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Description
I have received quite a few requests for my setup for this shot. so here goes.

basic setup:

1 large pyrex glass bowl (Square) (this catches the run off)
2 Smaller Metal Baking tray Filled to overflowing with plain tap water with green food color added.
3 my drops are created using an 18L cold water storage tank (the kind you would find in your loft or attic). with a stop tap leading to 10mm copper pipe. (stop tap helps regulate the flow)
4. Camera on a tripod approx 60cm give or take from the drop tray fitted with a sigma 70-300 apo dg macro lens, (set to 190mm)
5. Speed light flash connected via ttl hot shoe lead. (situated approx 30 cm in front and to the right of the drop tray. focused at 80mm on full power (aimed at the background))
6. Background (in this instance was a piece of pastel blue card that i laminated to give a little extra shine.

Please understand i don't class myself as a pro photographer, i am still learning so please don't feel like i am trying to preach to the pros. this is just what i find works for me.

I find it helps if the flash is focused on your background, this stops the brightness of the flash from showing in the water, it cuts down on glare and ads a little more contrast to the resulting ripples in front of the drop. and also this way it cuts out the shadow of the drop on your background.
(using this method you could substitute the background for some sequin art of some form, the flash will then reflect the color into the water and give you a nice bokah effect.

my camera setup for this shot was as follows

F7.1
1/200 second exposure.
100 iso.

from the tip of the pipe to the top of the drop tray is approx 50cm, i find this hight given the the size of pipe offers the best size of drop. and for the impact style drops like this, i generally aim for 10 drops a second, this gives me a good success rate.

if you want to get more of the drop in acceptable focus then a higher number appature will be needed, but i would suggest moving the background further away if you want it to be blured.

i also use a shutter release cable to keep the camera steady.

with patience you will learn when to shoot. i don't use a photogate, i dont use electronic aids to controll the drop size/speed. just good old fashioned gravity and trial and error lol.

i hope this helps a few of you. if enough people enquire i will be prepared to put all this in a full tutorial. and if called for i will do it as a video.

thanks to everyone for the overwhelming number of comments and faves.

Description
I have received quite a few requests for my setup for this shot. so here goes.

basic setup:

1 large pyrex glass bowl (Square) (this catches the run off)
2 Smaller Metal Baking tray Filled to overflowing with plain tap water with green food color added.
3 my drops are created using an 18L cold water storage tank (the kind you would find in your loft or attic). with a stop tap leading to 10mm copper pipe. (stop tap helps regulate the flow)
4. Camera on a tripod approx 60cm give or take from the drop tray fitted with a sigma 70-300 apo dg macro lens, (set to 190mm)
5. Speed light flash connected via ttl hot shoe lead. (situated approx 30 cm in front and to the right of the drop tray. focused at 80mm on full power (aimed at the background))
6. Background (in this instance was a piece of pastel blue card that i laminated to give a little extra shine.

Please understand i don't class myself as a pro photographer, i am still learning so please don't feel like i am trying to preach to the pros. this is just what i find works for me.

I find it helps if the flash is focused on your background, this stops the brightness of the flash from showing in the water, it cuts down on glare and ads a little more contrast to the resulting ripples in front of the drop. and also this way it cuts out the shadow of the drop on your background.
(using this method you could substitute the background for some sequin art of some form, the flash will then reflect the color into the water and give you a nice bokah effect.

my camera setup for this shot was as follows

F7.1
1/200 second exposure.
100 iso.

from the tip of the pipe to the top of the drop tray is approx 50cm, i find this hight given the the size of pipe offers the best size of drop. and for the impact style drops like this, i generally aim for 10 drops a second, this gives me a good success rate.

if you want to get more of the drop in acceptable focus then a higher number appature will be needed, but i would suggest moving the background further away if you want it to be blured.

i also use a shutter release cable to keep the camera steady.

with patience you will learn when to shoot. i don't use a photogate, i dont use electronic aids to controll the drop size/speed. just good old fashioned gravity and trial and error lol.

i hope this helps a few of you. if enough people enquire i will be prepared to put all this in a full tutorial. and if called for i will do it as a video.

thanks to everyone for the overwhelming number of comments and faves.