By Katie Yarnell for Get Wet 2016
Water droplet splashes into a deep pool of water, creating a crown and distorting the reflection of the colorful background.
The first project was to take a picture that had to do with flow visualizations; it was titled ‘Get Wet’. The criteria was very open to the photographer and left everything to their creativity and interests. This photo is a droplet of water hitting a shallow bucket of water, which showed the crowning effect that occurs when a droplet hits a pool of still standing water. This was the phenomenon the photographer wanted to achieve. The photographer also wanted to show reflectivity of the water by multiple flashes and an interesting background.
Photos of the apparatus are shown in Figure 1 below. A dropping devise was created for this purpose specifically. There were two rods attached orthogonally to one another, so the photographer could adjust both height and horizontal length. Attached to the horizontal bars was a dropper apparatus, made from pipe fittings and an eyedropper. Which would drop droplets of water fast or slow depending on the setting.
Figure 1 Setup
The camera setup was fairly simple, using a 105 micro ‘macro’ lens and a tripod also with three synchronized flashes. An SB 600 Commander controlled the flashes; two of the flashes were pointed at the background, which was a grey glittery paper, and the other flash was pointed at the location of the droplet impact to freeze the motion. The camera was set on Aperture priority and had an ISO of 200 and an aptitude of F-25 and a shutter speed of 1/60th.
The phenomenon of water dropping into a pool of water can show three different effects: the drop bounces and then floats to the pool’s surface, the drop blends into the pool, or the drop splashes forming a crown or crater. The density, the velocity, surface tension, and the diameter of the droplet, in forms of the Weber number, determine which splash will occur. The Webber equation is We = roe*d*v^2/sigma.
When the Weber number is greater than ~84, the impact creates a crown or a crater. Whether a photograph is of a crown splash or a crater splash depends on when the photo is taken, a crown is developed first, then forms into a crater.
The visual technique used was a flash to freeze the motion, displaying a crisp image of a moving object. Also, for a visual flare, a glittered piece of paper was used as a background to add an artistic view. With two flashes pointing at the background with red and blue color gels over the flashes, the colorful reflection of the water was obtained.
The photographer wanted a large depth of field. A flash was used to freeze the motion and get a very focused image. A macro lens was used to get a close view of what was happening in this phenomenon. The image was edited slightly; a cropping of the image was done to get an even closer view than the macro lens could provide. Also, the photographer adjusted the brightness of the image slightly to make the colors stand out more. The camera was set on Aperture priority and had an ISO of 200 and an aptitude of F-25 and a shutter speed of 1/60th.
The image shows the crowning effect that occurs when a droplet hit a pool of water. The reflection of the crown’s reflection in water is very crisp. The colors are patriotic and visually appealing. An interesting improvement would be attempting a double drop interference picture, though that will be harder to achieve. The hardest part was choosing which photo to use because of the variety droplet effects, figure 2 shows other images taken during the photo-shoot.
Figure 2 Other drop photos
27 Comments. Leave new
Stunning image, the glitter paper adds the artistic touch that puts this image over the top. Lighting is superb.
The fuzzy circles of confusion in the background are a lovely artistic aspect of this photo. The flow of this photo is really nicely displayed. I like the technique and the lighting. Nice work!
The color in this image is amazing. I love the vibrance and how you focused the image at the center and blurred the outside.
The colors are incredible, I love how all of the colors on the outside of this image work together to bring the audiences focus on the drop. I love how sharp your focus is and the lighting couldn’t be better.
This is Awesome!!! Great focus and framing–the only thing I could see being better is maybe the lighting, but that might just be my computer screen. An increase in contrast could help the crown stand out.
This is an incredible image! Great focus on the main fluid flow, it is clearly the center of the image. And the background is stunning! It looks like a carousel at an amusement park. A very patriotic one at that. This is definitely one of my favorite images in the 2016 Get Wet album. Great work!
Very gorgeous and beautiful. The focal length was perfect because a bunch of details have been illustrated. The mixture of colors is quite special as well. Feels like a street surrounded by neon lights.
I really like the use of the glitter paper in this photo, I also like how the circles of confusion lead the viewer back to the focus of this image. Great work!
There’s just so much in this image. Everything seems to pop out at you. The background isn’t distracting, but rather draws the viewer in even more.
Great timing and excellent focus in this image. Without a timing machine drip photography is challenging but this is a great submission. I like that the background offers a little more to look at but it may be a touch too busy for my taste because I find myself getting a little distracted from the excellent crown that was captured. It’s funny but one part I really enjoy in this image is the reflection of the crown at the bottom of the frame which provides a different view of the action.
1. The artistic quality of the image is excellent and beautiful with the colorful and glittery blurred background and sharp water droplet surface.
2. The flow is showcased extremely well.
3. The photographic technique is excellent, and the highlights and focus exemplify the fluid phenomena and make the image beautiful.
The background really adds to this photo and makes the viewer wonder how far away it really is. The focus on the droplet and lighting is very nice.
Well done with focusing on this droplet, it is quite crisp and the fuzziness of the background really helps to make the colors appear like a starry background on surrounding the droplet. Also well done getting the shutter speed to keep the droplet clear.
This is a great photo. I appreciate how you not only focused on the flow, yet still paid attention to the background and how it accented the flow.
The crispness of the photo is quite impressive. very interesting with the sparkles. Wouldnt have thought to do anything like that ends up with a really cool effect.
I love this picture. I love the variety of colors and how the outside is blurry with the middle in focus. The middle is crisp and clear which really draws the eye. Overall really awesome.
The crown produced in the image is aesthetically pleasing. The crown is also focused perfectly. The lighting might seem poor at first, but it helps bring out the purple in the background.
– Great use of lighting effects to make an interesting diffraction effects on the waters surface, awesome overall effect.
– The jet has a nice width to it making it more focused on the image overall. The symmetry looks great in this photo.
The image has very crisp focus and I appreciate how the flat paper looks convexed. it is a very regal color scheme, it reminds me of a jewel!
Amazing focus on the crown. The use of a glitter background as well as the colored dye really highlight the phenomena that is occurring. I really like the use of distortion as well. Possibly my favorite image.
Effective colors. Good detail of the flow with the background blurry. Brings attention to the splash in the center.
Awesome effect! It is hard to tell where the water ends and the background begins. Great focus and colors make this a fun photo.
Art: The color contrast between the glittery background and the water is fantastic. USA!
Flow: The flow is quickly understandable and recognized.
Photographic technique: The use of three different flashes to capture the motion is amazing.
-Beautiful display of colors and glitter
-Captures droplet perfectly and it’s really cool to see the ring of the splash
-Very sharp around the droplet
The colors are so exciting! It reminds me of a disco ball. The crown is clearly illustrated and the focus is sharp. The black in the middle is interesting, really showing the details of the fluid.
1. Dramatic and beautiful
2. I love the background and colors
3. Great job on focus and lighting
Art: Love the red white and blue background.
Flow: I really enjoy the circular drop into the water.
Photography: The distortion of the glitter was a phenomenal touch.