Photographing Creative Water Sculptures

We made a splash in this live show as Karl demonstrated how to create art with water and a simple object.

Photographing a white on white image, Karl explained the technique for photographing water on a white background, and how you can enhance shape and form in the liquid. He also covered concepts like fast flash duration, what it means, and what speeds you need to freeze liquid shots like this. Additionally, Karl also explained the lighting setup he used to create the white background and light the water.

To end the show, Karl demonstrated the retouching process and techniques to comp together the final image.

This information-packed show provides a simple three-light setup that you can easily replicate in your own studio, no matter the size, and will allow you to test new techniques, get creative, and add some eye-catching images to your portfolio.

Topics covered in this show include:

  • How to photograph liquid splashes
  • How to create white backgrounds for photography
  • Photographing water on a white background
  • Using fast flash duration to freeze movement
  • Retouching splash images in Photoshop

Additional classes mentioned during this show include:

If you have any questions about this show, please post in the comment section below.

Comments

  1. Karl, at 1:40:55 you mention a workshop on the science behind the visual process you used to do. I just typed in some keywords on your website, wondering if this information has found its way into a non-workshop format by now, but it doesn’t seem like that’s the case?!
    Am I overseeing a video that goes into this topic very deeply, or is that still something you keep for workshops?

    1. Hi, this was a 4 day workshop that I ran with photographer Tim Flach who also studies the science of visual perception. We are not currently running the workshop due to our busy schedules but we hope to run it again in the future.

    1. Hi, there is no burst mode on medium format cameras, the best you can get out of them would be about one frame per second so I have to time it by eye. If you were using something like a Sony A1 and you had very fast flash recharge times then yes burst mode could work well.

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