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Microstock Photography Forum - General => General Photography Discussion => Topic started by: miskolin on February 21, 2011, 16:25
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Hello,
I have a question regarding the water splash images you can see across all stock sites. Examples of what I mean are here:
http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-24156592/stock-photo-isolated-shot-of-water-splashing.html (http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-24156592/stock-photo-isolated-shot-of-water-splashing.html)
http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-53480422/stock-photo-blue-water-splash-isolated-on-white-background.html (http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-53480422/stock-photo-blue-water-splash-isolated-on-white-background.html)
http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-33925393/stock-photo-blue-water-splash-isolated-on-white-background.html (http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-33925393/stock-photo-blue-water-splash-isolated-on-white-background.html)
http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-55698394/stock-photo-blue-water-splash-isolated-on-white-background.html (http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-55698394/stock-photo-blue-water-splash-isolated-on-white-background.html)
I was always fascinated not only about their shapes but also how people manage to make them. I guess they are not only photoshop made, but acutally taken photos of water splashes.
My idea of how this could have been taken is to have a white background (duh) with few strobes pointed to it on fairly low power (to ensure low flash duration). Then all it takes is to start throwing water on a pre-focused area and hope for a good shot.
Have you ever tried photographing such splashes? How did/would you shoot such images?
Regards,
Miskolin
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Here's what I know about it. First, the shorter the flash duration the better. If you are using studio strobes, with multiple head outlets, plug in all the heads so that the flash is distributed across all the heads, and use as low a power setting as possible. Sometimes small hand held strobes actually have the shortest flash duration. Do not use modeling lights unless you test to see that they are not giving even a very dark image- they will add a trail. Don't forget in setting up your lighting that you need dark as well as light to define the clear liquid. Don't use gels- add the color later so you get maximum power. Also, get the lights as close to the set as possible for the same reason ( but don't get them wet ;D ) The hard part will be timing. Be grateful that you are not shooting film ( you can run up a thousand dollar film bill and still not get the shot). The best thing is to have an optical slave trigger- I have something called the "Dale Beam" that triggers the flash while you have the camera set on bulb. Another reason for no modeling lights. If you don't have that, hopefully you're young enough to have a really good reaction time. To set up your lighting, take something that is clear like water ( such as a glass object) and get it lit well- probably lights from the back at 45 degrees, and some black cards out of the image range will give you nice lights and darks, but that's up to you. No bare strobe heads- shoot through lumilux or something like that ( frosted plastic that won't melt, but doesn't eat up a lot of light). After that, it just comes down to dropping or throwing water until something magical happens. One more piece of advice- you should not have to work too hard to get the basic shot set up and working. If it doesn't come easy, no amount of tweaking will fix it. This is not a shoot about subtleties- it's more about brute force of lighting and timing. It's been done well by a lot of people, and there's little chance that you will do better and take away their sales, but you should have a shot like this in your bag of tricks- you never know. It's more about learning the technique than copying- at least i hope that's the reason for the post.
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@jbarber873 thanks for this detailed information and simple description about the issue. The intention was in no way to copy the existing contributers, but to learn the philosophy behind those shots or as you said - to add a trick to the bag.
Regards,
Miskolin
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I could be wrong, but I don't believe that those images are photos.
If you look at the artist's portfolio, you will also find the following images that are supposedly made from water:
http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-26376511/stock-photo-one-letter-of-water-alphabet.html (http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-26376511/stock-photo-one-letter-of-water-alphabet.html)
http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-23551471/stock-photo-one-letter-of-water-alphabet.html (http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-23551471/stock-photo-one-letter-of-water-alphabet.html)
http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-28794496/stock-photo-one-letter-of-water-alphabet.html (http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-28794496/stock-photo-one-letter-of-water-alphabet.html)
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I also know companies that make water splashes, ice cubes, etc. out of acrylic. Not saying these shots are, just sayin. Looks like you might be on to something, GeoPappas.
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I could be wrong, but I don't believe that those images are photos.
