Achieving crystal sharp images of splashing water using standard strobe is difficult if not impossible. The camera needs to capture the water at super fast speeds and this can not be done with shutter speed alone as standard strobes only work at speeds 1/250 second or slower. If you use this system, the results are passable if you don't need to enlarge the image or you are doing something a bit arty. The following image was shot using standard strobe at 1/250 of a second.
Photo: Billie-Maree Ward
The secret to high speed photography techniques is using a very short duration of flash – as short as 1/40,000th of a second. If everything else in the room is dark, the light emitted from the flash effectively becomes your camera’s shutter speed, making it perfect for capturing motion. Canon has a range of speed lights that will achieve good results with smaller set ups but what if you wanted to photograph people in action? Then you need larger lights that have the capability to pulse light at very high speeds.
Photo: Alex Koloskov
Which strobes have the shortest flash duration? There are a few brands out there however the 'Broncolor' Strobe are known to produce remarkable results such as 1/8000 of a second but certainly at a price. A short tech write up on these flashes at http://www.picturecorrect.com/tips/how-to-use-flash-to-capture-razor-sharp-water-splash-photos/
Photographer Iain Crawford creates incredible images using high speed flashes. The following image is just an example of such work.
Photo: Iain Crawford: http://iaincrawford.com
This technique is also used by photographer Jaroslav Wieczorkiewicz who photographs liquid separately and then morphs the images together to create works of art.
Photo: Jaroslav Wieczorkiewicz
As you know, water and electricity is not very safe so be very careful in the studio. Have all equipment well covered and waterproofed. The following video shows how the Broncolor is used in the studio. Note: there are cheaper strobes out there that will work for you. I have just used Broncolor as an example to show how well the technique works.
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