Droplets

[Bobobird]

Once saw a couple of droplet shots on Flickr and thought about doing something similar one day.

Rained quite a bit the other day and the so-called Botanical Gardens had an additional visitor armed with a camera, zoom and extension tubes. It is a beautiful place mind you but botanical is stretching it a bit.

Started raining again as soon as the guy upstairs saw me out in the open without shelter. He did not know about the raincoat in the bag.

A frustrating but pleasing experience. Peering at drops to see what they were reflecting was one problem. Focusing was the other. The teeniest breeze or the slightest motion was enough to throw everything off. People walking by smiled with a "what is he up to" kind of look on their faces.

Did come away with a few reasonable ones. Hope you like.

Feedback and what could be done to improve will be highly appreciated.

ISO 200, f11 or f16, 1/125, flash.

[waha]

Hey Bobobird,

Your patience has reaped rich rewards! Everyone of these shots is a winner. No one can control just exactly what is reflected in a single drop of rain, but you captured some wonderful "pictures in picture," especially in #3 and #4. Moreover, the composition is great in all five pics.
More more!

waha

[Bobobird]

Thanks Wayne.

It was fun for sure.

Will certainly take more when a rainy day comes along. Will see how it pans out using a 17-50 and all 3 tubes stacked and tripod instead of hand-held and zooms.

[Bobby Canon]

Excellent photos. If I had to choose just one, then it would have to be #3. The drop is filled with an amazing amount detail. Really well done.

[MrB]

Bobo, the best droplet is in 3, but they are all beautiful photographs and excellent compositions - especially 2 and 5.

Philip

[Bobobird]

Thanks Bobby, Philip.

Appreciate the nice words very much.

[KeithH]

Very nice shots Bobo and its good to see someone else having a go. I posted details of my macro rig and methods of shooting these sort of shots in here Mini Competition #520, perhaps there may be something in there for you to pick up on.

Looking forward to seeing more of your work.

Keith

[Bobobird]

Thanks Keith.
Will look at 520 asap.

Edit -
Wow - 520 shot is SUPERB.

[speedneeder]

Bobo,
Very impressive series. I guess if I was only considering what was reflected in the water droplet that I would agree that some other photos are better, but the composition of the 5th picture seems perfect to me. Very nice!
Thanks for posting.

[ScoutR]

Ditto what everyone else has said. If I had to pick a favourite it would be the last one, but they are exceptional with regards to composition. I like number 2 a lot also. Number 4 is very nice but I think I would like it better with shallower DOF and have you tried cloning out the bright area top left in number 3. I'm thinking it would look wonderful with a solid background.

Wendy

[Bobobird]

Thanks Brian. Appreciate the kind words.

Thanks Wendy - Thanks for the input. There were a couple of things working against me with 4. Got excited at finding a dual reflector and forgot everything else. Yes a shallower DOF would have been great. Will try the suggestion for 3 though at pp the bright seemed to be counteracted ok by the opposite corner. Seeing (ie other things photographic or otherwise) is one of those personal failings. I put a piece of paper to the bright spot and yes the pic does stand out quite a bit. Will try a re-pp on that.

[speedneeder]

Bobo, they are all great photos!

[Bobobird]

Thanks again Brian.