Header Challenge 12th January 2011 � Water

 

Well it�s header challenge time again (or a bit past it I�m very late posting this. sorry everybody). This weeks theme is `Water` and has been chosen by fishing guy.

Water, well there has been a lot of that including coming through the ceiling from what looks like a burst pipe so I�m afraid this is a very short post.

Here's a few pictures of some water drops for your delight, I hope you like them�

Thanks for visiting, remember to leave your comments and then drop in on the other headbanger team members to see what they have done this week.

Water Drops get a makeover!

I posted some water droplet pictures a couple of days ago that I had photographed in the kitchen sink.

Since taking them I have been playing a little with them in photoshop.

I've added a bit of colour,

and removed it.

 I even removed the background.

Hang on don't go...

I even take some drips out for a spin....

Water is fun, and so is playing with pictures of it in Photoshop. 

Remember to drip sorry drop by tomorrow for more fun with photos.

Water Droplets.

I was browsing through the internet just looking at other peoples blogs (lots of good ones out there, (check my blog roll for a few suggestions) when I came across some pictures of water droplets. This set me thinking how can I, capture them. 

So with a lot of trial and error I set up a shallow bowl in the kitchen sink, set my camera on a tripod just above the height of the rim of the dish and started shooting pictures as the tap dripped into the full dish.

I found I needed a flash gun off to one side and I also used a torch the other side so that the droplets were evenly lit as in the diagram above.

I set the aperture to f4.5 to allow lots of light in and a shutter speed of 1/200 sec to freeze the droplets.

I had to manually focus on the water as my camera wouldn't focus lock on the surface of the water. In hindsight I should have held a pen or something over the point where the drips fell and focused on that. Will have to remember that for next time.

The way the water bounces back up after the drip hits the water made for very interesting shapes.

The water almost looks like blown glass. For some of the shots I added a coloured reflector behind the bowl to give an extra colour cast to the pictures.

I hope you like these pictures and if you do how about trying to take some yourself, I'd be interested to hear how they came out. If anyone can suggest a different way to do this let me know either by the comments or contact me sections. I'm always looking for new ways to take pictures.

The art of photo composition

One of the key arts of taking a good photograph is its composition.

Have you ever had a photo like the one here that was just, well, boring!




There's no focal point. The eye has nowhere to rest. The eye may flow with the water but it doesn't lead anywhere.

If you change the perspective and perhaps add a bit of foliage you get this.




This shot gives a bit more by showing the fast moving stream with a strand of foliage.

Its better but still not brilliant.

Lets try yet another angle.



Here the stream has been framed by the tree.

This allows a good comparison with the fast movement of the water and the stillness of the tree.

Its not perfect but of the 3 it is well on its way to getting there.