Inspired by @Ed_McGuirk’s posting of frozen bubbles, these fluid bubbles just fascinate me. They display layering and nesting that’s impossible to observe in real time. The variability in density is also quite interesting.
Even with an extremely high shutter speed, every frame is different when shooting bubbles at the base of a waterfall.
Specific Feedback Requested
Any feedback is welcome, but I’d be especially interested if you also find subject matter of natural processes as fascinating as I do and other techniques to capture them.
Technical Details
Is this a composite: No
Nikon D610
70-300mm @ 300mm
ISO 4000
f/5.6
1/4000 sec
Frozen water (shutter speed or cold temps) makes me happy anytime someone cares to show it off. This image though is a bit less dynamic than Ed’s. I think it’s the uniformity of the bubbles. Maybe a crop in an area with more variation would ease the static nature of it. As would probably adding some contrast. B&W images need both and I think with the regularity of the bubbles we need to see more black. I couldn’t zoom the image, so that’s about all I have. Looks sharp in this view.
Well Matt, it is amazing how similar this image of fluid bubbles is to my image of frozen bubbles. Great minds think alike, I guess We’ve got 2 out of the 3 states of water covered, liquid and solid. All we need now is a photo of steam bubbles to get the gaseous state covered too. Your version is more like shooting waterfalls, shutter speed matters a lot, whereas for mine shutter speed doesn’t matter at all. Yet the end result is so similar.
I would agree with @Kris_Smith, I think you would get a bit more snap here by pulling in the black point, or darkening the dark tones with a luminosity mask. It would create more contrast and definition in the shapes of the bubbles. In my ice bubbles post, I kept pulling in the black point much further than I would in a “normal” image, and it just kept getting better.
Cool image Matt. I agree with both Ed and Kristen about adding some contrast. I have never thought to shoot fluid bubbles before. You’ve got my mind salivating at the potential for images like this. The upper right corner is an eye magnet for me. It is much darker than the rest of the scene and creates a slight imbalance in the image. The lower right corner is a bit dark as well but not as much as the upper right. Nice take on something that we probably all see when out on the trails but never think to photograph. Well done Matt.
We’ve got 2 out of the 3 states of water covered, liquid and solid. All we need now is a photo of steam bubbles to get the gaseous state covered too. Your version is more like shooting waterfalls, shutter speed matters a lot, whereas for mine shutter speed doesn’t matter at all. Yet the end result is so similar.