Water Lilly 1 by Canon DSLR Challenge


07-APR-2009	CameraShy09

While not in the same league as Nico's, I enjoyed the excuse to try a new (for me) technique.

Canon EOS 50D ,Tamron AF 28-300mm f/3.5-6.3 XR Di LD IF
1/200s f/16.0 at 237.0mm iso3200 Flash full exif

other sizes: small medium original auto

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Canon DSLR Challenge		14-Apr-2009 23:30
I've tried shots like this and I know how very difficult they are. Congratulations on a very good result! -dtallakson

Canon DSLR Challenge		14-Apr-2009 01:05
Nicely done, I like the color. --Melanie

alexeig		13-Apr-2009 20:20
Very mathematical, from catastrophe theory :-)

jnconradie		13-Apr-2009 05:25
CameraShy09, you inspired me to try some drops too. After literally hours of messing around, I had one (one!) that I thought was sort-of going in the right direction. (I posted it in Pending.) I eventually gave up on this camera angle of looking down at the point of impact. I just could not get the focus and the timing right. I then switched to a more horizontal view, focusing on the far end of the dish I had filled with water right to the brim. But even then, I really struggled. Anybody out there who knows how to do drops? :-) Kind regards, Nico

Canon DSLR Challenge		12-Apr-2009 02:33
Thank you for your explanation, Camerashy. I never realized how difficult it is to get such a shot...but then I've never tried to do it. The ripples here are very interesting, as is the color. Good job. --Mary Anne

jnconradie		10-Apr-2009 08:50
Thanks for the detailed explanation, which I found interesting and helpful. I will try to use some of your technique when messing with water drops again. Many thanks and kind regards Nico

CameraShy09		09-Apr-2009 14:36
One of the most difficult things about this technique was getting the drops in focus. The camera was on a tripod, but my hand holding the dropper was not, so I didn't always get the drops in exactly the same place. My focal distance (237m) was also at its limits. If I remember correctly a longer focal distance produces a shallower depth of field? Soooo, my thinking was that a smaller aperture would give me more allowance for varying distances in the placement of the drops and the height of the splashes. I first placed a toothpick on the surface of the water and focused on it, but any splash with any height was out of focus. Next I held the toothpick upright and focused a short distance above the surface. That seemed to work better. I also tried this outdoors in the sun with more light and lower ISO, but the strong contrast between the highlights on the water and the shadows of the ripples, was too distracting for me. I'm sure there are better ways to do this. My thought process = error prone, but fun.

jnconradie		09-Apr-2009 05:59
I have about 4 million missed attempts at capturing droplets... much more tricky than I first imagined... and not a single one which I ever thought actually worked. So I tend to find it rather impressive when people do get it right - such as this. I wondered, CameraShy09, why you shot at f/16.0? I somehow thought one could get the image sharp enough at say f/8.0 or even f/5.6? In which case you could then have dropped the iso's a bit... less noise...? (Or perhaps that is exactly why I don't get it right... I should shoot at higher f-stops?) Compliments and regards. Nico

CameraShy09		08-Apr-2009 14:02
Yes, well over 200 photos, and I'm still waiting for the perfect shot. It really was fun trying, though.

Michael Kilpatrick		08-Apr-2009 09:43
It's fun to try new things with a camera. I'd imagine you took a lot of attempts to get one like this just after the impact. Nice shot. Regards Michael

Canon DSLR Challenge		08-Apr-2009 03:58
Wonderful, timely capture and the composition is lovely. ~Lydia