If you look at the artist's portfolio, you will also find the following images that are supposedly made from water:
[url]http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-26376511/stock-photo-one-letter-of-water-alphabet.html[/url] ([url]http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-26376511/stock-photo-one-letter-of-water-alphabet.html[/url])
[url]http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-23551471/stock-photo-one-letter-of-water-alphabet.html[/url] ([url]http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-23551471/stock-photo-one-letter-of-water-alphabet.html[/url])
[url]http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-28794496/stock-photo-one-letter-of-water-alphabet.html[/url] ([url]http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-28794496/stock-photo-one-letter-of-water-alphabet.html[/url])
Oh, my wiki finger is twitching at the keywords on the first of these. Didn't check out the rest. because of the poor keywording, it's impossible to know for sure, but 'ink' is one of the keywords, so it could be orignially hand-drawn, which was my first impression when the page came up.
I can't see where the author claims the image is 'made from water'. She just says it's 'one letter of water alphabet', like you could draw a wooden alphabet, or an acrylic alphabet, or ...
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I also know companies that make water splashes, ice cubes, etc. out of acrylic. Not saying these shots are, just sayin. Looks like you might be on to something, GeoPappas.
A bit pricey for microstock - but here's the link
http://www.trengovestudios.com/splashpours.htm (http://www.trengovestudios.com/splashpours.htm)
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I've used Trengrove and their stuff is excellent. And expensive. When I had ice cubes made years ago, by a modelmaker, not Trengrove, each ice cube was $250. As for illustration, it could be, but I would guess that they started with a photo to get the idea of what water looks like frozen in action. The best reason to shoot it instead of drawing it is that sometimes something unpredictable and great happens... ;)
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I've seen Trengrove studios but as @scukrov said, it is indeed pricey for microstock (unless you work for a client on something else and photograph those water splashes then on their own for microstock since you already rent them).
However after browsing more through those splash images I started to get feeling that they could be also modelled in some 3D applications. Look for example at this paint splash: http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-65263753/stock-photo-isolated-shot-of-paint-splashing-on-white.html (http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-65263753/stock-photo-isolated-shot-of-paint-splashing-on-white.html). It looks very 3D to me.
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Sorry for offtopic: :-[
(http://image.dnevnik.hr/media/images///600xX/Feb2011//60421018.jpg)
Awesome image, but this is splash in Father's life... :P
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CGI ?
Best,
Jonathan
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There's software called RealFlow that does simulated water splashes. I'm sure there are others as well.
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they are made in software called RealFlow.. It is best for simulating CGI water. Realflow is used in many blockbuster movies and its an acadamy award winning software too..
If you wish too make such water then you will have to learn RealFlow as well as any 3d application like Maya or 3dsMax.. :)
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Realflow-$4,000. YIKES!! That's a lot of MS downloads.
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ooops old thread!
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I am also quite curious how is it done? do you guys this the following link are photo montage? or with the help of computer graphic?
http://www.dreamstime.com/royalty-free-stock-photo-red-paint-splashing-image16327115 (http://www.dreamstime.com/royalty-free-stock-photo-red-paint-splashing-image16327115)
http://www.dreamstime.com/stock-photography-pouring-red-paint-image16327112 (http://www.dreamstime.com/stock-photography-pouring-red-paint-image16327112)
http://www.dreamstime.com/royalty-free-stock-photo-pouring-milk-image9162675 (http://www.dreamstime.com/royalty-free-stock-photo-pouring-milk-image9162675)
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I am also quite curious how is it done? do you guys this the following link are photo montage? or with the help of computer graphic?
[url]http://www.dreamstime.com/royalty-free-stock-photo-red-paint-splashing-image16327115[/url] ([url]http://www.dreamstime.com/royalty-free-stock-photo-red-paint-splashing-image16327115[/url])
[url]http://www.dreamstime.com/stock-photography-pouring-red-paint-image16327112[/url] ([url]http://www.dreamstime.com/stock-photography-pouring-red-paint-image16327112[/url])
[url]http://www.dreamstime.com/royalty-free-stock-photo-pouring-milk-image9162675[/url] ([url]http://www.dreamstime.com/royalty-free-stock-photo-pouring-milk-image9162675[/url])
The best way to photograph this type of concepts is to use continuous light. using 4-5 powerful continuous light units you can go with the shutter speed way up. look at the EXIF data 1/4000 shutter speed. only this way you can achieve that shutter speeds in a studio.
