Water Splash Photography Tutorial 💦 MIOPS Splash & Adaptalux Macro Flash

[@walterreichert5334]

This was a really fun and informative video. Maybe I'll even try it.

[@Adaptalux]

It's a fun shoot to get stuck-in with that's for sure!

[@Darkthunder037]

Some of the first photographs my grandfather game me where water drops. He recently passed and its fitting that I get to know now how he took them as we never got the chance to talk in detail about it, thanks 😊

[@Adaptalux]

Lovely story, maybe you can follow in his footsteps and give it a try yourself!

[@MWTH73]

"Ben the Mad scientist" Thanks Much you helped me solve a few issues I was having with the water droplets.

[@Adaptalux]

What issues were you having? There's a lot of hurdles with this kind of photography, i'm still finding things to fiddle with so i'm sure there will be another video in the future!

[@MWTH73]

@@Adaptalux Getting a device to hold the water droplet device without moving and then the timing settings in the software same water droplet SW and HW as you used in your last vid. Thanks Matte

[@MWTH73]

Ben was there a reason you setup the droplets so High? to accommodate the adaptalux lighting?

[@Adaptalux]

I found that hight best for the depth of the water I was using, they didn't jump very high from lower down.

[@johnreed8305]

Such a hard subject I have got a set up but I personally been unable to get the results you can get {clever buger}. All the very best for the future. I can't wait to get the flash unit That I purchased at the beginning of the pandemic. Thanks again J Reed. well done.

[@Adaptalux]

It's certainly not an easy one but stick with it, it gets easier every time.

[@cguerrieri4866]

Great video. Food for thought for the timing and set up. I have had the same frustrations as as you have. My solution wa my iPhone set it to slomo video, and it will be easy to see if you are to late or early. Hope this helps someone

[@Adaptalux]

Great tip, really helps to slow things down and dial it in!

[@tomanalogicus9015]

Great video👍 Thank you for all the very helpful hints and detailed information.

[@stephenstevenson1900]

Fantastic demo Ben! This is something I have wanted to try for a long time. Now I just have to get some kit together.

[@Adaptalux]

Thanks Stephen, Glad you enjoyed it. It's certainly a fun pastime and you can get some very satisfying shots!

[@Trish12303]

Great video, thank you!!

[@sue120502]

Excellent tutorial with some good ideas for lighting. Thank you.

[@mark1hancock]

Great tutorial, answered a problem I have been having in getting the far edge of water basin in the picture. It would also appear that you had the camera at a greater angle than I have been trying.

[@Adaptalux]

I tried shooting at lower angles last time and it works great with a black background, but for reflecting colour and cutting out the rim of the basin a higher angle is better. Hope you've cracked it in your own photos now!

[@dunstonthomasevans2725]

this one good video

[@lkaufman719]

Another great video tutorial. What is the flexible arm holding the MIOPS water reservoir called? Thanks.

[@Adaptalux]

It's just a generic thing I found on Amazon, I think it was this one - www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07PHRLXRX

[@lkaufman719]

@@Adaptalux Thank you!

[@marclabro]

hello, based on my first trials with pluto valve, this arm looks unstable. moreover you need a table with edge to attach. I am using a manfrotto girafe holding the "magic arm" of pluto (in fact just the big jaw attached to valved).

[@sheldoncross5373]

Hey Ben! You don't need all that when you could make a clamping system with different attachments on the bendable poles. Different length poles with clamps for holding things! IDEA!!! I want of cut! Lol

[@LeanneMcArdle]

Hi, any chance of letting us know exactly what Adaptalux products you utilised in this video? When you are new to this side of the tutorial it is confusing. I normally use off camera flash units and a transmitter so am confused just what i need to do water drops via my Pluto

[@Adaptalux]

Hey Leanne, This was shot a while ago using the xenon flash lighting arms (adaptalux.com/product/flash-lighting-for-macro-photography/), we have new ones coming so sign up to our newsletter for news on that.

[@ahmadfailkawy6108]

great video, I have a question, so it doesn't matter if I connect the sync cable from miops to camera and or flash/strobe.

