Hi All, I'm back to playing with ink and water again and still no luck on clarity. Per past feedback, I increased my depth of field. I got more light. I didn't use a flash though as I have so many lights set up. But, obviously something it still not working. And it is such a bummer because I am really getting some cool stuff. Check these out and if any of you have thoughts about why I can get clarity, I'm totally receptive!
The last three are the most interesting. Less going on and easier to see the detail because of it.
I don't think a shallow depth of field is a problem for these; I wouldn't mind even shallower for a surreal look.
I really want to try something like this. Very cool.
I hope you do so we can compare notes!
Wow! These are fabulous, Ruth. I love the sense of depth, the 3D effect. Particularly like 1, 2, 4 & 6. 1 &2 are among your very best anything. Love the colours. The first two remind me of Fernando de Szyszlo's work, although his work was rarely purely abstract. As in much of his work, the glowing colours against that "inky" (!) dark background create a wonderful effect, of something happening in some mysterious void.
Your DOF could be a lot more, potentially. If you want more overall sharpness, stop down. You've used apertures from f/3.5 (wide open, I suspect) to f/7.1 - all too wide for sharp macro work, which technically is what you're doing here. I'd use f/16 at least, and even to f/32. Your shutter speeds are from 1/80s to 1/400s - all plenty fast enough to adequately prevent motion blur, I suspect. ISO is either 200 or 800.
Since there is no crisp micro-detail, you could probably turn ISO higher still (certainly higher than 200), and use more noise reduction without losing your desired effect.
If you can increase the INTENSITY of whatever light you're using (including by simply bringing it closer), you can use lower ISO or shorter shutter speed. To my eye, the QUALITY of whatever light you're using is very suitable for this work. Diffused flash would give you ample intensity - you could use one flash, perhaps, and use foil or a mirror to reflect it. Motion blur would cease to be an issue
Yea! I'm so glad for your input. Your last batch got me to this point. I'll be back to the drawing board with this info. I am almost glad the is so hard because when I nail it I'm going to feel awesome about it! Thanks Chris!!
Is your camera's autofocus turned on or off?
auto focus is off. I put a dowel into the water to manually focus first. the location of the dowel was marked on the bottom of the tank so that when I dropped the ink, i did it in the same place. i don't think i had a deep enough depth of field though.
Tell me why you are asking so I can learn your thoughts. I am interested in your feedback.
I like the first one and how you can see the top or entry point for whatever. I wondered what it would look like upside down (hope you don't mind). I think it's cool, resembles like a funky mushroom cloud or even a rose.
OMG i LOVE this! I am totally going to relook at some of my existing ones and think about with new ones. I love this synergy in this group!
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