How to Photograph a Water Droplet without Flash

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Photographs of a water drops always captivate viewers. These images possess the magic which is not seen by the naked eye.  Water is the most familiar substance in our environment, but the drop falls so fast that we only notice the ripples on the surface. The camera is wonderful device at freezing such a quick motion that it allows us to capture the movement of a drop at any moment in time.



Photographing a water droplet splash

As you already know, the shutter speed controls the time of the exposure. From experimenting we found that 1/1000 sec is the minimal speed required to freeze the motion.


Reflective light:
When you photograph a drop of water, the light is reflective, as oppose to directly back-lit (as we did in our water pour tutorial). in the article on how to photograph reflective objects we explained the concept behind the angle of reflection. So in this can case, we are not lighting the water itself, but what is reflected in the water (diffusion paper + gels).

Since reflective light loses a lot of intensity, more light is required to get the desired exposure while keeping the shutter speed at 1/1000 second or above.


Get the water drop in focus:
To get the shot in focus, observe carefully where the drop is falling and temporally hold  some object in that same spot to focus your camera. Then set the camera to manual focus.


The height of a fall:
The longer the distance between the dropper and the surface of the water, the higher the bounce of the drop.  Experiment with distance. Photographing the water splash that is created by a drop will require a lot of takes. The results could be very rewarding and unexpected.


Color:
Experiment with different colored water (using food coloring) and use different color gels for vibrant effect.
Gels: Rosco is a top manufacture of gels. This is a great kit to start.