Photographing
water splashes- an old idea, but requires perfect timing
and extraodinary strokes of luck (well, not that extraodinary).
Note
that all photos on this page are not edited, enhanced
or whatever'ed in any way. (Apart from resizing, which
is not against my rules)
All
photos were taken with 1/1000s shutter speed, with assisting
flash. Also, no professional setups here... all done
in a bathroom sink!
Here
you can see the bubbles in the water as it streams from
the tap. |
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Right
when the water head makes the first splash. The classic
"rising water wall" thing is very evident.
About the knife? Well I don't know, it was just the
first thing I saw when I went looking for something
to splash on. |
Impact
on the sink as the water head smashes down. You can
see that this one was quite badly timed. Four rings
of water have formed already from four separate water
drops. Its strange, how the water from a tap is 'segmented'
into big drops instead of a constant stream. I guess
that has alot to do with the sudden yanking of the tap
when I take these photos. |
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The birth
of life? The segmented water droplets can clearly be
seen here. The flash of ligth at the bottom was an accident,
but it seems to add to the effect. |
Complete
chaos occuring in the splash. The rings of water are
awesome, yet strange. I love the impact water droplets
on the left and right side, makes the whole thing look
alot more dramatic. This photo won me a runner up in
the Young Australian Art Awards in 2006. |
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Mega
mega fat humongous water droplets smashing onto the
surface. So heavy are these water droplets in fact,
that alot of water around them is displaced into the
air. |
The
first of a newer batch of photos (taken 5 Nov 2006).
Instead of water falling on hard surfaces (as in all
the photos above), these are about water to water contact.
As you'll see, some interesting things happen...
These
were also taken in a bathroom sink, with appropriate
backdrops to create the effect wanted. The shutter speed
was increased to 1/2000 sec, flash assisted. Single
drops of water are dropped using the bottom convex surface
of a small glass vial. |
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The water
surface is literally sent rippling violently as an unwelcome
visitor water drop annihiliates the surface. |
Imagine
a water drop... a fraction of a millisecond away from
falling into liquid. Here it is! This was actually a
mistimed capture. However I love how the droplet and
water surface both look glassy clean.
What
will happen when the water drop strikes? The next few
photos will take you through the life of a water drop. |
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Kabam!
If you look carefully, you'll notice the drop here and
the one above aren't in fact in the same position. Well
you're right, because these are a series of different
photos put together- not an actual string of photos
taken.
The tip of
the "spike" is about to break off into a shape
similar to a glass disco ball. Well, I don't know...
that's just the first thing I thought of. |
Here,
the "glass ball" segment has just cut off
from the rest of the spike. The base of the spike starts
to form a mini crater which will ultimately send out
a nice circular ripple. |
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As the
spike crashes down, it displaces the water around it,
and you can already see the ripple starting to spread
like a mini tsunami. |
And
of course what goes up must come down. The "glass
ball" falls into something looking like a whirlpool
at this stage. Reminds me of a pearl in a clam. |
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The drop
is viciously sucked away and distributed into the final
ripple, after which all returns back to normal. And
such is karma for the poor little water drop, waiting
to be sucked away into the drain after his moment of
fame on Penguin's Lab. |
Wow!
Its a crystal ball! The sparkle is due to the new backdrop,
which allows the water to reflect a greater percentage
of the light than before (the metal from the sink used
to reflect a lot, just take another look at the photos
above!). |
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Similar
situation. I've never been able to explain the small
circular ripple to the top right hand corner of this
photo. Perhaps its a fragment of a water drop from the
impact? Perhaps its the slowly leaking tap? |
Ah!
Changed the backdrop for a lighter effect. The metal
at the bottom of the sink is the casing of an old CD-ROM
drive, and its there to hide the ugly ugly UGLY sink
plug. Its kind of nice actually, because the ripples
gently blur together the edges of the CD-ROM cover and
the sink. |
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Splash!
The plastic lid of the glass vial is thrown into the
water and everything goes chaotic. |
More
Photos!
I like fast
loading pages, and this one would really be slow if
I had included all the water splashes on it. If you
want to see the rest (there are 12 more), you can
click on the links below to view high res. versions
directly.
"Tap"
- This is similar to the first one on this page, except
with faster, white, rushing water.
"Waterspout"
- A waterspout on a knife!
"Absorbtion"
- A large water droplet is absorbed and transformed
into a splash.
"Conquering"
- An army of water molecules spread rapidly through
an unknown world.
"Splosh"
- Self explanatory
"Rippling
fear" - Comparable to machine gun fire if
you think in an abstract sense.
"Chaos"
- Absolute chaos with the tap turned on pretty hard
"The
Crater" - A water asteroid has attacked!
"Water
rope" - A liquid rope with knots on it.
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