Shooting A Berry Splash Dropped Into Water - Creative Photography

Capturing a berry with a nice splash is not something you can achieve with just a few shots.  It is my first attempt at this set up and I must say, it took many tries and some synchronization between dropping and triggering the shutter to get the perfect shot.

Exposure:

• Use smaller aperture from F/8.0 and above
• Adjust camera until it indicates a correct exposure.  In my case the shutter speed was at 1/60
• ISO 100-200

These are some of the cropped images taken using a 50mm lens.

Props Used:

1. Use a non-patterned glass bowl and fill it with about 3/4 water
2. Place white board under the bowl and a colored board placed behind the bowl
3. One external light source placed to the right of the bowl (I used a white stand lamp)
4. Macro lens or if you do not have one, use an extension tube
5. Camera on tripod

Camera settings:

1. Remember to set AF on both camera body and lens to manual and turn off VR or VC.
2. Position lens at its minimum focus distance.  Note: Do NOT place lens too close to the water.
3. Use the on-camera flash (Add a diffuser if available).
4. Switch on external light source to illuminate the subject.
5. Focus the camera on the surface of the water where you want to capture the splash.  You can angle the lens at a 45 degrees drop or place it parallel to the surface of the water.
6. Set camera to continuous shutter and use 
7. Drop berry at the spot where the camera is focused at and snap away.

Please do share your thoughts if you have other ways to improve this photography setup.  Thank you and happy shooting!