How to capture beautiful photos of water drops.

Techniques for photographing glistening water drops for everything from nature to product photography.

Water drops are a beautiful but challenging subject to photograph. Getting the perfect image of a single water drop frozen in time and space takes skill, patience, and a little bit of luck. However, using these camera and editing tricks, you can create stunning images using water drops.

Camera techniques for shooting crystal-clear water drops.

For high-quality images, try these camera and lighting techniques when photographing water drops:

  1. Use a fast shutter speed and shoot in burst mode: To freeze a water drop in motion, use a fast shutter speed to eliminate motion blur and shoot in burst mode to help you capture the water drop at the perfect spot in the frame.
  2. Shoot at a high f-stop: When shooting small, fast-moving objects, using a high f-stop gives you a deep depth of field that keeps everything in focus.
  3. Use artificial light: The best way to get crisp images of water drops that appear suspended in time and space is to use artificial strobe lights that help you freeze motion and give your images depth.
  4. Manually focus your camera: Water drops move too quickly for autofocus. Measure your approximate focal length for where the water drop will fall into frame and manually set your focus to the appropriate distance.

Water drop photography takes patience and skill, but once you’ve mastered it, the results can be absolutely stunning. It can be used for everything from food photography to product shoots, and even portraiture. Check out some more photo tips and tricks that you can use to enhance your photography skills.

Explore what more you can do to make your images shine with Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom today.