[Oso]

This is an image of a "rain chain", a substitute for a downspout for water drainage off the roof.

I was trying to use a slow shutter speed to get the flow of the water, but that by itself seemed boring to me, so I used a 30 sec. exposure and then used a flash multiple times during the exposure to try and capture the individual drops, and this is the best of the resultant images.

It was taken through a window, using a ND 6 and a circ. polarizer. (although the K5 system is weather sealed, drops on the lens are distracting, as is shooting outside in a thunderstorm.)

Unfortunately, I was unable to get the flash quite close enough to the chain, as the rain and over-spray would have ruined the flash for sure. (At the time, I didn't have any ziplocs handy.)

So my question is, does the image work? in other words, does it help using the flash to try to stop the drops? Would getting the flash closer get better captures of the drops, and if not, shy of photoshop magic, what would be the best way, if there is a way, to capture both the flow and the drops at the same time. My thinking was that bagging the flash in a ziploc and getting much closer would help get better definition on the drops, but given the long shutter speeds, it may not work. (The faster shutter speeds didn't seem to give me the flow I wanted but just seemed to wash out the water in the chain itself, and 20-30 seconds "seemed" to work best.)

Any suggestions to improve the shot, or does it seem to work the way it is?

Thanks.

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Last edited by Oso; 02-14-2012 at 04:17 AM.

[Myn.pheos]

I think the water droplets themselves are distracting. The blue splotches don't look like drops. But without them, the chain is interesting. Long exposure and multiple flashes made it into almost an impossible structure made of interesting material. Also, blurred water inside is good.

So maybe you could filter out the droplets, the are the only blue-ish and sharper element in the image.