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maniacal volleyball [deleted]
5:10pm, 20 April 2009
Dear Flickr Friends,
People often ask me how I got these and other refraction pictures, thinking whether they are photomanipulations or a real thing, wondering about the equipment necessery, set up, technique, post-processing and the like.


So here’s the tutorial on it, because it’s not that hard to do these, all you need is a bit of patience and basic equipment and you can take a photo of a droplet with absolutely anything refracting in it – your imagination is the limit!
First, just to clarify – reflection is whatever is reflecting off the surface of the droplet, eye, glass, water etc. These are called refractions and it refers to the image shown inside the drop of water (or a crystal etc) because the round, clear object actually acts as a mini-lens. Just like any lens, it will show images upside-down, so if you want the image to show the right way up in the picture, you either need to flip the image you are refracting (like I did with a kimono with cherry blossoms), or you need to flip the finished photo (like in the yellow picture with cherries and my dining room in the droplet).
Ok, now for the
EQUIPMENT
For any macro work you need perfect focus, because the closer you get, the less forgiving the camera is for any movement whatsoever. People even lock camera mirrors so that the movement of the mirror doesn’t blur the picture. I have to admit, I never went that far, but you will most certainly need the following:
1. Tripod (I use Manfrotto with rotating head)
2. Camera (this is shot with Nikon d300, but any Nikon will do ;))))
3. Macro lens which must be 1:1 (I use Tamron 1:1 90mm geez, that got twice more expensive since I bought it a year and a half ago!)
(*NOTE: many manufacturers sell “macro” lenses, but when you see the ratio it will be, like 1:3.2. That is not a true macro lens at all. Telephotos seem great, but usually you have to stand pretty far from the object so you never actually get that close. I can’t get as close with my Nikon 70 – 300mm as I can with my 90mm Tamron Macro. Also, "Macro" setting on your camera does not deliver true macro shots)
and/or
extension tubes (for my extreme closeups I use Macro lens + extension tubes)
or
reverse a lense you already have, for this you will need to buy a lens reversing adapter ring (the last two are noticeably cheaper options)
4. Background (white kimono with cherry blossom stitching on the back, your dining room or a picture of a friend)
5. Off camera flash if at all possible, but on camera flash will do (this was Nikon sb800 which is also by "120 more expensive then when i bought it :()
6. Sink and the tap (at least that's free, unless you need a new kitchen)
or
Spray bottle or a needle and syringe to place the droplet(s) on the object (feather, paper, flower, leaf etc)
7. Some natural light (through the window or something)
NOTE: i usually use water, but for the stationery droplets, try using glycerin (you can get it at any supermarket), or a mixture of glycerin and water, the drops are bigger and more stable
TECHNIQUE
For a free falling droplet pictures, wrap the background around and underneath the tap so that the part you want refracted in the drop clearly shows. It will be probably about 10-20cm away from where drop will be.
Remember that the refraction shows upside down, so if you intend to keep the orientation of the image, flip it upside down to refract the right way up in the drop.
Let the tap drip slowly. Position the camera on a tripod and frame the shot nicely because you may choose to crop it later but sometimes the uncropped shot can look really nice, like this one
Meter your light and take a few test shots of your finger under the dripping tap, so that you actually focus on where the drop will be. Use manual focus only, and adjust focus on the finger because that will mean that the drop in the same position will be also in focus. Now try to catch that elusive drop
Test your flash setting and see what works well in relation to ambient lighting coming from the window and the room (kitchen in my case ). You may have to adjust flash settings as the ambient light changes if it changes quickly or you shoot for a long time, so in any case, see what works.
This time I had some frontal flash because it was needed to set off the off camera flash (I didn't have Pocket Wizards or a synch cord then. Still don't have a synch cord because I heard it can ruin your camera if something goes wrong with the electrics) but keep that frontal flash to a minimum.
Hand hold the flash (remote setting, camera on Manual flash, then they'll synch) and shoot changing flash position until you find what works best.
It's also worth investing in the remote shutter because pressing the trigger button with your finger will shake the camera and give you focus problems (and also, they are great for self-portraits ;))
Start taking pictures.
For a stationery droplet pictures position the drop (or drops) on the object and place the image behind it. Think whether you will flip the picture upside down later or not, and orient the image to be refracted accordingly. Work in dim light so you can really focus into that drop when you are hunting for focus. This is done a lot easier here, because your drop doesn’t move and you can see the refracted image in it clearly. Experiment with a flash in the same way as before.
For any refraction pictures, experiment with your aperture as much as you can (considering that in free-fall pictures you usually need to use fairly fast shutter speeds (100 and above). Keep in mind, it's the flash, not the shutter that freezes the drop.
If you lower your aperture to 4 or 5.6, you will get a blurry background like in a Santa picture, but I usually use higher apertures 9-16 or even higher, so that the image in the drop has good depth of field. This is an example of f 45
In a way, treat the refraction in the drop as a photo on its own, and see how you want to shoot it.
