Spilt milk

I've been experimenting with macro techniques this week. I found this idea in a book - it looked really straightforward and fun. It was fun. Not so straightforward though!

I laid out a sheet of coloured felt under glass (borrowed from a photo frame) and put a couple of drops of milk on it, then suspended the syringe full of milk directly above, squeezed out another drop and tried to photograph it as it landed. It wasn't until I set everything up that I realised the book used a piece of kit I don't have - a separate flash unit. I thought I'd just manage with my ring light, but eventually realised I needed the flash to properly freeze the motion and get a sharp photo. Oh well...I got it as sharp as I could using other techniques (and taking hundreds of images on continuous release mode!).

I also experimented with different colours of background (felt) and milk (using food colouring). This image is actually light blue milk on bright yellow felt, but it looks so much better in black and white!

I'm going to try this again some time, now I've got past a few of the pitfalls. I'll be buying a dropper (the syringe was too hard to control) and probably a separate flash first though!

Camera/lens settings: ISO 400, f/8, 1/250s, 90mm, tripod, remote release & ring light