best setup for liquid photography, fast shutter

[D60]

I am currently doing an OCN level 2 in photography and have just done this weeks homework which was liquid photography. At the time the homework was set the teacher said we would need to use a flash and a very fast shutter speed >1000

I didnt really take this in at the time but when I got home it sank in that the fastest I can take a photo with flash is 200 due to the flash sync speed. This got me wondering how would I be able to take a photo with a shutter speed >1000 and use a flash?

 

[itsdavedotnet]

the flash freezes the motion.

The actual pulse of light itself from the flash lasts around 1/1000th of a second, so your shutter speed does not really matter - do it in a relatively dark room and 1/200th will mean that the only light that the sensor is seeing is from the flash, which will be very quick and freeze the liquid.


And tell your teacher off for me, they were getting shutter speed and flash duration mixed up

 

[mark1616]

Dave is correct, I never worry about shutter speed as long as there is no ambient light getting in with the settings I use. I did some to prove a point to someone at 1/8 second and still pin sharp with no blur. The key is not to use to high a flash power setting as that will kill the duration of the flash pulse.

 

[D60]

Cheers for the reply. I will give it another go in a darker room as my shot was not as sharp as I was expecting and what you have said makes perfect sense

 

[astraman1]

where the drip hits the water stick a pen in at that point so you can focus on that

 

[mark1616]

Cheers for the reply. I will give it another go in a darker room as my shot was not as sharp as I was expecting and what you have said makes perfect sense

You probably won't need the room dark just don't push the ISO and close down the aperture for some good depth of field, even a quite well lit room will be a zero exposure with those sorts of settings.