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"QUANTUM SHOT" #325(rev)
Link - article by Avi Abrams




One Ordinary Drop of Water: Liquid Art & Droplet Photography

It certainly takes great skill and very good equipment to create these frozen-in-time "water sculptures", in every captured frame revealing the inherent energy and the beautiful dynamics of flowing, cascading and dripping water:


("Dew-Soaked Dandelions" by Sharon Johnstone, see more here)

Some artists decide to substitute water with more viscous liquids, which leads to even more psychedelic, "lava lamp"-like effects. But more often than not, simply playing with ambient color and light distribution is enough to produce an outstanding effect. In this article we will try to cover the full variety of high-speed liquid photography and the excitement of resulting abstract-modernist compositions.


Luiz Luxvich makes startlingly clear images of splashing water

This master of liquid photography lives in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and has the most fantastic gallery online, bursting with variety of colorful creations:



(images credit: Luiz Luxvich)

Amazingly, even without any added coloring, pure water looks simply great... like in these examples from the French photographer:


(images credit: JPV)


Liquid Sculptures by Martin Waugh

Martin Waugh, of Liquid Sculpture, is perhaps the most famous artist in liquid photography sub-genre. His works are justly praised as "full of fun, whimsy and wonder" (see full gallery here):



Water Kiss!


(images credit: Martin Waugh)


More Surreal Colored Drops

These droplets seem to have acquired a life of their own. The fluid forms and smoothly flowing into each other colors remind me of the similarly fluid illustrations by the famous 1950s science fiction artist Richard M. Powers.

Photographs by Fotoopa, liquid art master from Belgium, are one million times better than a lava lamp, and significantly more mesmerizing:












(images credit: Fotoopa)


Got Milk? Spill it, Drip it, Swirl it! (artistically speaking, of course)

A Milk Drop:


(image credit: Michele M. Ferrario)

Drops of food coloring come together to become an artistically-pleasing set, by Peter Ovesny:


(images credit: Peter Ovesny)

A Tentacle! -


(originals unknown)

This is not mercury, not even melting ice - just water... splendid water! Woke up one morning, saw this thing crawling toward me across the sink... decided to go back to bed and sleep it off -


(image credit: Carolina LaBranche)


Coffee Meets Milk

Look at the gorgeous "liquid art" photography by Irene Muller, transforming coffee and milk into a mysterious whole, bringing them to entirely new heights of artistic expression. With her permission, here are some samples of this highly delicate art:





Welcome your own personal caffeine octopus:



You want eggs with that? -



Blueberry Milkshake:



Suspended...


(images credit: Irene Muller)

For more great high-speed photography of colored water drops we recommend to visit this Flickr group.





(images via)

The following is a 3D rendering, but still very impressive:


(image credit: Ratow)


Cold Shower Splendor

Next time you catch someone creeping from behind and overturning a bucket of cold water over somebody's head, don't get too upset; perhaps they are just (very selfishly) trying to take a memorable picture... Like this one, for example:


(image credit: Helene Desplechin)

This looks like a flowing water cape!


(image via)

These interesting water shapes happened as a result of blowing up water-filled balloons. What lengths some photographers would go to, just to make a cool picture! -


(image credit: Ronnie Phipps)


(image via)

While the turbulent flows of water would easily produce mesmerizing effect in high-speed photography, the simple falling of individual droplets - one after another - can also produce interesting results:


The Dynamics of The Fall of a Droplet

The following shots trace the physics of water's flow in a form of individual caplets, seemingly quite complex (see more on this page):




(images credit: John Bush at M.I.T.)


In Your Face!

Liquid photography is often used in promotional images and advertisements:


(image via)


Potpourri of Droplets

The Universe seem to be reflected in a single drop, or in a necklace of droplets:


(image credit: Irene Mueller)



(originals unknown)


(image via)


(image via)


Beautiful drops of water, just sitting there and waiting to be photographed:


(originals unknown)


(image credit: Winston Rockwell)


(image credit: Ark)

In this series we find perhaps the most artistic presentation of droplets and bubbles ever made:


(image credit: Linda)

Most of the effects seen here are caused by the surface tension of common water, as formation and flowing forms of giant soap bubbles clearly demonstrate:


(image via)


CONTINUE TO NEXT PART! ->

ALSO READ OUR "AWESOME PHOTOGRAPHY" CATEGORY ->

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YOUR COMMENTS::

18 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

No such compilation should go without at least one nod to Dr. Harold Edgerton, who was the first to reveal the beauty frozen in an instant of time. The first "milk drop crown" photo in existence is one that he made.

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Anonymous Anonymous said...

Why is it amazing that water looks great without any added colouring?

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Anonymous Anonymous said...

The fourth picture in the "High-speed photography group" isn't a photography. It is a digitally rendered image.
Source:
http://interfacelift.com/wallpaper/details.php?id=660

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Blogger emily xyz said...

These are just amazing!! Thank you for turning me on to these artists. Fantastic!

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Blogger Martin's Test Blog said...

Jackson,

Doc Edgerton was a master, brilliant inventor, and by all accounts, a warm and generous individual. His name will always be associated with this kind of work. But, in fairness, A. M. Worthington published a book of high-speed photographs of splashes in 1908. The large portion of his work was done in the late 1800's.

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Blogger Martin's Test Blog said...

I believe that the group called "Dynamics of the Droplet's Fall" should be credited to John Bush at M.I.T.: http://www-math.mit.edu/~bush/bones.html

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Blogger Avi Abrams said...

Thank you Martin for the info; I also put in the credit

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Anonymous Anonymous said...

Great article, but you overlooked a great site ironically called Liquidartgallery.com. There are some amazing images there by michael melgar. I first saw some of his photos on dpreview but his gallery is excellent.

Dave

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Anonymous Anonymous said...

High speed photography always fascinated me. The above pictures are a true inspiration.

I constructed a timer for high speed photography that allows me to trigger a flash or or a camera shutter. I was able to capture water drops, popping balloons and shuttering light bulbs without much trouble.

Please check some of my work:
http://www.universaltimer.com/gallery1.html

Ark

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Blogger Avi Abrams said...

Ark - awesome work, thank you. I am going to link to your site today :)

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Anonymous Anonymous said...

all fantastic images.
Would be nice if you can check out my website to see some of my water drop shots.
http://www.ultimatedream.co.uk/gallery/still/still.html
or
http://www.flickr.com/photos/21583791@N06/

Akpe

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Blogger Avi Abrams said...

Akpe: Great work! Will link to you in the next part article. Cheers

___  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Красивые фотографии. Кому нравятся картины нарисованные масляной краской смотрите тут

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Anonymous Anonymous said...

steeply

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Anonymous Anonymous said...

see my photo on one of my favourite blog, priceless :)

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Anonymous Irish Dancing Shoes said...

i added your site on my twitter

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Blogger stweedle said...

Even tho they are fantastic,and made using pretty expensive equipment, it's possible to get good drop shots using the very basic stuff. Example here --> http://365project.org/darrenellis/365/2012-04-18

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Blogger Unknown said...

bet drop pictures ever http://liquid-moments.com or http://www.flickr.com/photos/79715690@N07/

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