The wonderful world of drops

I found a subject for my macro shots that really attracts me and I will probably never get bored with it. It is drops. I have taken thousands of pictures of them and still they can’t stop enchanting me. It came to the point that my friends on photography web sites call me the “master of drops”. My second favourite subject is flowers. I love and admire flowers and that’s why I ended up producing them. I also combine these two subject in my photos.

Kropelki

 

I became really passionate about taking photos of drops on cobwebs. I have a garden around my house which is full of flowers in summer and autumn.
In late summer tent spiders weave their cobwebs traps on bushes. When you enter the garden in the morning the cobwebs bend under the loads of dewdrops. Thousands of small dewdrops glitter in the sun. Obviously, there aren’t always flowers near them as it can be seen in the picture below. However, in your quest of beauty you can always help nature and set a nice composition.

The vertical cobwebs look equally beautiful. Loaded with raindrops they look like gemstone or pearl necklaces.

You do not need to have expensive equipment to take macro shots. The pictures above are a proof of that. They were taken with the amateur Nikon D60 camera (my first one) with Sigma 70mm Macro 1:2,8 EX HSM lens without any flash or a tripod. In the last three photos I corrected exposure to -1.3EV on purpose and I used spot metering to make the drops more visible on the dark background. The cobwebs are usually situated in such places that don’t allow the use of a ripod. That is why you have to choose aperture and ISO in such a way the shutter time is maximum 1/200s. In this case I used manual focus. I confess that sometimes when there was no dew I used a sprinkler. I saw that spiders where not that happy about this unexpected bath, but it did no harm to them. After some time the drops dried and everything was back to normal.

The drops look equally beautiful on different plants, especially when there are flowers in the background. There are some examples below.

24EX Canon 50D, Canon MP-E 65mm 1-5x Macro Photo, Macro Twin Lite MT-24EX flash

I took these photographs in a greenhouse, making use of the drops that were left after foliar feeding. I made different flower compositions that were reflected in the drops of water hanging on the plants. It was late in the evening, so I had to get the focus right in an artificial light. I didn’t use a tripod because there was no such possibility. Using the manual mode I set the aperture to f/11 and the shutter speed to 1/250s. Looking in the viewfinder I found apropriate drops with my lens, set the right focus getting closer and moving away and............ click.

 

Canon 50D, Canon MP-E 65mm 1-5x Macro Photo , lampa Macro Twin Lite MT-24EX

 

Canon 50D, Canon MP-E 65mm 1-5x Macro Photo, Macro Twin Lite MT-24EX flash

 

Canon 50D , Canon 100 mm L Macro, Macro Twin Lite MT-24EX flash

 

Canon 50D , Canon 100 mm L IS Macro, Macro Twin Lite MT-24EX flash

 

Canon 50D, Canon 100 mm L IS Macro, Macro Twin Lite MT-24EX flash

 

Canon 50D , Canon 100 mm L IS Macro, Macro Twin Lite MT-24EX flash

Fujifilm S 5 PRO, Sigma 70mm f/2,8 EX DG Macro

The Landscape under the glass dome. I took this photo on the balcony after the rain. There were drops of water hanging on the stems of geraniums. The settings were f/11, 1/250s exposure time with SB-600 flash. Picture was turned 180 degrees.

 

Canon 50D, Canon MP-E 65mm 1-5x Macro Photo, Macro Twin Lite MT-24EX flash

Canon 50D, Canon 100 mm L IS Macro

The drop of water on the peacock’s feather looks really interesting.
Canon 50D, Canon MP-E 65mm 1-5x Macro Photo, Macro Twin Lite MT-24EX flash

 

 

Canon 50D, Canon 100 mm L IS Macro

Fujifilm S 5 PRO, Sigma 70mm f/2,8 EX DG Macro

Fujifilm S 5 PRO, Sigma 70mm f/2,8 EX DG Macro

I want to give you some advice on how to photograph drops.
It is always good to find some support. If the subject is relatively low we can use a garden chair if it is possible to place it between bushes and flowers. If we manage to sit on it not destroying the whole bed of flowers it is quite something. Sitting we can rest our hand against our knees and photograph easily. In case of subjects situated higher we can use a tripod. I had to use a high ladder many times to reach the subjects I wanted to capture. One time it almost cost me my life. Trying to capture a rare dragonfly that sat on the roof, in a hurry, I placed a ladder which was usteady. After I took a few shots of the insect, the ladder started sliding down. My last thought was that I have to protect the camera. I clutched it tightly next to my chest and i fell down on my back. I hit the ground so hard that I could’t breathe and became blue. Seeing what happend my wife ran to call the ambulance. Luckily for me, my neighbour, the retired firefighter, not thinking much gave me a strong slap across the face and I came round. It all ended happily, even without any scratch.Try to photograph drops on bright days, when you don’t need to use a flash to avoid such reflections as can be seen in the photo above.
It is rather not possible to take such shots when it is windy, unless you have same cover.