Splash photography is exciting, fast-paced, messy, and creative what's not
to love. In this video we're going to look at what you need to get started in
splash photography, how you can get great results simply, why the pros shoot splash
images, and where they're used and the sort of kit needed from budget to
high-end that you need to do it. I'll also talk you through some useful
accessories that will make your splash photography easier, and better, and share
a few creative ideas for you to try.
So let's start off looking at the work of some experts in splash photography,
myself included of course, and let's find out what they shoot splash shots for.
Splash shots are used regularly in advertising images to add dynamics,
excitement and a sense of anticipation to advertising images. I'm friends with
several top pros who shoot splashes and liquids let's take a look...
Barry Macario shoots and composites and great splash images here's some of his
images used in advertising photography work.
David Lund is another friend and colleague who has shot some big campaign
images and smaller campaign work and he loves playing with liquids and creating
a mess. Jonathan Knowles is one of the
best-known advertising photographers in London and his images are instantly
recognizable and they're used across a range of advertising from drinks
companies to telecommunications, food and cosmetics many of his images you will
recognize from high-profile advertising campaigns. All three photographers have
been guests on my show on Karl Taylor Education revealing their secrets and
giving us insights into their work. I myself have shot a multitude of splash
images including many here as tutorials on Karl Taylor Education.
I love the unpredictability of the moment, that combination of chaos theory
and the science of photography it truly is a fascinating genre. So splash
photography is a technique that can add a certain degree of professionalism to
your portfolio. Yes it requires some patience and practice but the most basic
of splash shots can actually be achieved with little more than your camera a
speedlight and some diffusion material. However, you can also go much, much
further, where things can get very messy or where I show you how to incorporate
splashes into product shots for professional results but I've put
together the most important techniques and tips here
to get you started. Splash photography Kit. Whether you're
photographing a simple splash shot or something more advanced the equipment
you'll need is roughly the same. I'll go through each one and why. The first one
is a tripod. I wouldn't recommend shooting splash photography handheld not
unless you want the added difficulty of movement so a good tripod is essential.
Having your camera in a fixed position means you can set everything up, pre
focus and just shoot. If you don't have an assistant you'll need both hands one
for creating your splash and one for pressing the shutter button but with a
tripod you can also work with a remote trigger allowing you to create the
splashes. Number 2: Light. Flash duration is the most important thing when it
comes to your lighting and freezing the splash sharp but I'll discuss this more
later in this video. If you don't have studio lights with fast flash duration,
speed lights can work just as well. I use speed lights for a lot of my early
splash photography, however they do need to be used at lower power settings to
get the fast flash duration. At 1/16th power you can get a t 0.1
measurement of approximately 1/6,000th of a second flash duration
but using them at low power does mean you may need to cluster a few speed
lights together to get sufficient light which is why it's of course easier to
use more powerful studio lights that have fast flash durations. Number 3:
Diffusion material. Diffusion material, whether it be diffusion paper or a piece
of acrylic is useful to have on hand for a few reasons both can be used either as
a background for your shot or to diffuse the light resulting in more pleasing
reflections on liquids like paint or better gradations in
transparent liquids. Number 4: Protective Plastic. Splash photography
can get messy so it's worth protecting your camera
especially if you're shooting with paint. I often use clear polythene sheeting
which, although thin, does a great job of protecting against the odd splash of
water or paint but depending on how crazy your shoot is this can also be
used for covering any exposed electrical points or lights and your floor area.
You can also double layer thicker plastic on the floor and walls for
really messy shoots. Number 5: Microfiber Cloths and Paper Towels. As
you've seen things can get messy I often keep microfiber cloths and paper
towels on hand when photographing liquids as you'll see in many of our
tutorials. They can be used for wiping down surfaces or cleaning glass. If
you're shooting in a tank then a squeegee is another useful piece of kit
to quickly remove water droplets from glass. If you're going crazy then dust
pans mops and even wet and dry vacuums make a big difference to the cleanup
operation. 6: A triggering device. Timing is key for splash shots and although I've
done many of my shots just by eye there are times when a triggering device such
as a sound or motion trigger can be very beneficial.
This can also free you up if you're working on your own and you need to
throw the objects to create the crash or splash. So let's look at how to capture a
splash photo. First I'd consider creating your own pre visual for the shot that
you want to achieve this really helps you with planning and working things out.
Things like, where the splash is going to happen, what shape it's going to be and
how are you going to make that liquid end up where you want it. It will also
get you thinking about how much liquid you need and how much mess might be made.
Have you covered your camera and moved electrical cables out of the way before
you start shooting. Remember the process does take time and there is a lot of
variables that can happen with liquids which is what makes it so exciting. It
requires patience as well as a little bit of luck but pre visualizing your
image will give you the best chance of success. To further enhance your chance
of success, there are a few techniques you will need to use to get a good shot.
