Martin Waugh uses elements of art and science to create these images. He quotes that " in history water has calmed the soul, soothed the spirit and healed the wounded" i feel he portrays this in his images as they are very calming colours with a lot of blue and pinks and as the movement of the water is very rhythmic.He creates this with the method of high speed photography that makes it possible to create these stunning images as it freezes a moment in time that we would necessarily see with the naked eye. I really like the way the images look as they look effortless even though a lot of effort would have gone into these. They are fun and playful images even though they have a calming and peaceful feel to them i also like the mixture of colours in them and its not just one blocked colours yet they are all very basic and pastel i also really like idea you never get the same image twice these are really unique image. I think these images were created using an off camera flash to illuminate the water. he experiment with other materials such as oil and balloons however he felt he did not get the best effects and the one he wanted with these materials as he found the oil was to thick. He is that precises with his work that he can up to a degree can control the shape of bubbles he wants by changing the timing of the drops the drops are thickened by liquid soap as it creates more shapes and more depth and impact to the water.
These are really striking images as they are so unique and original and the timing in these images are amazing they are someone impossible to see with the naked eye.Some of his images almost look like flowers with the drops he has created which i like as that brings another narrative or theme to the images,He would use a very fast shutter speed to create these images and would of synced the flash in he uses basic photo shopping to edit his images as he does not want to take away the natural beauty of the images. I think he background in science has really gave him an advantage when creating these images as he is able to understand the forms in these images and the way the bubbles move and i also think that is why he is so precises when creating these images.One of his other inspirations was kayaking as he rode many of the white water rivers where he loved all the bubbles created when doing this sport.His work has been in exhibition's in many places and i really quite famous. I really like this idea and i really like the idea or creating this off nature forms and focusing on colour as an element if i was to do this i would do a more basic version as i would not have the photographic equipment he has. however i do feel i could create this at home with an off camera flash.
i really like this image as i feel it has lots of character to it the colour are amazing and strong and bright there is an array of colours within the images the image looks so perfectly done and precise. the images look effortless yet so much thought would of gone into it. This image almost looks fantasy like with all the colours like pink and blue it is a very light pastel image. The water droplet almost looks like glass giving it a fragile feel to the image too.
i really like how he has the light field technique for this image with the very light reflective object but the dark background with the vignette. I think again this image looks like glass which i find amazing as it looks so fragile and this image is very high key which i think adds great detail to the images. They are so crisp. I think the reflection also plays a big part in this image as it is bang on. I am not sure if this was done manually or manipulated in Photoshop. This image again is striking just like all of Martin Waugh work however this is not striking because of the use of colour,
the depth of field in these images is amazing as it is so shallow creating this huge blur which brings your eyes to focus on the center of the image again the image is so clear and crisp. I especially like this image as it doesn't look real. Although it has been created naturally by having a map as the background the water drop as it is round creates the image in a sphere, i like the way he has created almost little mini planets using this technique i think this would be fairly difficult to achieve but would be interesting to do and the effects of it are amazing they are so unique. I would like to have a go at this in the future as i do feel it would be different to do and a challenge,
I really like the red in this image as it has a brassy tone to the image to it and i also like there is only one colour tone to the image. I think using a macro lens was the main key in all these images as without this you wouldn't be able to capture the image so clearly and you wouldn't be able to to capture something impossible to capture with the naked eye.
I then went on to research how these images where created and what i would need.
what i will need:
my camera
a macro lens
a flash or flashes
remote shutter
tripod
a container
card
water
something to pour the water from
Your camera should be set to f.8 and 1/200 which is a really high shutter speed so you capture the action
You should start by setting up you container and your water and your camera on the tripod with the correct settings you would then would set up your flash so it was on slave mode and set it up in the right position.Then you simply fire the remote shutter why you poor the water into the container.
during my images i want to focus on colour and sharpness as i feel these are two main factors in Martins work they are the two key elements that make his images so striking and amazing and this is what i think makes them very inspiring they show ambition and determination in his images as he gets the precise moment in the drop and creates the most amazing forms.
Test shoot.
I looked at the work of Martin Waugh who is a german photographer who focuses on photography to do with water. I was amazed by how crisp and clear the images were and the colours where amazing in the images as they were so vibrant and the colours were really vivid his work was like anything I had seen before they were completely unique which is what i loved about his work.From my research I discovered that Martin was very precise and had done so many that he knew when to drop the water to create a certain shape. I thought the dedication to his images were truly inspiring. I then went on to research how he created these images, it said he had used soap to thicken the water so it made more of an impact when it hit the surface. He used a external flash in slave mode so that it could be fired when the water was dropped. I also looked up what equipment I needed to create these stunning images. I then realised he had used a lot of professional equipment so I needed to think of ways I could re create these images with thing I had access to. I watched a video on his technique and figure out I could do it using house hold equipment however I wouldn't get the exactly same look as Matins work.
I brainstormed the key elements of his work and decided that colour and water were the main factors that made his images amazing and that I need to be able to capture the right moment so it looks like I have frozen time and something impossible to see with the naked eye. I decided I would use strong colours such a blue green and pink and also grey as I thought this would add a different tone to the image.
I did a test shoot for my images to get all my settings right and to see how possible this was to achieve I started by setting my camera up on a tripod and then got a frying pan an filled it half with water and placed it on the kitchen side, I then placed a piece of coloured card behind the frying pan and then set the flash up on the side, this would bounce off the card when the shutter was pressed so the colour reflected in the water. I set my flash into slave mode so it would be set off when the shutter was pressed down. I shot at f8 as this gave me the detail I wanted but still gave me the blurred background I wanted. I need a really fast shutter speed to capture the action so I shot at 1/200 of a second and my iso was 100. I had to manually focus my camera on a pen first before i shot as i felt auto focus would not pick up well. i used a macro lens other wise i wouldn't of been able to capture these images so clearly as macro zooms in so you can see things impossible to see with the human eye. I then set my remote up for my shutter and then pressed the shutter and began to pour the water into the pan i tried to go onto continuous shoot however the flash couldn't keep up with the shutter This was one disadvantage to the shoot.
When it came to my final shoot i looked at using more vibrant coloured card i could do my settings the same and have the same set up as this worked last time.I again had the same problem when i tried to shoot on continuous so i had to put in on single shot other than that i had no real other problems with my shoot. I had a few images that i like it was hard though as most of them didn't work even though i took loads only a few were successful this shows you have to patience when doing this kind of photography. I picked the ones i felt were the most successful from the shoot that really captured freezing moments in time. I then went on to edit them only by adjusting the curves in photoshop as i felt the colours could be a little bit more vibrant. I feel my work is not as crisp and clear as Martins work and i would like to work on that if i was going to this again, i feel like with this kind of photography the more you do it the better you get it at it. It was challenging to do but i enjoyed being pushed out of my comfort zone it was interesting to learn a new skill and thing i could apply to my work in the future. I am really pleased with the outcome of my images as i feel like i got the theme of colour and i feel like i would improve with practice.
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