Water droplet photography

<p>An amateur photographer mixes guar gum with water and food dye then releases droplets from a remote controlled valve into a bowl of water. The set-up is at the bottom of the page and the results are quite interesting:<br>

<a href="http://hotnewshome.com/2011/11/29/water-droplets-photographs-by-heinz-maier/3995">http://hotnewshome.com/2011/11/29/water-droplets-photographs-by-heinz-maier/3995</a></p>

<p>I like image #5 for its unusual splash pattern and complementary colours. </p>

<p>Correction: it appears the thickener is mixed with water in the bowl and droplets of coloured water is released into it. </p>

<p>Presumably the thickened fluid acts as a trampoline of sorts to give the droplets of water a harder yet compliant surface from which to bounce.</p>

<p>Lots going on there. Maybe you have a better analysis. </p>

<p>Great find -- great pictures. Thanks, Michael.</p>

<p>Tom M</p>

<p>Definitely the best of that genre that I have seen so far--very creative and technically perfect.</p>

<p>That is cool and impressive.</p>

<p>I was intrigued by his apparently automated setup - sure enough it's a kit specifically designed for water drop photography and available commercially:<br>

<a href="http://www.cognisys-inc.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=129">http://www.cognisys-inc.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=129</a></p>

<p>The kit appears to come with one water-valve/drop-dispenser. </p>

<p>What makes these pictures special to me is:</p>

<ul>

<li>The additional 4 solenoid valves which seem to release droplets sequentially (inferred from the photos) - You can see the colored tubes of fluids connected to the solenoid valves. In picture #7, we see a blue drop sitting on top of the orange splash. </li>

<li>The use of guar gum, still not sure why apart from my guess above, and the photographer has clearly given a lot of thought into this exercise. </li>

<li>The lighting, which I have no idea how it was done; it makes everything come to life. </li>

</ul>

<p>Lots more great images from the hardware maker:<br>

[<a href="http://www.cognisys-inc.com/customer_photos/customer_gallery.php?osCsid=ac635ce1261fdb3487d5620a45901b8b">Link 1</a>]<br>

[<a href="http://www.cognisys-inc.com/more_photos/photo_gallery.php?osCsid=ac635ce1261fdb3487d5620a45901b8b">Link 2</a>]</p>

<p>That is absolutely amazing.</p>

<p>Is the Beer in the background of picture 13 part of the setup, or the inspiration?</p>

<p>Thank you Michael. The pictures are like snowflakes - always random, never two the same.</p>

<p>What we would miss with out people like Heinz Maier to show us that world : Thank Michael for posting this</p>

<p>Freeze framing God's molecular playground. Incredible shots. Looks better than some glass blown art I've come across.</p>

<p>There's only one tiny thing that bugs me about this in that is associating this technique with Heinz Maier which seems to be a bit premature since the Cognisys gallery shows others with just as fantastic looking water droplet shots that I couldn't tell them apart with regards to technique. Clearly God is the creative genius here.</p>

<p>I guess the more controlled the process in the photography the harder it is to distinguish who did what unless the photographer includes his name with the shot.</p>

<p>Tim, I think the page only mentioned that the photographer used the technique rather than "invented" it. </p>

<p>I've come across a number of these interesting works but most were for demonstration purposes of physics and chemistry principles; the idea of creating art is possible but rarely done. </p>

<p>Notably was vibrating non-Newtonian fluids (fancy word for corn starch and water) on a speaker and seeing the resulting monster-like sculpture created as you tune around the resonant frequency. </p>

<p>Another one is playing with magnets and ferrofluids, again, weird shapes begin to take place. </p>

<p>One that I've played with is dissolving Sodium Acetate in near boiling water, wait till it cools, then introduce impurities and watch the fluid solidify (while giving off heat). I got the ingredients from discarded hospital body warmers. Now I can imagine using coloured fluid and pouring (or dripping) it while watching it solidify into what resembles a termite cathedral mound; might make an interesting photo or time-lapse video. </p>

<p>There are lots of posts of these experiments on YouTube. </p>

<p>I've seen a lot of photography of water droplets and thought I'd seen it all, but these are really wonderful images - unique shapes, colors and clearly he has approached it with a passion. Thanks for sharing this, I'm totally impressed. </p>

Check out the amazing results at www.snaperturepro.com

 

 

This is produced using the self-same device

DropGreen.jpg