Capturing the Perfect Splash Photo: TIPS FROM A PRO 

I had to shoot a waterproof teddy bear, so I did the same thing with a fish tank only with a hand pushing the bear under the water, The problem was it looked like we were trying to drown the bear! LOL

I am a dance photographer; it is all about timing. I capture 99% of my images on single shot. Your brain is better at timing than the 100ms interval of a 10fps camera. I would suggest trying the same experiment while playing music. Have your assistant dip the product at regular intervals in rhythm with the music, every other beat or so. If you capture on single shot, I think you'd be amazed how accurately you'd be able to get the depth of the dip within a couple of tries.

In my studio, we have always done such work with laser trigger gates. The arrival of the target and the flash delay can be set exactly.

These behind the scenes are SUPER helpful, thank you!

Back in the days of film, I used a microphone, dropping a cherry into a wine glass and just dialled the delay into the flash trigger box which I made myself from a plan in Practical Electronics magazine (you are talking early 1980s). You could use a mic with this as it has hit the water before you want to trigger the flash but make sure that the bottle starts off from the same place each time (use a stand and either use that to position the hand of the helper or actually grip onto the bottle somehow). A repeatable height to start with means that you have a repeatable velocity and therefore position of the bottle for a given time delay. With lighting, you say, think of the process. Here, you can think of the process being how far the bottle has gone into the water and how fast to generate the splash you need. Have fun.

4:20 I love how you started to look through the viewfinder and then remembered: „I sold my dslr“

Hi Scott! First if all thx a lot for all the amazing content you’re posting! I think I have an interesting video idea that would fit your content very well. Back in the day when DigitalRev TV still was a thing I loved watching their “Pro tog - cheap camera” series. I think it would be both entertaining and educational to see what the bare minimum of equipment is you need to pull something up to your normal standard off. My suggestion would be something like this: You are booked to shoot the campaign for a new burger menu for a fast food chain. To make that interesting you have a fictional budget of 1500£. The used market value of everything you use for the images cannot exceed this budget. This includes camera, lens(es), lighting, tripod, lightstands, light modifiers, backgrounds and so on. The price of the computer you may use is excluded. I would be very excited to watch something like this, especially seeing how you overcome the hurdles the gear will certainly have. Hope you like the idea. Kind regards, Niels

one word, MIOPS

Scott, tip - For silky, smooth water something a professional photographer like yourself, will definitely see in your photos. Add borax to the water to 35-50 Parts per million. Across the pond, here we use a soap product for borax Twenty Mule Team soap powder. We also add borax to pool water in the same concentrations, makes it glisten and slppery, silky smooth.

IMO, most mid range* to amature photographers think commercial work is about getting most shots bang on in the first set which isn't true. Commercial work relies on at most 2-3 final images and that's it! Unlike wedding or glamour/portfolio work which requires a series of images to tell a story. As for the shot setup there were plenty of images as reference to get the final image so that's a win for the team. however, my inclination would still go for a blue backdrop as it would complement the pink cap and I also noticed that the font was black but given the light hits giving us a shine. So yes, blue backdrop for* me but I suppose that's where our creative license tells us what's best which in this case for the team at tin house was pink.

Great to see you doing stuff like this, reminds me of our product shots for Garnier in 2008 "Fruicas" hair shampoo, from memory. Keep up the great work.. Amsure the punters will love it, Scott!!

Epic Scott!!

Use a beam break IR laser, a bomb release + millisecond delay timer or a MIOPS.. any one of these options would give you much more control and less frustration on shots like this.

Nice job Rob 👍😊

I think I've put my finger on your long form content... Your channel is like "Commercial Photography ASMR"

Great video POOR Rob, but he does a fantastic job.

Nice video, and thanks for the neat information. Keep up the good work.

Hello Scott, please be aware that all Fujifilm cameras have a very slight delay from pushing the shutter button to actual release. GFX 50R is the worst offender closely followed by GFX 100S. My guess is about 1/80 s delay but I might be wrong. Very frustrating thou. Aren't those Broncolors able to hypersync ? I thought that's the only reason you would go for Broncolor. Have a great 2024.

Does the line from the top of the aquarium interfere, and could the pink background be moved further back where it doesn't get wet? I know it can probably all be edited, but I wonder if that would save some editing. (Just seeing the final photo at the end, I guess the aquarium didn't matter.)

ok seriously. i could use a barny style video on how you composite the best of four images to make one without messing it up. ok to be fair i dont need this because my work is nothing like yours, and reality is ill never use this. i may just send photos to a guy to have it done. but it would be nice to know. like a basic rundown. i know you send the complicated stuff out yourself.

I like the end result but the product looks pink now. Isnt that a problem?

I found for me that the splash doesn't initiate until the object is fully submerged. The splash is the result of the water rushing back in to fill the void caused by the falling object. Which can't happen until the object is completely submerged.

A Miops Trigger could make things a lot easier.

Why wouldn’t you use a trigger, especially at that frame rate?

would be much easier and more precise with a light barrier

Will you be also posting the post-processing part?

can you present your team in a video?

Quite a lot of trial and error. Even for a short version video.

lol you could only burst flash that much without setting the place on fire with broncolor. lol. just a joke. but really.