Water Drops on Flowers Photography

Macro photography is my passion. I love taking photographs of tiny things and getting details that most other people would never see. Shortly after I got my macro lenses I began shooting flowers. I came across a flower that had water drops on it. I got some pretty cool photographs from this first photo shoot. From that point on I decided I would routinely try to take photographs of water drops on flowers.

I started staging my shots so that I could get them exactly the way I wanted instead of relying on nature and circumstances. I tried a few difference methods to get the water drops to bead up on the flower. Two methods worked best for me. Not all flowers will make water bead up. Some flowers the water will hit and slide straight off. Others will bond with the water and will form domes. I used two methods that produce difference results. First you can use a water spray bottle. This works well but leaves a lot of water drops all over the flower. This can be a good or bad thing depending on how you want your photograph to turn out. The second method is to use a zip lock bag. Fill a zip lock bag about ¼ full of water. Attempt to remove most of the air before sealing the bag. Use a needle to poke a single small hole in one of the corners. Try to make the hole as small as possible. Now squeeze the bag slightly forcing water out of the hole. Let the stream of water hit the flower. A few small water domes should form. With a little practice, luck and patience, you can get the water domes to appear where you want on the flower.

I was out of town about 2 years and I was missing my wife. I had a vase with flowers in it. I decided I would stage the flowers and water drops to make romantic messages to send my wife. I experimented and had about 15 good photographs come out with varying messages and symbols. I used phrases like "I Love You", "I Love Stacy" and hearts.

When something is refracted through a water drop it will be reversed and up side down. So if you plan to write messages make sure you write them backwards and turn them upside down.

Try different objects. Some object will make the water drops stick and bead up in nice domes. Other objects will not hold any tension on the water drops and they will flatten out.

If you don't like how the water drops landed on a flower, simply respray the flower and look for the shot you want. You have unlimited possibilities.