These include; using a fast flash duration, locking your mirror up and
choosing the right camera settings and pre-focusing. Let's start with fast flash
duration. One of the key things for capturing high speed fast flying liquids
is a fast flash duration. A common mistake that people make when
photographing splash shots is focusing on what shutter speed they should be
using, in actual fact it is the speed and the duration of the burst of flash that
freezes the motion, not the shutter speed. The shutter speed is barely relevant at
all in a darkened studio and only needs to be set to a high enough speed to cut
out bright ambient surroundings. Flash duration is the length of time of the
burst of light that is emitted from a studio light or from a speed light, this
can vary depending on the type of light and even from brand to brand. The faster
the flash duration the better. Flash duration is often measured in two ways -
t 0.5 and t 0.1 the former is the most commonly displayed by manufacturers as
it generally sounds more impressive however T 0.5 does not measure all of
the light relevant for the complete shot. Approximately 40% of the flash burst is
unaccounted for in t 0.5 readings this is because t 0.5 measurments portray a
much faster but false impression of the real useable flash burst. T 0.1 readings
on the other hand account for nearly the entire flash burst and as an example if
a flash has a t 0.1 one reading of 1/5000th of a second, then
this would be very fast and it be equivalent to almost 1/15,000th
with a t 0.5 measurement. So don't be fooled when comparing flash
duration speed always check if you're comparing like for like such as t 0.5
or t 0.1 measurements. To learn more about flash duration t 0.1 and t 0.5
measurements and the sort of speeds needed for some of the fastest flash
captures then visit our lighting theory and equipment section on Karl Taylor
Education here you'll find classes dedicated to that particular section;
understanding flash duration. Mirror lock-up mode. Many of you may be familiar
with using the mirror lock-up feature on a DSLR camera, this is to increase
sharpness during long exposures it's actually to stop the flipping up mirror
from causing unnecessary vibrations but this feature can also be used to reduce
the delay time when activating the shutter taking the photo this is very
useful when photographing splash shots because things happen so fast that the
less delay there is in activating the shutter the better. Mirror lock-up flips
the mirror up before the shutter opens which means that when you press the
shutter button you immediately capture the photo rather than having the delay
of waiting for the mirror to get out of the way.
However, enabling mirror lock-up means that because the mirror is already up
you're unable to see anything when you look through the viewfinder because what
you normally see is a reflection of the mirror going through the prism to your
eye when that mirror is locked up then of course there is no view possible
unless you have the ability to activate Live View on the preview screen on the
back of the camera but not being able to see anything isn't really that much of a
problem because you should have already worked out on your camera and tripod
where the action is going to happen and aiming to make it happen at that precise
point. Camera settings: Now as with any genre
photography there are no Universal camera settings that will result in a
great photo however there are a few key points that you should keep in mind when
choosing your camera settings. Now I've touched on shutter speeds earlier so you
already know that it isn't the shutter speed that freezes the movement in
splash shots however that doesn't mean that you should be shooting at 1/10 of a
second ideally you want the highest sync speed that your camera will allow. Medium
format cameras can sync nearly at any speed right up to 1/2000th second
but for 35-millimeter cameras this is usually a maximum of 1/200th of a
second. What is important though is that your shutter speed is fast enough to cut
out any ambient light such as natural light or the existing room lighting. To
do this, take a shot without the flash and see the results on the back of the
screen - you should have a black image. If you see any light in the photo then
you'll need to increase your shutter speed or turn down the lighting in the
room - only when your image is black without any flash can you be sure that
you won't have any blur on your liquids from the additional exposure of ambient
light. For your aperture, I'd recommend shooting at around f-11 to f-16 as you
want to ensure that you have sufficient depth of field that the entirety of your
water splash will be in focus. The ISO should be fairly low, I try to keep mine
at 100 wherever I can, however, as you're shooting at lower
flash powers especially if using speed lights you may need to increase this ISO
speed, you'll have to judge this as you shoot but most modern cameras can yield
low noise even at 400 and 800 ISO. Where you focus in the image, especially if
you've got the mirror locked up is a question that I get asked a lot. For
splash photography it's best to pre focus where you anticipate the action to
happen and then switch to manual focus and
leave it set there. Remember you've already locked the camera on a tripod so
the only thing that can change is where the splash is going to happen and you'll
never have time to focus on it when it's actually happening so don't even try
save yourself a lot of headaches and pre focus. You can do this by placing an item
temporarily where you expect the action to happen or I get my assistant to hold
their hand roughly in the position. If you don't have an assistant use a
lighting stand, a chair, or anything you like that will help you lock that focus.
If you'd like to see an easy to achieve splash shot where I get professional
results with just one speed light and some homemade stuff then you can watch
this video and the link to it is below if you'd like to see me capture this
shot with a couple of Siros studio lights then i'll also put the link to
that video below but if you really want to up your game and learn how the top
end stuff is done then you'll find those videos on my website at KarlTaylor
Education.com I hope you found this video useful and give us a thumbs up if
you did thanks for listening. Get my completely free photography
course with no sign-up required you can also access our free 90-page eBook just
Click the link or go to KarlTaylorEducation.com