Good day.
Welcome to the Great White North.
Where it is so freakin' cold that...
...bubbles freeze within mere seconds
and as they freeze they look good like they look good -
they look really good.
So, in this video I'm going to give you ten
helpful tips, directions - ten helpful steps on how to capture bubbles freezing.
Although, not really capture either, more like -
record, video, film - I don't know...
just watch.
Finding commercially pre-made bubble solution
in the dead of winter can be hard to say the least.
I visited a number of stores
and I was laughed at every single time.
I ended up ordering this online.
However, if you're in the middle
of a short-lived cold snap and you can't wait for FedEx to
drop bubble solution off at your front door -
you can actually make your own -
homemade bubble solution.
It's really quite simple.
There are only three things you need:
Number one -
Dish soap.
preferably Dawn it's a bit lighter than the other stuff.
Glycerine.
and plain old water.
The order in which you combine
these ingredients makes no difference.
I'm starting with 500 milliliters of water -
that's two cups.
60 milliliters of dish soap or 1/4 cup.
30 milliliters of glycerin or two tablespoons.
And mix it all together -
and there you have it -
your homemade bubble solution.
They'll freeze outside, not here.
Alright, we've got some Cola,
some purple stuff,
some Sunny D,
Oh, and bubbles.
Keep your bubbles chilled.
If the temperature of the solution
isn't already close to freezing -
you're gonna have a challenging time
creating bubbles that last -
and those that do survive
are going to be without those psychedelic crystals
swirling in the middle.
It is a fine line
between keeping your bubble solution chilled
and having it freeze - while outdoors.
So, it's best to decant only a small amount
and leave the rest inside.
The surface you choose for your bubbles
can impact how easily they form and how
long they last.
It needs to be relatively smooth and rather flat.
Raw wood is a little too rough,
Paper is just going get soggy -
I used a piece of acrylic that seemed to work rather well
and it also provided some nice reflections .
Now, just as the bubble solution needed to be chilled -
the surface you choose also needs to be cold.
So, if you're using something that was indoors -
the bubbles will actually freeze from the top down because
the base has some residual heat.
The wind is going to be your nemesis
while trying to blow bubbles
and I can tell you from personal experience
it is worth taking the time and finding
somewhere sheltered from the wind
before blowing a single bubble.
The frustration encountered while
trying to blow bubbles in the wind -
it just doesn't make for a fun experience.
Now, if it's continuously windy and your
bubbles are constantly popping -
you may want to add a bit more glycerin to that
bubble solution and that may do the trick
Lighting a freezing bubble is about as tricky as
lighting a frosty beverage glass for a product shot.
The bubble begins completely transparent ,
incredibly reflective,
but then in a second its translucent
and no longer reflective.
I tried a few different lighting options to say the least.
I tried hard light,
I tried soft light,
one light,
two lights,
one light below,
two lights below,
Ultimately the only thing that gave me
the look I was after
was the Sun -
super low on the horizon
back-lighting the bubble.
Unfortunately the Sun doesn't
like to spend a lot of time hanging out
near the horizon this time of year.
So, it's really important to be prepared well in advance -
which is hopefully why you're watching this video.
Perspective is everything
when filming the bubbles freeze.
Your camera has be at the exact same
level as the bubble's base.
If it's too high the semi-transparent crystals
will disappear against a background that lacks contrast.
To help with that you can add
your own dark background,
but be careful not to obscure
the back-light of the ever-important Sun.
Hopefully this goes without saying -
cold weather is one of the primary
ingredients in capturing images of frozen bubbles.
It's also something you need to know how to
battle as a photographer -
and if you need help with that watch my video:
"Photography in Extreme Cold"
I'll also link it at the end of this video.
For a bubble to freeze before it inevitably pops -
the temperature needs to be somewhere near -10°C.
For our southern neighbors,
the only country in the world that
doesn't understand Celsius -
that's something like 14 - positive 14°F.
Also keep in mind,
the colder it is the faster a bubble will freeze -
and anything below -30°C the bubble
will freeze so quickly you need a high-speed camera -
something like a Phantom Flex -
So, it's probably not worth your time.
For this next bit I have added some black paper
to the surface.
That's just to make it easier for you to see what
I'm talking about -
and not something I would recommend that
you do when capturing your own images.
Now, when recording video of the bubbles freezing
attaining proper focus can be rather challenging.
Autofocus in this situation is useless:
the frame - it begins empty,
the bubbles - they're transparent,
just don't bother with autofocus.
Now, predicting where the edge of a bubble will form -
is equally challenging:
the first time.
You see once one bubble has been blown,
freezes and pops.
It kind of creates a frozen bubble footprint
and subsequent bubbles blown within that footprint
typically have the same edge.
So, blow one sacrificial bubble.
Manually focus on it.
Pop that bubble and blow and record the next one's -
it's much easier.
How many times did I say bubble there?
Like 20?
Straws come in many shapes sizes and colors -
and for the purpose of blowing bubbles that freeze
the straw you use doesn't really make a difference.
This straw is from the
International Drainage Commission in Springfield.
Interestingly, the southern hemisphere version
has the spiral in the opposite direction.
It's also set to cost 900 dollarydoos.
With this straw you need to use abnormally
large white gloves.
And my personal favorite:
The elder straw is set to have once been
owned by JK Rowling herself.
You don't need to be a rocket scientist to
understand you can drink a liquid
without using a straw -
and that straws suck.
That is to say 500 million straws
are used every day in the United States
and they're not always disposed of properly -
greatly contributing to plastic marine debris.
So, take this opportunity to find yourself a forever straw
and say goodbye to those
unnecessary single-use straws that - suck.
Whether you're shooting photos or videos
the camera you choose makes no difference.
I've done this using an iPhone.
Though it does help to have a macro lens,
it's not necessary at all.
Any lens at its minimum focusing distance
will be adequate.
As you've seen through the EXIF information
accompanying all the b-roll in this video -
I shot using a relatively small aperture.
That gave me a large depth of field
and means as much of a bubble as possible
was in focus.
Now, for the real camera nerds out there
you may have noticed some strange coloration
in those ice crystals -
and that is not chromatic aberration.
It's actually the ice crystals acting like a prism
and refracting the different wavelengths of light.
Do I sound like Bill Nye yet.
All right if you've made it this far
your fingers and your toes are probably numb
just from watching,
but now you know how to capture imagery
of bubbles freezing.
So, get to it and I encourage you to be creative.
Try food coloring
Try long exposures with moonlight.
Try blowing multiple bubbles at once.
If you have liked this video click like.
If you have a suggestion put it down below.
If you've refined this process
or you've been creative yourself -
let everybody else know in those comments.
Thanks for watching and I will see you next time.
Also, stay warm -
definitely stay warm.