Bubble & Drop!

[wlou]

I took a workshop on "water drops" photography. This one was a particular challenge to get the red drop just at the right place at the right time.

[AndrewMcD]

You do seem to have nailed it! Neat picture!
Andrew

[wlou]

Thank you Andrew for your comment. It is not a usual subject to see on C&C. The bubble is made of soap,the drop has been made with food coloring.

[Stagecoach]

Louise,

I can appreciate the soap bubble and the coloured water drop but just how did you not only manage to capture the drop at that point in its travel but spot on in the centre of the bubble dome?

Amazing.

Grahame

[Shadowman]

Very nice.

[IzzieK]

Excellent...I had only done water drops in the past...this one is more interesting...

[wlou]

Isabel & John, thank you for your comments.Grahame, it was a great technique to learn and play with. the workshop lasted all day and there were many-many pictures taken. First the drop always landed at the same place. It was the soap bubble that was difficult to control because after an assistant blew it up on the surface of the water with a straw it had a tendency to move on the water at the slightest breath of air. I will come back with more info in a little while.

[Manfred M]

Wow! Great shot. You nailed this one perfectly.

[FrankMi]

Very well done!

[Rita]

Beautiful & creative.

[Mike Buckley]

I'm actually surprised to learn that such nearly perfect symmetry can be accomplished as a result of anything other than dumb luck. Truly extraordinary!

[Mike Buckley]

If you like monochrome images, convert this to black-and-white using a blue filter and then brighten the image considerably. For me, the image becomes even stronger.

[gofer1971]

Stunning capture and very unusual. I've seen a few bubble pics and droplet pics but not at the same time.

[wlou]

I'm actually surprised to learn that such nearly perfect symmetry can be accomplished as a result of anything other than dumb luck. Truly extraordinary!

Humm, luck, after an entire day of trial and error, re-arranging,changing the background colour, the flash position, the timing of the drop, the colour of the liquid, the difference mixes for correct viscosity. And of course coaxing the bubble gently to "Stay" at the right place. Nah, nothing to it. Just a great instructor with years of practice!

[wlou]

If you like monochrome images, convert this to black-and-white using a blue filter and then brighten the image considerably. For me, the image becomes even stronger.

Mike ,yours is an interesting suggestion. We could have the colour version that was so painstakingly executed on location in front of the camera sans photoshop, and then a B&W executed in pp. That gives a new meaning to working on a picture. I shall try to see how it comes out.

[wlou]

In Black & White just for Mike. I did a simple B&W press the button, how do you convert with a blue filter? Comments welcome. Which do you prefer everyone?

[Mike Buckley]

I do prefer the overall look of the monochrome version, as it seems more dramatic to me. However, you lost the three-dimensional shape of the drop because you lost the nice tonal variation that exists there in your color version.

There are two fundamental ways to make a black-and-white image -- desaturating everything or converting using a color filter. The latter choice almost always (though not always) is preferable. Your software may or may not allow you to convert. If it does have that capability, it will probably also allow you to choose at least a few color filters and one of them will probably be blue. People write entire books about converting to monochrome, so we won't try to go through all the possibilities in this thread.

If you don't mind my very quick version, I used a much brighter background (just out of personal choice) and I preserved some but not all of the tonal variation in the drop. I didn't spend much time on it because working with such a small file made it very difficult to work with the drop's nuance and subtlety.

[John 2]

That's quite astounding and a great idea for something different. Worth all the effort. Good work.

[wlou]

Mike your B&W version looks great. I have Lr5 and I just got Perfect Photo suite 8 that I don't know how to use yet. There is so much to learn!

[wlou]

John thank you so much for the comment, it is great when a workshop turns out to be all one wished for.