PROCESSING
Always shoot in RAW, if at all possible. Most of the photos above were converted from RAW in PS Elements, but in the last year I use CS3.
Whatever program you use, play with levels, colour and white balance, exposure, brightness etc adjustments, before you fully open it in PS. You'll often find that that's enough processing, like in The Santa and Cherries in a Drop pictures.
The Cherry Blossom picture was further cropped in PS to add the flower in the background to the frame, and to increase the size of the drop. Since then, I purchased some extension tubes so I can get closer.
The drop was isolated with quick selection tool and sharpened using Unsharp mask once.
Finished!
For Cherries in the Drop, I sharpened the drop using High Pass filter, now my favourite sharpeniong tool.
WHAT WOULD I DO DIFFERENT?
1. Use Pocket Wizards, they wirelessly synch the camera and off camera flashes, so you don't have to use built-in camera (frontal) flash to set it off.
2. Use extension tubes on top of my Macro lens when I want to get closer (also extension tubes alone will get you very close indeed, about 2:1 with full set of Kenko ones which only cost about £150, as opposed to minimum £250 for a Macro lens).
You really want to fully frame your shots with the camera.
This is an example of how close you can get with macro lens+extension tubes, so you don't need to crop later and lose resolution:
3. Post processing - wise, if i had Noise Ninja and CS3 I would sharpen the drop using High Pass filter, and reduce the noise better using Noise Ninja plug in.
I hope this helps! If you have any questions, please feel free to ask, and good luck shooting those drops! <3<3
People often ask me how I got these and other refraction pictures, thinking whether they are photomanipulations or a real thing, wondering about the equipment necessery, set up, technique, post-processing and the like.


So here’s the tutorial on it, because it’s not that hard to do these, all you need is a bit of patience and basic equipment and you can take a photo of a droplet with absolutely anything refracting in it – your imagination is the limit!
First, just to clarify – reflection is whatever is reflecting off the surface of the droplet, eye, glass, water etc. These are called refractions and it refers to the image shown inside the drop of water (or a crystal etc) because the round, clear object actually acts as a mini-lens. Just like any lens, it will show images upside-down, so if you want the image to show the right way up in the picture, you either need to flip the image you are refracting (like I did with a kimono with cherry blossoms), or you need to flip the finished photo (like in the yellow picture with cherries and my dining room in the droplet).
Ok, now for the
EQUIPMENT
For any macro work you need perfect focus, because the closer you get, the less forgiving the camera is for any movement whatsoever. People even lock camera mirrors so that the movement of the mirror doesn’t blur the picture. I have to admit, I never went that far, but you will most certainly need the following:
1. Tripod (I use Manfrotto with rotating head)
2. Camera (this is shot with Nikon d300, but any Nikon will do ;))))
3. Macro lens which must be 1:1 (I use Tamron 1:1 90mm geez, that got twice more expensive since I bought it a year and a half ago!)
(*NOTE: many manufacturers sell “macro” lenses, but when you see the ratio it will be, like 1:3.2. That is not a true macro lens at all. Telephotos seem great, but usually you have to stand pretty far from the object so you never actually get that close. I can’t get as close with my Nikon 70 – 300mm as I can with my 90mm Tamron Macro. Also, "Macro" setting on your camera does not deliver true macro shots)
and/or
extension tubes (for my extreme closeups I use Macro lens + extension tubes)
or
reverse a lense you already have, for this you will need to buy a lens reversing adapter ring (the last two are noticeably cheaper options)
4. Background (white kimono with cherry blossom stitching on the back, your dining room or a picture of a friend)
5. Off camera flash if at all possible, but on camera flash will do (this was Nikon sb800 which is also by "120 more expensive then when i bought it :()
6. Sink and the tap (at least that's free, unless you need a new kitchen)
or
Spray bottle or a needle and syringe to place the droplet(s) on the object (feather, paper, flower, leaf etc)
7. Some natural light (through the window or something)
NOTE: i usually use water, but for the stationery droplets, try using glycerin (you can get it at any supermarket), or a mixture of glycerin and water, the drops are bigger and more stable
TECHNIQUE
For a free falling droplet pictures, wrap the background around and underneath the tap so that the part you want refracted in the drop clearly shows. It will be probably about 10-20cm away from where drop will be.
Remember that the refraction shows upside down, so if you intend to keep the orientation of the image, flip it upside down to refract the right way up in the drop.
Let the tap drip slowly. Position the camera on a tripod and frame the shot nicely because you may choose to crop it later but sometimes the uncropped shot can look really nice, like this one
Meter your light and take a few test shots of your finger under the dripping tap, so that you actually focus on where the drop will be. Use manual focus only, and adjust focus on the finger because that will mean that the drop in the same position will be also in focus. Now try to catch that elusive drop
Test your flash setting and see what works well in relation to ambient lighting coming from the window and the room (kitchen in my case ). You may have to adjust flash settings as the ambient light changes if it changes quickly or you shoot for a long time, so in any case, see what works.
