Macro Tutorial - Water Drops Photography

Water drops photography is exotic, fun and a colorful visual treat all at the same time. A small water drop is an exquisite world on its own. In this article i'm sharing some of my thoughts on my water drop macro works.

water droplets on flowers macro

1) A dedicated macro lens is very useful to attain the required magnification (I use Tamron 90mm macro). If you do not have a dedicated macro lens, or need greater magnification you can try attaching extension tubes to normal lenses; it will help you get more magnification. I use Kenko Extension Tubes with my Macro Lens.

2) First and foremost one should find a water drop to photograph, it could be a natural drop on a Flower, leaf, vine etc or an artificial drop placed with the help of a Syringe. One you have your drops in place; place another flower some 3 to 5 inches behind the drops.

3) In my experience I have found that a syringe is both the easiest way for placing the drops precisely on the flowers or other surfaces.

4) Plain water could prove to be tough to work with; adding sugar will help water drops stick to surfaces. Glycerin is an even better alternative to water.

5) Capturing water drops on Spider web is Fun. But be careful not to break the Web. The trick to attach water drops to spider webs is to Spray water drops from a Syringe up and over the web so it falls lightly on the Web.

6) I normally use aperture Priority mode for water drops photography. Wide apertures like F/2.8 or F/4 will give you images that are soft and which have a dream like quality due to the very shallow depth of field. And narrower apertures like F/9 or F/18 will produce images that have all elements reasonably sharp. I prefer shooting outdoors in Lovely lighting conditions.

7) I normally shoot Hand held for water drops Macros; though a tripod is necessary for Splash Photography.

8)) Don't get too close to the drop or the lower part will be darkened.

9) It is better to try this on a still day without much wind. Wind could wreck havoc as it will cause the flowers to sway, drops to fall and a lot more.

10) Make sure that the whole flower is reflected in the drops..( You may have to experiment with different camera angles and distance!!)

11) Cheap materials like Thermocol etc come in useful for pinning flowers or reflecting light.

12) Focus stacking helps if you plan on taking more than one drop at a time.

I do hope this helps....You can of course use different colored Flowers for effect....

Here are a few of my shots for inspiration.