Food Splash Photography

[smokeput]

Anyone of u here know how to take a good shot of those 'food splash' photography? like those water technique...or those water droplets dripping shots?

how & whr do we focus at, etc...setups?
hope to be enlightened here. txs =)

 

[miaoteh]

any sample photos of the effects?

 

[smokeput]

something like these that i saw..

 

[aprilmoon92]

Hi, basically you need a transparent container, a black backdrop, one of two wireless flashes, water, and lots and lots of of shots.

1) make your set up- place the object on a black or clear plastic box which acts as a stand. place the whole setup in a tray to catch the water, position your camera on a tripod and prefocus manually on the object you are dropping water on. if you are dropping things into water, use a transparent plastic or glass container, then put a ruler in where you think the objects will fall, and prefocus manually on a tripod. [rmb to use UV filter or plastic bags around the body to protect your camera]
2) Set up your wireless flash/es to the side of the setup, experiment.. diff set ups/objects are best lit from different directions, but off to the side (as opposed to front- or back-lit) makes the water look the best.
3) shoot on manual and use a small aperture like f7 or f12, keep shooting until you find a nice position for the lights/object, then continue shooting to get a nice array of droplets.

it really takes a lot of trial and error, because water will do as it pleases. use photoshop to clean out the stand if it is in the picture, and experiment with e.g. coloured backdrops to make interesting patterns in the water droplets.

 

[smokeput]

ohh isee, so the pre focusing manually is the key i guess...hmm but when the objects drops into the water or when water drops onto the object, will the water cause OOF?

and as in the strawberry pic, for instance i manual focused at that point, but what happen if the strawberry doesnt drop into that spot? the f7 or f11 is enough to compensate for the dof?

hmm, multiple shots with multiple flash needed? or one shot one kill?

 

[pokiemon]

i believe the set is a tad complicating.

you will need to place the object on a table supported by a black back drop leaving a gap. you will need to put a flash under the table shooting upwards and reflect it off the black drop through the gap to illuminate the glass and droplets (to define the outline of the glass and droplets). then you will need a flash from the side about 45 degrees from your object to illuminate your subject like strawberry or face of the watch. stop down to freeze the motion.

 

[aprilmoon92]

stop down to freeze the motion.

stopping down will make the motion blur, not freeze... around f7 is a nice balance between DoF and speed of flash recharging.

many shots to get 1 picture. try dropping from the same place, it should land more of less accurately. if you are dropping water droplets can make a stand and put a dropper on the end so it always falls in the same place.

if you scared OOF, shoot from further back zoom more, get more DOF. or, prefocus slightly in front, so the back will be sharp

 

[smokeput]

hey pokemon, cant rly visualise ur "leaving a gap" portion. cos, if the flash was to be placed under the table & shooting upwards, how does it "reflect off the black drop through the gap"?

oh my, sounds tough, shal try it soon! love this kinda effect of food photography.

 

[miaoteh]

ohh isee, so the pre focusing manually is the key i guess...hmm but when the objects drops into the water or when water drops onto the object, will the water cause OOF?

and as in the strawberry pic, for instance i manual focused at that point, but what happen if the strawberry doesnt drop into that spot? the f7 or f11 is enough to compensate for the dof?

hmm, multiple shots with multiple flash needed? or one shot one kill?

if you prefocused on a spot, and the object drop at where you have focused, why would the water cause OOF? you can calculate the DOF by using any DOF calculator, and i believe by using f8-f11, there is enough DOF to cover any error in dropping the strawberry, please calculate yourself.

depending on what you want to achieve, the setup can be multiple flashes and multiple reflectors, or just simple one flash with multiple reflectors, etc etc, you have to experiment that yourself.

belwo is a shot by Willy Foo that i saw from his facebook, and he also did a behind the scene video on how to achieve that shot (you will need a facebook account to see this).

final photo:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=197836&id=96738939244#!/photo.php?pid=5128848&id=96738939244

and behind the scene video:
http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=419813701275

look in the comments, he did explain on some details.

 

[smokeput]

i was reconfirming my stand.
Thanks alot for the guidance miaoteh, i'll try them out =)

 

[pokiemon]

stopping down will make the motion blur, not freeze... around f7 is a nice balance between DoF and speed of flash recharging.

sorry my blur. yes you want to freeze not blur.

backdrop
|
| / O glass
|/ -------- table
|\ reflection
| \
| light