Photo copyright Francesca Kent
After viewing some incredible water drop photos in my photography class, I decided that when I got home that day I would research different types of water movement photos. I saw some really interesting ones but there was one that really caught my eye – an object dropping into a wine glass. So I went to the photography studio on campus and decided to try this out for myself.
The first problem I encountered was that I would need help from another person: having them drop the object into the water as I took the photo. So I asked one of my photography classmates to assist me on this photo, it ended up working out really well!
First, I set up my station; a plain black table pushed up against the wall in the photography studio, a clear wine glass filled ¾ of the way with water, two flashes, two different coloured gels, a flat coloured glass rock for bottom of the glass (to prevent the glass from breaking when the object was dropped), and a screw.
After many trial and errors, I settled on two different gels – pink and blue – with the flash brightness in-between the lowest and middle brightness. I then made sure to have all the lights off so that the only source of light would be coming from my two flashes. I then set up my camera (Canon Rebel T3) with the 18-55mm lens with ISO 100, f/8, and shutter speed 1/250. ISO 100 because my flash power was strong enough that I didn’t need a high ISO to be able to see the photo and the shutter speed at its fastest in order to capture both the screw being dropped and the water movement occurring.
Once all these settings were set, taking the photo was more or less easy, I had a shutter clicker attached to my camera so I wouldn’t have to be right behind my camera to take the photo, my partner and I would then count to three, once we reached three, he would drop the screw and I would snap the shot.
Overall, this shoot was extremely fun! I loved being able to see something online and be able to recapture it myself but by adding my own touch to the photo. I think that I may continue to do more shoots like this because I really enjoyed it; although it was very time consuming, the ending result was worth it!
About the Photographer:
My name is Francesca Kent and I am a Marketing major at Northern Arizona University with a minor in Photography. I have always been in love with photography since I was 15 and have always just taken photos for fun, whether it be getting a group of friends together or just taking photos of my family. It wasn’t until I met my best friend Victoria where I started getting more serious with photography, we both started off with taking senior photos, which then moved to couple/engagement photos. I love being able to capture memories for people to keep forever and being able to create something new with photography. I want to make every photo different with the use of a creative eye and constantly looking at the world through the eyes of a photographer. I hope to pursue a career in advertising and be able to use my photography skills and I can’t wait to see what’s in store for my future!
To read more about the Northern Arizona University “Behind the Image: Guest Blogger” project on our blog, please read the introduction at youcansleepwhenyouredead.com/wordpress/4th-annual-northern-arizona-university-behind-the-image-guest-blogger-project. Please take a minute to leave your thoughts and constructive comments in the Comment section below – Francesca would love to hear from you!