I assumed I would take my flower portraits to the subsequent stage by submerging them in water and including milk and meals colorants to create an ethereal outcome.
I used a fish tank (one other appropriate container for water will do) because it’s finest to have a flat glass floor, as a curved one will create distortion and presumably usher in undesirable reflections. You will get a 25L youngsters’s fish tank for round $30 / £25 / AU$45 in case you store round.
The remainder of the setup ought to embody a lightweight supply – I used an LED gentle panel – as room lights might trigger undesirable hotspots, shadows and reflections. You’ll want a macro lens and a tripod for the digicam, some milk (entire milk is finest) and a few low-cost meals colorants that you could add to the water for much more impact.
Objects equivalent to a long-barrelled pipette to precisely squirt the substances are helpful, however not important.
Capturing steps
1. Refill the fish tank
Work out the place you’re going to do the shoot. I like to recommend organising close to your water provide; when it’s filled with water the tank might be heavy, so that you gained’t wish to transfer it far. I crammed my tank with heat water, as sizzling or chilly water will create condensation on the skin of the tank.
Macro lens and LED panel
I used my Sigma 105mm f/2.8 EX DG OS HSM Macro lens, which was preferrred for proscribing the sphere of view, together with a Rotolight Neo 2 (the Rotolight Neo 3 is even higher) at full energy. I used aperture precedence mode with zone metering, which was excellent for this lighting setup. Guarantee there’s no daylight by your home windows hitting the tank
2. Submerge the flowers
I positioned a clean background behind my tank and reduce the flowers (you should utilize actual or plastic ones) to measurement, so there was a niche between the highest of them and the water’s floor. Weigh them down or they are going to float. I rigorously lowered the flowers into the tank and used a knitting needle to take away any air bubbles.
3. Add the milk and meals coloring
Set the digicam up with the composition you need. I used a reasonably huge aperture (f/4) and manually centered on the most important flower, or group, nearest the entrance of the glass. Pour in some milk to make the water misty, then add extra milk and the colorants and shoot as they swirl round.
Ideas and tips
- The extra milk and colorants within the water, the extra ethereal the photographs will get, so hold taking pictures.
- Put the sunshine straight above the water, as a result of if it hits the identical aspect of the tank because the digicam you’ll get reflections.
- Keep away from utilizing a potted plant (like I did first time round) because the soil floats on the floor and bits flow into round.
- An aperture of round f/4-f/5.6 gives an excellent mixture between flower element and out-of-focus areas with a 105mm macro lens. The shallow depth of area ought to be certain that the background is out of focus.
- If you wish to strive one thing much more artistic, use a low ISO and an ND filter to drop the shutter pace to 1-2 secs.
And listed below are my outcomes…
Picture 1 of 5
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Whereas the finest macro lenses will produce premium outcomes, you may as well adapt an present lens with one of many finest close-up filters. And if you do not have an LED panel, you would use one of many finest pictures lighting kits.