So my friend and I decided to try some water drop shots this past weekend. Although we didn't get any of the amazing collisions, we did get some pretty sweet shots and it was a great way for me to get used to my new Sunpak 422d flash; the experience taught me that I definitely need to get a wireless trigger for shots like this.

I call this first one "The Galaxy"





Notice the drop on the left side of the 2nd image. That purple drop is from the water taking off the dye of the Skittle that was dropped into the water



Skittle bomb!



The closest I think we got to getting the classic picture of a water drop

[tessfully]

I think the first is incredible and aptly named. I like it better than the "classic" you seek to achieve.

The 2nd and 3rd are great as well. Congrats on some nice photos!

[song_hm]

The first one is indeed galactic!

[Sailor]

The first one is outstanding - Asimov would've loved on one of his book covers.

Jer

[ekim89]

Thank you very much for the encouraging comments!!! I am hoping to get some more done in the upcoming weeks with different water colors and liquids.

[slowpez]

Definitely the first one.

[CasualPhil]

Great job, I agree- first one owns.

Might I ask, what shutter/fstop you were using and were you using off camera flash?

Thanks, gents.

[ekim89]

CasualPhil, Thank you very much!

As far as camera settings, I was at 55mm with the kit lens, f/5.6, and a shutter speed of 1/20.

I was shooting with a Sunpak auto 422d flash unit, mounted directly on the hotshoe (I am looking to get a wireless trigger very soon). The flash was set manually to fire at 1/16 power and no diffuser. I am not quite sure how it would work with the on camera flash.

And another great tip that I found was to set the white balance mode to tungsten for the awesome blue tints. Finally, we decided to make purple Kool-Aid instead of clear water for no apparent reason other than we thought it'd look cool.