Flowing

Moving on from macro shots, I thought I would try the frozen liquid shots that you see in magazine alcohol ads. Before I started reading up on this I assumed that such shots would be impossible without a studio setup for lighting and a decent backdrop. It seems however that I can get decent exposures even with a crumpled shirt off the laundry line and my built in flash to freeze the water droplets.

Unfortunately the hard part comes from getting the liquid to 'pose' in an interesting fashion. Too many of my shots came out as a stale stream of water poured into the glass. I got my best results when I sloshed the water from height and off the side of the rim to create a swirling effect.

This was probably the best of the bunch but I completely screwed up the white balance.



I also experimented with coloured liquids (added a dash of cordial) though by then my beginner's luck was running out and I was getting absolutely hopeless. Here's an embarassing shot with me missing the glass altogether. Don't worry, I had the foresight to put a bowl underneath to catch such spillage.



Ah well, at least I know the effect is achievable with my current equipment even if I do have to work on my execution. Next time I might try starting simpler with water drops instead of attempting dancing torrents.