any image you care to position and illuminate
under the platten before taking shots above the platten and seeing the underlying images
reflected through each of the RaineX globules.

I have tried perspex instead of glass and the RainX effect is not as efficient, the glass platten should
be around 30-40 cm above the surface where you required reflected image is placed before shooting
from above the platten.

RainX is a car wind screen application and because of its globulisation property allows for minimised
windscreen clouding in heavy rain.

Most macro users will spray the glass upper surface with RainX and leave it for a few minutes and allow the
globules to form but this leads to globules of different sizes and may not give the effect you are looking for.

An alternate process is to apply the RainX from a syringe at precisely measured locations and quantity to
achieve uniform globules wherein you image projection through the globules will be uniformly sized and
equidistant spaced.

Hope this helps

 

[Deleted Member 5003]

As a further clarification, RainX has high surface tension which provides for its self globilisation property,
glycerine possesses a different pseudo synthetic property and will not allow the self globulisation you will
experience with RainX and will remain in the place where it is placed.

 

[Deleted Member 5003]

Stewart Wood and Mike Leach of Adorama, on you tube, have many videos which will help you in
Developing your work process for best effect and further exploration...

 

[Deleted Member 5003]

Well...... I experimented with this today but most of my results didn't come out to my satisfaction. Part of the problem, I suppose, is that I used glycerine, since I had it on hand, rather than using car wax or RainX. I did have a piece of clear glass so retrieved it from where it had been in my props storage and after first washing off the glass, which was a bit dusty, put a few drops of glycerine on there. Then I fired up my 12.9" iPad and set it to never automatically lock (shut off) and chose what I thought might be a suitable image.

Then there came the challenge of just how much to elevate the piece of 11 x 14" glass over the tablet and with what. Turned a couple of kitchen glasses upside down and used them, but I don't think they provided enough elevation as when I was trying to focus on the drop, each time it would look like a big blob of whatever color the background image was. Also I tried a few different images but I think I need to spend some looking for better ones, ones with more definition and so on. Getting the right angles with the camera also was rather challenging as well. I used my 90mm macro at different apertures trying to get something decent out of this whole project.

Guess I'll have to try again, this time using RainX and a different strategy in the setup and shooting.....

View attachment 39363


View attachment 39364

Try using 4 empty pringles crisps cartons ...as crazy as it may sound I have used these to great effect to support a 60cmx60cm reinforced glass platten....

 

[iamdlewis]

So I have used RainX and a spray on car wax on the glass and then a syringe to form the drops of tap water. I had the glass elevated about 7in/18cm over my phone (like 15 CD cases high). I use my phone because the glass I have is too small to have elevated above any of my tablets. It is also probably easier to work with the phone since it is a smaller image, there isn't the need to elevate as high and easier to center.

 

[Clix Pix]

Wow, thank you so much, Deleted Member 5003 and Iamdlewis! Exactly the kind of info I needed! A trip to the store is in order, to pick up both RainX and containers of Pringles! I had the feeling that probably part of my problems today in addition to using Glycerin were due to not elevating the glass sufficiently over my iPad and subject. Actually, yes, that's also a good idea about using CD cases, as I've got some empty ones sitting around that could be put to good use...

The piece of glass is fairly large, 11x14, so I need to have something which will support it adequately and safely without interfering with the actual image I am trying to shoot. Last thing I need is to suddenly have broken glass all around me if something goes wrong and/or I inadvertently bump into the glass while shooting, especially in the dark....

I do have a couple of syringes which would work quite nicely for dropping the water on to the surface of the glass once it has been RainEXed..... I had briefly considered using one of them today while assembling everything in preparation for my first go at this kind of project, but then contented myself with simply dropping right from the glycerin bottle. That's OK, as now I still have clean syringes and haven't wasted one with filling it with glycerin!

It is fun/frustrating/challenging and satisfying tinkering around with this sort of experiment, so I'm definitely going to give it all another try or two!

Thanks, guys!

 

[Clix Pix]

Finally got to the grocery store and picked up four Pringles containers (probably won't eat the contents but I selected four different flavors anyway). There is an auto supply store in the same shopping center as the grocery store so I popped in there and was able to pick up a container of original Water Repellent Rain-X. Now I'm ready for further experimentation some time this weekend....

