Droplets on Glass

This is my how to on how I did the shot below...

Firstly this is simply MY own version of how I pulled this shot off - I have seen other blogs with different methods in particular being able to get the water drops right. The other methods didn't work for me or I didn't have everything I needed to do it their way so I improvised.

When it came to the water drops I tried just water using an eye dropper and spray bottle - I tried waxing the glass and then wax in the water and I just couldn't get it right so I used OIL from an eye dropper and it was perfect for what I wanted!

Let's get to the start by giving you an equipment list of what I used -

1. Camera (DSLR)Nikon D90

2. Macro Lens Nikkor 105mm

3. Tripod

4. Glass sheet (I took one from a cabinet door)

5. Something to sit the glass on

6. Light Source

7. Back Drop

8. Eye Dropper

9. Oil

10. Shutter release cable

11. Something to photograph

There are photos at the bottom to show my exact set up and what I used

I began by setting the glass up and cleaning it.

I put my tripod in place (I have one that allows my camera to be directly over the glass) which I counter balanced using the pool table behind.

I put the backdrop underneath the glass and what I wanted to shoot on top of the back drop - I found the more colourful the better.

Set the light up so it wasn't glaring on the glass but lit up the subject.

I put my camera on the tripod with my cable relase in. The camera was directly above the glass looking down.

I then used the eye dropper to do lots of oil drops around the area that would be in shot. I did different sized drops in an erattic sort of pattern as I found straight lines boring.

I set my camera to manual focus and turned the VR off and then manually focussed the camera to bring just the drops into clear focus. I also made sure to have a decent distance between glass and camera for a nice DOF.

I then clicked away and checked my composition.

I tried different subjects but I was happy with the pool balls because you could see the numbers and real definition and with the bright colours they stood out.

My Meta Date for the shot above is:

NIKON D90

105mm

ISO 200

F/3

1/40s

ENJOY!

Hope you have fun with this technique as I did!