[@marclabro]

nice tuto ! can you do a similar one with pluto trigger+valve and new setup ? Is miops nice ? i read the plastic nozzle is not good for beautiful drops. is plastic nozzle easy to clean when it is blocked by xanthan,... ? pluto valve metal nozzle seems tedious to clean and replace (Tim Michael tuto). what are the references of adaptalux arms, stand, transmitter, gels needed for this setup and price (any belgian distributor or amazon fr for adaptalux ?). if i understand transmitter is infrared, not radio ? I have read from First man photography that we should use Mirror up for this setup for consistent results. He uses xanthan and Tim is using borax. is glycerine less risky for blocking nozzle ? I am surprised your 4000iso and grainy pictures. I am using one godox V1 on left pointing to drop at 1/64 power for fast T1 time and iso 100-400. first man is using several godox flashes triggered by a RF transmiter. he is using 1/160sec, F/8 iso 400 People recommend with pluto to trigger camera by IR and wire pluto on the flash for repetitive results. camera at 1sec shutter speed in a black room so sure it will get the collision. It is the way i do it (still not super collisions) with my D750 with a IR sensor. Unfortunately my new Z6ii, like your sony, doesn't have any IR sensor. Your adaptalux looks a nice tool but i am afraid synchro and timing with wire to the camera takes too much time of camera processing before it triggers flash. so perhaps the trick of MUP ?

[@Adaptalux]

Hi Marc, I'm sure there will be more water drop tutorials in the future using both drop systems. I've really only dabbled so far as this subject is so extensive it could easily take over one's life in pursuit of the perfect drop! I've not had any issues cleaning either of the droppers though I would say that the test button on the pluto that allows continuous flow makes it easier to flush the system with water after using a solution. First Man Photography is very good at this type of photography though I haven't seen all of his videos on It - I would say a mirror would work well if you have a large diffused light source. The white of the backdrop here is helping to diffuse the light, otherwise it would be two quite clear reflections of the flash lighting arm heads in the water. I've not yet tried xanthan gum or borax, this was my first exploration into thickening the water, but I didn't have any issues with the nozzle becoming blocked. The Flash setup you can find on our website along with prices and international shipping. It's still on pre-order for now, but will be available soon, you can find all the info you need on our shop - adaptalux.com/shop/ Regarding settings, the ISO was higher than I would like, mostly due to the method of first bouncing the light from the background. Shooting the light at the drop it's self results in ISO 100-400 as you would expect. Perhaps the mirror or a more reflective backdrop material would resolve that issue, or I'll just have to drop from f11 to f8. The pod also supports upto 5 flashes at once, so maybe just more light is needed. I've not tried alternative methods of triggering like you suggest, longer shutter speeds in darker rooms, or triggering the camera via IR. I would say that I didn't experience much issue getting the timings to be consistent once I found the appropriate settings in the app.

[@dennisharris144]

Great video, it would be nice to trice this dropping objects instead of liquid. Something like nuts, marble, etc.

[@reidcooper1627]

The setup is the easy part. A tutorial that includes the distance between the drop nozzle and the water surface and a calculator, or at a minimum some general guidelines on how to set the drop size, delay and camera trigger timing would be more useful.

[@Adaptalux]

There really are no guidelines, that could be followed for a good result. There are too many variables to simply list a bunch of settings and have it work for you right out of the gate. It's a trial and error process that has to account for different settings, heights, and fluids.

[@nancypeplau9747]

Oh Ben! This is fantastic! I love your photography!

[@Adaptalux]

Thanks Nancy, glad you're enjoying the videos!

[@DanielAllred-g1x]

What equipment did you use

[@pierremes]

I ask myself several questions since the accessories for this kind of photography are quite expensive. - after having taken a few series of photos of drops of water, do you not get bored quickly enough? - Can we use these accessories for subjects other than water drops? - Above all, there may be a way to avoid these accessories by using the camera's burst mode, especially since we can take bursts of 10 and even 20 images / second? - Maybe also in video and extract still images?

