Welcome to my blog! Here I discuss how I get my photos, the process, the surprises, the challenges, and what inspires me. I will also focus on how I get my water drop photos, and what I learn along the way.
Thank you for visiting!
Cannon Beach--Take One, Take Two, Take Three...
Two sessions, and counting! So far I have not been able to get the Cannon Beach photo I am envisioning. I thought I would share some black/white outtakes with you. My first shoot, it took an hour or so to get it setup, and I worked from 5-10pm, but I just could not get the shape I wanted to get! I got a variety, but not the specific shape I'm looking for, which is one that matches the rock in the background. I'm always adjusting the timing, and often, the water temperature. I like to work with cold water, but as it comes to room temperature, the timing changes.
The second session, two days later, and over 200 photos and counting, I got some different shapes, but still a no go. I also want better sharpness for the background, so I will be improving that in my third session. The photo above, that kind of looks like Saturn, shows what happens when I don't wait for the water to still--wavy rock in the background. Also, my depth of field with these shots is vary shallow. So much so, that I have to adjust the focus depending on what type of drop I'm getting. If I want a "ball on point" or a "round" drop by itself, it is a different focus than if I am wanting a "collision", which is when one drop falls on top of the first drop and flattens out. My depth of focus is 1/4, to 1/2 inch at most.
Thank goodness for keeping towels nearby, as one of my flashes took a dunk in the water. I use multiple flashes for my photos to properly light the background and the drop. Below, in color, is the background photo I used, that I took last April. I'm off to Cannon Beach today, for several days, perhaps I'll take a shot to use when I get back.
Portland RAW--not a state of being un-cooked
Recently I had the privilege of participating in a Portland RAW event, "Generations", which is a FASHION, MUSIC, ART, PHOTOGRAPHY and PERFORMING ARTS evening of entertainment! So what is RAW? From their website:
"RAW:natural born artists is an independent arts organization, for artists, by artists. We're a community made up of creative individuals across the nation. Our mission is to provide independent artists within the first 10 years of their career with the tools, resources and exposure needed to inspire and cultivate creativity. We welcome all genres of art including independent film, fashion, music, visual art, performing art, hairstylists, makeup artists and more. RAW currently operates in 54 cities across the United States & Australia and counting ..."
It's held at the lovely Bossa Nova Ballroom in Portland, and events are packed. I demonstrated some water drop photography and displayed some photography for sale. This is event was great fun, I liked meeting new people, chatting with other artists, watching the models on the runway between music sets, and a drink or two at the bar!
When you participate in a RAW show, you get a video interview for your use, head shots and other marketing goodies, plus they take no commission from sales AND you can be a part of another RAW show in any of the other 54 cities they are held! If you know of artists that might be interested in this, here is the website:
Thanks for reading, and have a great week! 
Quick Update on Photo of the Year Contest
My drop photo took 2nd place for Photo of the Year! The awards banquet was a lot of fun. Delicious appetizers; like bacon wrapped figs, plus wine and locally made beer flowed freely. Framed photography up under lights, pretty dresses and dapper guys, a long table of desirable silent auction items, and a self service photo booth overflowing with a table of props. Joe Donlon from KATU News Channel 8 was the MC extraordinaire for the evening. I took full advantage of the photo booth, taking several pics. Don't you just love photo booths? Who has a strip of photos up on their wall at home?! I hope the booths at the mall never go out of fashion, they bring out the fun, goofy side of people.
Here's the pic with me and Joe Donlon. Wishing you all a little bit of fun in your week!
The Rose: Pacific NW Series
For months, I have been mulling around an idea of doing a Pacific NW series of photos. Finally, I am now starting this project. In a nutshell, it is using photos from around the NW as a background, then matching the type of drop to what is in the photo. As these are taken with a macro lens, the depth of field is shallow so the background will still be soft, not sharp at all, but still recognizable. For example, Mt. Hood is a landmark that is easily recognized.
The past few months in my drop photography have been trial and error, as I've been disassembling my setup and moving things around, upgrading equipment (including a new lens), organizing, etc. I did three water drop sessions in a row, where I didn't get a single print worthy photo! As I told myself at the time, "if this was so easy, everybody would be doing it!"
What is a "session?" It is usually 3-5 hours long, sitting in a darkened room, getting one drop per photo (burst mode will not work for this type of photography) taking 200-300 photos. It feels strange to sit in a dark room when it's a beautiful bright and sunny day out! I get out my folding chair, my water jugs, measuring cups with a pouring spout, ice, put music on, and then really think about what photos I want to get, even meditate for a few minutes. I find this helps tremendously, quieting my mind and organizing my thoughts.
The biggest surprise so far, in doing this series, is my rose photo. For all of the other photos so far, I had an idea in mind of what shape of drop I wanted to get, and the water was ever so cooperative (yes!!!). For this photo, I put one of my rose photographs in the background, but was stumped on what shape of drop to aim for. However, the water knew! On my third photo, I got a flower shaped drop! I was astounded. Amazing!! It knew what I needed before I even knew! I love it when things fall into place like this. I think we could all use more of that in our lives!
A Milky World
I took a break from water drops, and did some milk photography.
Is milk photography easier than water drops? It depends. Milk has it's own challenges. I use a piece of glass for the milk to land on. The problem is, glass reflects every piece of dust and swipe from the cloth. I am tempted to take everything else out of the room, just so there will be less dust! It is maddening how much dust will just fall on the mirror between shots. One of the things I use most is a small LED flashlight. I can see the dust particles, literally, falling down through the air! The problem with dust, is, it shows up so readily in your photos, especially in macro photography! I come armed with a can of air, which helps. Windex, several rags, paper towels, chocolate covered espresso beans...
Keeping the glass scrupulously clean in between every shot, is crucial but a pain. I spend much more time cleaning and setting up than actually taking photos. Before my shot, I'm asking myself "where is the drop going to land? How do I find this spot each time? What do I pre focus on?" Auto focus won't work for these shots, as the drop falls much too fast to focus on, so you have to pre focus where you think the drop will go. The first drop of milk that falls always does an unimpressive "splat". That's it. Definitely not exciting. They look like UFOs to me. I have many white UFO photos, but I delete them as I go. Having less photos to upload and delete later, works better for me.
I usually add in a little food color. Consequently, my fingers are blue. I look like I'm turning into a smurf! I hope this wears off eventually. Even my lens cleaning cloth has blue spots now. Whoops. I like to add color, because white milk doesn't have any contrast. It's just milk. Solid white is hard to photograph. I stay away from photographing white flowers, for the same reason. The highlights are easy to blow out, if it's all white. Fun for a night, but now it's back to dropping water tomorrow night...