No Bugs Yet, Just Oil Drops

R. Scott

I haven't seen too many bugs around the yard yet, and it's still too early for flowers up here in the Northeast, but that's OK . . . I think I'm hooked on oil drops. I decided to give it a try after viewing some recent postings here and the results are pretty fascinating. Some shots take on the appearance of space, others are simply abstract. Here are a few examples. Thanks for looking!

Jamesbjenkins

Just fantastic. Beautiful images! I'm completely new to this style of photograph. How do you set it up and light it? Those colors are intense!

Lord Vetinari

Wonderful series of absracts !
Brian v.

R. Scott

Jamesbjenkins wrote: »

How do you set it up and light it? Those colors are intense!

Set up is simply oil and water in a clear glass bowl placed on a compact disc, and the CD is lit from the side by a desk lamp. I do not take credit for that - I copied it from some postings here and on the web. There is a lot of trial and error involved, however, to get the right colors and "look". I just move the lamp and camera around until I like what I see and then start shooting, sometimes moving the lamp as I shoot to see what happens. I have tried different lamps (incandescent, halogen, clear bulb, frosted bulb), bowls, oils, focal lengths, apertures, etc.

The colors you see are pretty much SOOC. Post processing is mainly limited to adjusting levels to lighten/darken the shot, cropping, a little sharpening, and noise reduction.

I'll warn you . . . this can be addictive. Have fun.

DeVil

Beautiful, well done!