[@Adaptalux]

Hi Pierre Getting bored - I think this is one of the most technical and expansive subjects I have shot, and I've visited it twice now, so there is a lot to get stuck into with this subject, it's not a boring one! Accessories - The flash, yes can be used for other macro subjects of all kinds. The MIOPS Splash is made specifically for this kind of work and has no other function. The Pluto trigger version has other functionality that is helpful for triggering your camera but is more expensive. Other methods - There are other ways to do this, suspend a bag of water with a pinprick in it and let it drip down into the tray, you will be able to time your camera to capture a single splash. This method won't get two drops to collide, which requires timing within 5ms for the release of each drop and the timing of the camera. You could spend days or weeks trying to get one shot! Hope that helps!

[@pierremes]

@@Adaptalux Thank you very much for your response as quick as a flash of lightning.

[@Adaptalux]

Happy to help, I hope you decide to give it a try, even in the basic form of capturing single drops it can be a great pastime!

[@d3ci.b3L]

And then there's me... Using an eye dropper while manually releasing AND triggering the camera, HOPING to capture some great collisions. But the reward is worth it!

[@Adaptalux]

Wow, you took the hard path! There's a lot of patience involved in both ways, but using a dropper is sure to get more reliable results!

[@d3ci.b3L]

@@Adaptalux some say hard path, others say cheap path. Both are right. Lol. Maybe I'll upgrade one day.

[@Adaptalux]

True! We have tried both and it's fun either way!

[@georgecollings8603]

Is the miops you using first or second generation

[@Adaptalux]

I believe it is the first gen one.

[@PJ_Bottoms]

While watching this I had a random idea. What if you blew a bubble on top of the surface, than timed the camera to go off as soon as the water droplet hit the bubble, or a milisecond after to capture the bubble popping.

[@Adaptalux]

I recall seeing someone do something similar in a facebook group, its certainly something to try at some point!

[@odettaheyn646]

Hi, I don't want to take a picture I want to know if I can buy one of your prints...where and how?

[@Adaptalux]

Hi Odetta, Sorry, but we don't have prints available at the moment.

[@buckhurlbut]

Hey. I’m searching for the type of splash that is made when a washer (round weight with a hole in the middle) makes. Do you have any images that show that pattern?

[@Adaptalux]

It's not something we have done yet, and would probably require a different setup for timing the drop of the washer and splash.

[@paja13]

awesome, but it could be better to show at least few basic setup in the app :) I tried to play with it for an hour now and Im "able" to use only one drop so far :D so maybe a video to explain the app a bit would be great also :) thanks! :)

[@coltharwood494]

I been trying this for five days and still cannot get consistent results. Contacting Miops has not been productive. The drops are not consistent from drop to drop so it is hard to change any of the settings in a useful manner. I have made over 7,000 shots and have collisions in less than 200.

[@Adaptalux]

It is indeed tricky to get the settings dialled in for this, but trust me when I say that showing my settings would be of no benefit, yours would be totally different due to having a different height and different viscosity. The app does have a handy stepping feature that automatically steps up the drops in intervals so you can see the moment when they collide properly and lock in the settings.

[@caroldittli4276]

@@Adaptalux I'm not finding the automatic step up drop intervals in the app. Could you tell me where to find this?

[@georgecollings8603]

Can I ask if the water in the tray is plain water or with a thickener,

[@Adaptalux]

Just plain water in the tray.

[@alexap8802]

Hello, Can you tell me ,please, what did you mean with 1 part Glycerin and 8 part Watter ? I don t understand. What are the measures for Glycerin and also for Watter?

[@Adaptalux]

The actual amounts don't matter outside of how much you want to make. For example, if you want 900ml of solution, you need 100ml of glycerin and 800ml of water.

[@alexap8802]

@@Adaptalux Thank you very much! :)

[@QUARTERBAT]

Good video but too far drawn out . why not just do adds for adaptalux and a 20 second at the end for photos

[@tplyons5459]

Great, another device that you need a yuppie phone to control. Not every photographer has or wants one.