In product photography, you always want to capture the product in the best and appealing way. Sometimes you want to take that product and give it a sense of motion or life. If you happen to be shooting with liquids for your products like a martini glass or maybe even for the drink itself, one powerful way to add motion and life to the image is with a splash.
In this splash photography tutorial by Dustin Dolby with Workphlo, Dolby shows how he is able to freeze the action and give life to his martini shots. To start off, Dolby shows us his setup for the shot to grab a base frame in case you need to merge multiple exposures together to get the perfect splash. After taking a few exposures to get the glass looking perfect, the next part is where the fun begins by adding water. Dolby tossed the ice cube in the water and wireless triggers the camera simultaneously to capture the splash. It does take a few attempts to grab the perfect splash, and you may have to merge several shots together to have it move just the way you want it.
In any case, I would suggest capturing multiple exposures as Dolby does in the video; you can also combine later to create your final piece. In the beginning, it will take some practice to get the timing right, or if you have a good motion or sound trigger you can use one of those. For the motion setting, you may have to adjust your delay settings a few times to get it perfect.
With the knowledge of how to capture splashes in your product photography, don’t let it stop there. Find creative ways to incorporate into other genres of your work. Let's see some of you splash photography in the comments or any tips you may have.
It's a useful video, up to a point. No martini drinker would ever do this.