I have a continuous light kit with a combined power of almost 3000W using 9 5600K fluorescent light bulbs each unit and 60/90 cm softboxes. they are way cheaper than flash units.
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Have a look at the technically complex way of doing it:
http://www.photigy.com/how-to-create-waterdrops-photography/ (http://www.photigy.com/how-to-create-waterdrops-photography/)
Alex Koloskov is a great practitioner as well and posts a lot on his blog on Google+: https://plus.google.com/102865263115020893218/posts (https://plus.google.com/102865263115020893218/posts)
Steve
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Honest you don't need water or strobes or electronics or anything complicated or expensive. :D
http://smashinghub.com/a-collection-of-water-splash-brushes-for-photoshop.htm (http://smashinghub.com/a-collection-of-water-splash-brushes-for-photoshop.htm)
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so this 3 images are done by camera? interesting to know..since some splash like done by computer graphic.
I am also quite curious how is it done? do you guys this the following link are photo montage? or with the help of computer graphic?
[url]http://www.dreamstime.com/royalty-free-stock-photo-red-paint-splashing-image16327115[/url] ([url]http://www.dreamstime.com/royalty-free-stock-photo-red-paint-splashing-image16327115[/url])
[url]http://www.dreamstime.com/stock-photography-pouring-red-paint-image16327112[/url] ([url]http://www.dreamstime.com/stock-photography-pouring-red-paint-image16327112[/url])
[url]http://www.dreamstime.com/royalty-free-stock-photo-pouring-milk-image9162675[/url] ([url]http://www.dreamstime.com/royalty-free-stock-photo-pouring-milk-image9162675[/url])
The best way to photograph this type of concepts is to use continuous light. using 4-5 powerful continuous light units you can go with the shutter speed way up. look at the EXIF data 1/4000 shutter speed. only this way you can achieve that shutter speeds in a studio.
I have a continuous light kit with a combined power of almost 3000W using 9 5600K fluorescent light bulbs each unit and 60/90 cm softboxes. they are way cheaper than flash units.
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very good informative site.
Have a look at the technically complex way of doing it:
[url]http://www.photigy.com/how-to-create-waterdrops-photography/[/url] ([url]http://www.photigy.com/how-to-create-waterdrops-photography/[/url])
Alex Koloskov is a great practitioner as well and posts a lot on his blog on Google+: [url]https://plus.google.com/102865263115020893218/posts[/url] ([url]https://plus.google.com/102865263115020893218/posts[/url])
Steve
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Here's one how to video and they did it by... yep, you guessed it. splashing
Google splash: how it was made (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E8rMgT_EFiw#ws)
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Wow, thanks Leaf. Loved that. Great to see that they used authentic splashes.
I yearn for a space where I can make such a big splashy mess! Ohhhh the possibilities...
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Wow, thanks Leaf. Loved that. Great to see that they used authentic splashes.
I yearn for a space where I can make such a big splashy mess! Ohhhh the possibilities...
how about a back yard?
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Sadly not... I don't have one, and everyone I know either lives in a flat or is very protective of their garden.
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Oh My Gosh! That was friggin awesome! I have got to try it!
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If you Google "how to make a water splash photograph" a ton of tutorials pop up. Some good, others poor. Some just images to give you ideas or to discourage you by showing how good existing images already are. ;D
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Do the whole splash using the swimming pool.
You can get all different types.
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Oh My Gosh! That was friggin awesome! I have got to try it!
^^DITTO^^ Amazingly unscientific yet so complicated.
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Here's one how to video and they did it by... yep, you guessed it. splashing
Google splash: how it was made ([url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E8rMgT_EFiw#ws[/url])
Jackson Pollock would be proud of them. ;D