This time I had some frontal flash because it was needed to set off the off camera flash (I didn't have Pocket Wizards or a synch cord then. Still don't have a synch cord because I heard it can ruin your camera if something goes wrong with the electrics) but keep that frontal flash to a minimum.
Hand hold the flash (remote setting, camera on Manual flash, then they'll synch) and shoot changing flash position until you find what works best.
It's also worth investing in the remote shutter because pressing the trigger button with your finger will shake the camera and give you focus problems (and also, they are great for self-portraits ;))
Start taking pictures.
For a stationery droplet pictures position the drop (or drops) on the object and place the image behind it. Think whether you will flip the picture upside down later or not, and orient the image to be refracted accordingly. Work in dim light so you can really focus into that drop when you are hunting for focus. This is done a lot easier here, because your drop doesn’t move and you can see the refracted image in it clearly. Experiment with a flash in the same way as before.
For any refraction pictures, experiment with your aperture as much as you can (considering that in free-fall pictures you usually need to use fairly fast shutter speeds (100 and above). Keep in mind, it's the flash, not the shutter that freezes the drop.
If you lower your aperture to 4 or 5.6, you will get a blurry background like in a Santa picture, but I usually use higher apertures 9-16 or even higher, so that the image in the drop has good depth of field. This is an example of f 45
In a way, treat the refraction in the drop as a photo on its own, and see how you want to shoot it.
PROCESSING
Always shoot in RAW, if at all possible. Most of the photos above were converted from RAW in PS Elements, but in the last year I use CS3.
Whatever program you use, play with levels, colour and white balance, exposure, brightness etc adjustments, before you fully open it in PS. You'll often find that that's enough processing, like in The Santa and Cherries in a Drop pictures.
The Cherry Blossom picture was further cropped in PS to add the flower in the background to the frame, and to increase the size of the drop. Since then, I purchased some extension tubes so I can get closer.
The drop was isolated with quick selection tool and sharpened using Unsharp mask once.
Finished!
For Cherries in the Drop, I sharpened the drop using High Pass filter, now my favourite sharpeniong tool.
WHAT WOULD I DO DIFFERENT?
1. Use Pocket Wizards, they wirelessly synch the camera and off camera flashes, so you don't have to use built-in camera (frontal) flash to set it off.
2. Use extension tubes on top of my Macro lens when I want to get closer (also extension tubes alone will get you very close indeed, about 2:1 with full set of Kenko ones which only cost about £150, as opposed to minimum £250 for a Macro lens).
You really want to fully frame your shots with the camera.
This is an example of how close you can get with macro lens+extension tubes, so you don't need to crop later and lose resolution:
3. Post processing - wise, if i had Noise Ninja and CS3 I would sharpen the drop using High Pass filter, and reduce the noise better using Noise Ninja plug in.
I hope this helps! If you have any questions, please feel free to ask, and good luck shooting those drops! <3<3
sprinkle happiness
15 years ago
I'm still a bit confused, but I got the whole ideal now. Thank you for showing me this! I'll keep trying and save up to buy a new lens since right now, I only have kit lens.
maniacal volleyball [deleted]
Posted 15 years ago. Edited by maniacal volleyball (member) 15 years ago
you're welcome :hug:
kit lens is ok too, you can always simply get Kenko extension tubes, they are a lot cheaper but get you just as close (they just need longer exposure times). you simply put them between body and the lens (they fit and allow metering thru the lens because they have electrical connections like a real lens). if you have a nikon, a cheap 50mm 1.8 nikkor lens and Kenko extension tubes will be all you need to get really close and sharp, and together costs half the price of a Tamron Macro lens (and it is one of the cheapest macro lenses around)
kit lens is ok too, you can always simply get Kenko extension tubes, they are a lot cheaper but get you just as close (they just need longer exposure times). you simply put them between body and the lens (they fit and allow metering thru the lens because they have electrical connections like a real lens). if you have a nikon, a cheap 50mm 1.8 nikkor lens and Kenko extension tubes will be all you need to get really close and sharp, and together costs half the price of a Tamron Macro lens (and it is one of the cheapest macro lenses around)
sprinkle happiness
15 years ago
Yess, actually, kit works perfectly fine as well, but I really want it to zoom in more. Here is my other attempt:
Thank you again! -hugs-
Thank you again! -hugs-
maniacal volleyball [deleted]
Posted 15 years ago. Edited by maniacal volleyball (member) 15 years ago
sorry Jessica i wasn't here, but i'm glad you added this one to the group, it's great, i love the focus, and it is most definitely a macro :) well done <3<3
if you want to get closer, Kenko extension tubes are a godsent ;))
if you want to get closer, Kenko extension tubes are a godsent ;))
sprinkle happiness
14 years ago
Kenko Extensions. I'll check those out! (: I hope they are in my price range, lol. Thanks!