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Water-drop Photography

by Christopher Algar

One of the joys of photography for me is revealing detail that is not visible to the naked eye. In macro photography, the magnification reveals normally unseen features of insects and other invertebrates, whereas high-speed photography can freeze the effects of colliding water-drops. After seeing a few waterdrop images, I could not resist the challenge of taking some of my own, especially as I am attracted to the technical aspects of photography.

My water-drop photography began after I bought a StopShot Studio 3 Valve Water-drop Kit from Cognisys. The Stopshot Studio Controller plugs into a computer and all adjustments can be made in the panel that appears on the computer screen. The Stopshot panel offers comprehensive control over the timing of water-drops, the number of valves used and the length of time they are open, and the delay before the flashes fire. Although the camera can also be plugged in and controlled from the panel, I just open and close the shutter manually. I made a simple wooden frame to support the water-drop reservoirs and electronic water valves.

All my experience with water-drop photography is based on electronic timing rather any type of manual method of drop release. I am therefore not in a position to compare the two methods. Although the electronic method allows some degree of repeatability between one shot and the next when using the same settings, there is noticeable variation when more than one drop is used. The upside of this is that taking a number of shots at the same settings will result in somewhat different images. On the downside, it can make it more difficult to achieve a particular effect.

Although I was eager to get some spectacular results from my new equipment, it soon became obvious that I needed to adopt a systematic approach when learning how to photograph water-drops. Using highspeed video, it would be possible to track water-drop collisions and see exactly what was occurring throughout the process. Being limited to a single frame per collision, however, I had to deduce what occurred before and after a shot in order to make beneficial timing adjustments. I found I could only gain the experience necessary to make such adjustments by starting with the simplest scenario of a single water-drop and taking photographs at various timing delays. This enabled me to build up a picture of how the drop made a hollow in the water and then rebounded to form a column, etc. The next step was to add another drop from the same nozzle and adjust the timing to find out how the collision spread out.

Freezing the action
I use two Canon flashes set on Manual mode to 1/64 power (the lowest setting) to light my water-drop collisions. This gives a flash duration of around 1/8,000 second (I think) to limit subject movement as much as possible. It also limits the amount of light available, of course, but I am able to achieve an aperture of f14 at ISO 200 or ISO 400. I hold the shutter open on BULB while the exposure takes place in the dark to prevent ambient light affecting the exposure.

Adding colour
Water-drop collisions taken with a white background and diffused lighting tend to be monochrome and lacking in contrast. The situation can be improved by adding coloured dye to the water in the drop reservoirs. One advantage of having more than one nozzle is that a different colour can be used with each. I have always used food dyes and judged the amount to add simply by eye.

Another method of adding colour is to put filters over the flashes. As such filters are not going to be put in front of the camera lens and therefore do not have to be optically perfect, I just printed some out on acetate sheet and cut them to size. My preference is for a blue filter on one flash and a red and yellow one on the other. Rather than direct my flashes straight at the water surface, I pointed them at reflectors behind and above where the collisions took place.

A third way of adding colour is to print out multicolour reflectors on photo paper. As water-drops may land on these reflectors, it will prolong their life if they are sprayed with a waterproofing compound (if the ink is not already waterproof). I have had good results by combining coloured water with multicolour reflectors.

Adjusting the water viscosity
I found that using plain tap water for drops did not give very satisfactory results because the 'mushroom' formations broke up very easily into separate drops. The shape of the formations also left something to be desired. I now add methyl cellulose to the water in the reservoirs to increase its viscosity. Although I am satisfied with the results, most advice on the internet is to use other compounds and so I would advise doing a bit of research before making a choice. I never add methyl cellulose to the water into which the drops fall but some arrives as 'dropping' takes place and may cause bubbles to form on the surface. It is important to remove these bubbles because they may adversely affect the look of the images.

Camera and lens
I use a Canon EOS 7D and an EF 100mm macro lens mounted on a tripod for water-drop photography. This focal length seems a good compromise between keeping the camera far enough away to avoid water-drops on the lens and minimise the background area, and being so far away that the camera is difficult to reach. Even so, a few tiny drops do occasionally reach the lens and so a protective filter is a good idea. When using a large tray to hold water, I stand a long wood screw on its head where the drops are landing and use it as a focusing point. I place a ruler across the top of smaller receptacles and focus on that.

Water containers
My standard water container is a plastic tray measuring 400mm x 290mm. Using this filled almost to the top with water allows drop photographs to be taken with nothing but water in the background. I also use other containers such as a glass basin or wine glass placed in the empty tray so that I can get the camera down to water level. This sometimes means that the rim of the glass is included in the image.



Updated 27/04/2026 16:44:22 Last Modified: Monday, 27 April 2026