 

[Clix Pix]

This stuff isn't as easy as it seems on the surface!! Finally today I got around to treating the glass with Rain-X (wow, that stuff is really neat!) and then I decided to try a variation on what has been discussed in this thread, as I had an actual subject with which I wanted to experiment and I also wanted to work in natural light rather than in the dark for this first time....

Next time I'll try the shooting of an image on the iPhone method, but I did manage to get a couple of images out of today's efforts and have a somewhat better idea now of what works and what doesn't..... Trial and error, eh?!

• ILCE-7RM5
• FE 90mm F2.8 Macro G OSS
• 90.0 mm
• ƒ/2.8
• 1/400 sec
• ISO 1000

• ILCE-7RM5
• FE 90mm F2.8 Macro G OSS
• 90.0 mm
• ƒ/2.8
• 1/400 sec
• ISO 320

 

[iamdlewis]

Good start. I didn't post my first attempts as that was basically finding the right setup to get the tripod and drops lined up. The drops look great so I think the phone will be successful.

 

[Clix Pix]

Thank you, Lewis! Of course you didn't see the forty-odd other images that weren't even worth processing/editing! They all went straight to the trash bin. Today was definitely a second round of learning and experimenting, figuring things out, even more than the previous time. One thing I do definitely need to use is the tripod, and I didn't do that today as I was trying to get some idea of the best distances, angles whatever, for camera, the glass for the drops, the actual impact on the glass of the Rain-X, something I had never used before, the actual subject (a real one in hand or one on the iPhone displaying a previously shot image and such.

Also, I don't think the tripod is going to fit in the bathroom if I am doing this during the daytime and want to do it in the dark! I may simply need to wait until darkness falls in the evening and then play with this stuff in the living room or another room where I have more space. I do have a small, short tabletop tripod but I don't think it would work out well for this kind of project. Ah, but come to think of it, my monopod might be useful.....

More experimentation to come!

 

[iamdlewis]

You don't need the room to be really dark but it should be at least dim. To get the reflection you really just need the image to be brighter than the rest of the room.

 

[iamdlewis]

A mix of some stuff over the last few weeks

• ILCE-7RM4
• FE 90mm F2.8 Macro G OSS
• 90.0 mm
• ƒ/7.1
• 1/160 sec
• ISO 400

• ILCE-7RM4
• FE 90mm F2.8 Macro G OSS
• 90.0 mm
• ƒ/7.1
• 1/160 sec
• ISO 400

• ILCE-7RM4
• FE 90mm F2.8 Macro G OSS
• 90.0 mm
• ƒ/4
• 1/25 sec
• ISO 200

• ILCE-7RM4
• FE 90mm F2.8 Macro G OSS
• 90.0 mm
• ƒ/8
• 1.3 sec
• ISO 200

• ILCE-7RM4
• FE 90mm F2.8 Macro G OSS
• 90.0 mm
• ƒ/8
• 1.6 sec
• ISO 200

 

[Deleted Member 5003]

Thank you, Lewis! Of course you didn't see the forty-odd other images that weren't even worth processing/editing! They all went straight to the trash bin. Today was definitely a second round of learning and experimenting, figuring things out, even more than the previous time. One thing I do definitely need to use is the tripod, and I didn't do that today as I was trying to get some idea of the best distances, angles whatever, for camera, the glass for the drops, the actual impact on the glass of the Rain-X, something I had never used before, the actual subject (a real one in hand or one on the iPhone displaying a previously shot image and such.

Also, I don't think the tripod is going to fit in the bathroom if I am doing this during the daytime and want to do it in the dark! I may simply need to wait until darkness falls in the evening and then play with this stuff in the living room or another room where I have more space. I do have a small, short tabletop tripod but I don't think it would work out well for this kind of project. Ah, but come to think of it, my monopod might be useful.....

More experimentation to come!

Good for you Clix, the difficult part is harnessing the enthusiasm and motivation to equip and start the process. The experimentation is the fun part....with lots of trial and error, as you have already discovered...

 

[Clix Pix]

Lewis, your images are gorgeous, just delightful! The first two in particular are most intriguing.... And also thank you for suggesting that the room does not need to be totally dark, as I'd begun to wonder about that myself. Of course the darker the better but one can also brighten colors and increase contrast in post-processing, too. The key concern here is messing around with a relatively large piece of glass (11 x 14) and not breaking the darned thing by a clumsy move on my part. I realize also that I definitely need to have the tripod in play, too, which I did not during either of my two earlier experiments. Trying this out first hand-held does help in getting the general feel for what works in the overall setup, though, not to mention reiterates that, yes, a tripod really IS needed for nailing focus.

