Fruit dropped in water

Hi there!

Im trying to freeze a slice of orange in a cup of water extremely close up. I

would like to capture all the detail of the fruit and bubbles while keeping the

background completely white and void of shadows.

 

 

So far Ive tried a direct and softbox strobe, with SOME luck, but I cant seem to

perfect it. Any ideas?

Need more info, but I like shooting in almost total darkness so the flas stops most or all of the movement. I wish I knew what your setup was.

It's all about the power of your flash and the shortness of its flash duration. You'll need good power for depth of field and a very short flash duration to stop any motion.

Hi Sean,

 

Brooks is right about the power of the flash and the flash duration. Generally the lower the

power setting, the shorter the flash duration. But, to truly capture the detail you will need

a VERY short duration somewhere on the order of 1/2000th of a sec or less. How hard or

from how high you drop the fruit will affect just how fast the fruit will fall, the faster the

fall or toss, the shorter your flash duration will have be. Hopefully, there is a rental house

near you, because if so I'd suggest renting a Broncolor Grafit A4 pack and head set. These

flashes are wicked fast and the flash duration is adjustable down to 1/7500th of a second

with no color shift.

 

Regardless of the flash duration, you will need to PRECISELY time the moment of firing the

flash and human reaction time is not so good, around 1/20th of a second or so.

 

So how to light it?

 

Two strobes set to their lowest power duration with medium reflectors aimed 1/3rd of the

way into your background. One strobe with softbox set directly above your tank of water.

Mask out any areas of the tank that will not be seen with black velvet or foamcore, this will

give you better control of the obivious flare issues. Shoot, shoot, shoot away. Keep plenty

of paper towels handy and the power cords of your strobes dry. Electricity and water do

not mix well.

 

If you can, have your camera teathered to a computer so you can review the images on a

larger monitor.

I would try setting up your normal all white lighting and using a large aquarium to drop the

fruit into. Turn the power down as far as possible while maintaining a desired exposure. The

lower power will maximize your flash duration.

Sean, two wireless Nikon SB800s, one with a 8" cereal box snoot on the foam core background (1/8 power approx 1/5900) and one with a 3" cereal box snoot directly above pointed down at the bowl (1/16 power approx 1/10900). My first attempt at this and it was fun. Sorry, didn't have an orange slice?it's a ball woven from multicolor rubber loops. Doing it again I would turn down the overhead flash.<div></div>

For your white sweep use a piece of plexiglass and set a strobe behind it, that way you can

over light the background with out washing out your subject, find a piece of plexi at a

hardware store, mayby a flourecent light cover for ceilings lights would work

<p>I gave found slices very fifficult to capture as, as soon as they hit the water they have a tendency to turn in the water making the edge face the camera.</p>

<p>I have been quite successful in capturing whole fruits as you can see here. https://www.flickr.com/photos/skramshots/sets/72157651968283476/<br>

My set up is to use a fish tank with a black mount board behind (or a white one) and the 2 flashes. 1 shooting through an umbrella above and angled in to the top of the tank. The other one shooting directly at where the fruit will be but angled at 45 degrees towards that area shooting through a diffuser (I used white sheet of toilet paper).<br>

Camera pre focussed to the centre of the tank and shooting at 1/200 f9.<br>

Play around with flash strength.</p>

<p>Einsteins have a shortest flash duration of 1/13,500 of a second. That will stop that action. They will also pop 10 frames per second so shoot in burst to get more chances. </p>