Deleted Member 5003, thank you for your comments, and indeed with this or any other new project the whole challenge initially is in getting to trying out the first setup, and then seeing what didn't work and why and trying to figure out how to do better the next time. Yeah, there was definitely some stalling-around going on. As I posted, I tried to use glycerin and, yeah, OK, that really didn't work. So then it took me a few days to get to the store to buy the Rain-X and then another few days before I finally said to myself, "OK, let's just do this," and took the piece of glass, the bottle of Rain-X and paper towels plus a cloth one out to my balcony, as I had already realized that it wouldn't be a good idea to mess with this stuff in the house. Once it was applied, fine, but not until after it was actually dried, the glass gently buffed and polished and then ready for use in the project, did I feel it would be OK to bring back into the house to actually move to the next step, setting up for shooting.....and yet I dawdled around a bit with that, too.

Trial-and-error is the way I roll, and that is always an interesting challenge each time.....and afterward I have learned from whatever I was attempting in the first (or second or third) go-around, and I (hopefully) learn from my mistakes and move on to try again. This particular project is definitely a challenge and I'm in it now to see what happens next, how well I have learned from others and from my own mistakes to move to the next level. I love this sort of nudge to my inner creativity and my urge to persist with something when it doesn't go right the first few times!

Didn't get to this today since earlier in the afternoon I had some fun shooting our local GBH and friends, and now have a bunch of images to process from that.

 

[iamdlewis]

So the first shot takes some more craft items and work best with a flash and a fairly dark room. First I hit up the dollar store for a large white plate and serving tray that was larger than the plate. I bought some kids modeling clay (cheaper than the adult modeling clay but stick tack works as well, I just shockingly didn't have any) and a variety pack of craft paper. Finally some milk. Put the plate on something that raises it in the tray, fill the plate completely with a 50/50ish mix of milk and water (tray catches the overflow). Stick the subject into some modeling clay, stick that around the center of the plate. Setup the camera so that it has a low angle and then play around with the paper options and angles till you find something that works.
The 2nd is the same as the first just with a flashlight pointed at the flower and no flash.

 

[Clix Pix]

I am still struggling with this whole water drops thing, still experimenting.....today's session was frustrating for a while until I realized, duh, that I'd neglected to change an important setting, which made all the difference. I had returned to trying to shoot drops over an image displayed on my iPhone. Kept getting these annoying lines that were not part of the original image and then it finally dawned on me: one needs to use single-image focus for this kind of project and not any form of continuous focus! Usually I keep the A7R V on single-shot but had switched it to Continuous Low when shooting something a week or two ago and had totally forgotten about that. DUH....

Also at one point this afternoon I managed to lightly slice a finger when I picked up the piece of glass at somewhat the wrong angle so that my finger slid right to the very sharp corner (that Rain-X makes the glass slippery!). Oops -- ouch! Fortunately, only some bleeding for a little while and then application of an antibacterial ointment and it's been mildly uncomfortable but overall quite manageable. Definitely a strong reminder and heads-up to me to pay attention when I'm picking up that piece of glass!!

I shot drops positioned in various ways over several images from my earlier photos that were displayed on the iPhone 11 Pro, having found a comfortable and reasonably safe arrangement for supporting the piece of glass, but am thinking that next time I am going to use my iPad mini 5, which is a bit larger and I think it will (hopefully) be easier to focus more accurately plus also will not require as much cropping in the end. Couldn't do that today since that device was nearly out of battery power and needed to be charged up before setting it to "never lock" and positioning it for some time during the shooting session.

The majority of the images I shot today went straight to the trash bin, but I did manage to get a few with which I am fairly pleased:

• ILCE-7RM5
• FE 90mm F2.8 Macro G OSS
• 90.0 mm
• ƒ/5.6
• 1/100 sec
• ISO 100

• ILCE-7RM5
• FE 90mm F2.8 Macro G OSS
• 90.0 mm
• ƒ/8
• 1/4000 sec
• ISO 65535

• ILCE-7C
• FE 90mm F2.8 Macro G OSS
• 90.0 mm
• ƒ/8
• 1/100 sec
• ISO 400