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This weekend is very exciting, one of the pieces from my unique collection of Macro Water Drop Photography will be on display at a very prestigious, juried show. This series of macro photos, which started on a whim, have now won awards and have been published in a national magazine. But how did it all begin? 

Back in 2014, on a snowy day on Long Island, NY, I decided it was too cold to go out and take photographs. I was bored and looking for something creative to do. I had seen photographs of water drop bouncing high up, filled with with different swirly colors (such as the one below) and decided that it would be a fun project to embark upon in my kitchen.

​(That is a water drop?? Yes! Actually, that is after the water has dropped into the pool of water and then popped back up. Didn't you know that it does that? Lol- Well, I didn't really either at the time! )

So I did what every good, techie does, I googled water drop photography and watched an instructional video on youtube! One of the instructions (sorry this may get technical for my non-photogs)was to set up a boom and hang a plastic baggy of water from it, cut the bottom and let the water drip into a shallow dish of water below. Once the drip hits the water it will pop back up, all happening within a split second.

The challenge was to use a macro lens on my camera to capture and freeze the motion of the water dropping and popping while staying in focus! A very important piece to all of this was to pre focus my camera based on where I thought the water would drop by using a pencil. So I dipped my pencil tip into the water in the exact spot where the water was dripping, focused and then locked my focus into place. Then all I had to do was start shooting photographs! Well, while pre-focusing, I looked through the view finder and thought that the red pencil dripping multicolored water drops was even cooler then the water pops themselves! Tons of macro photographers have tried their hand at macro photography water drops, but I had not seen many using objects in their photos. And thus, the macro water drop Series of Pencil Drops was created!! 

For the past 2.5 years I have been building a book of creative macro photography water drops that are whimsical in nature and different then I had ever really seen. It has challenged both my creativity and technical expertise. I am still creating and always trying to think of something fun that I can capture in my next water drop extravaganza! 

This past year has been quite exciting! The macro water drops are taking off! "Don't Get Caught Behind The 8 Ball" macro water drop photo below was featured in the August 2016 edition of Shutterbug Magazine! ​

 This macro water drop photograph of a smiley face pouring out of a red solo cup was chosen to be part of a National Juried Gallery Exhibit entitled COLORS at the Brooklyn Waterfront Artists Coalition in Red Hook, Brooklyn. The juror was Lilian Tone, Assistant Curator at the Museum of Modern Art (Yes...MOMA in NYC!!)

This collection of Happy Drops ( Dropper Full of Happy, Color Me Happy- White, Color Me Happy-Red, Pour Me Some Happy) was awarded first prize at a Juried competition on Long Island back in 2014. Color Me Happy Red was also on display in a juried competition at the Long Island Art League in 2015. 

Over time, I have been trying to capture drops with double meanings using a variety of subjects and objects. Sometimes the drops are whimsical, playing on a familiar pun or idiom and other times I have tried to capture more meaningful messages. One of my favorites is the first one below: UNITY DROP- Bringing the colors of the world together in harmony.

Water Drop Photos listed from Left to Right:
Unity Drop, Patriotic Drops, Soccer Pop, Paint Balls, Paint Ball, Love Notes, Love Potion #9, Pour Me Some Vino
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These photos and more can be seen at LONG ISLAND FINE ART PHOTOGRAPHY.

So HOW do I capture the images inside those tiny drops? Are they photoshopped?

The answer is - no..they are NOT photoshopped. They are macro photography and science. I don't really understand the science part completely, google water refraction and you will have your answers.

And the answer is yes...I do use photoshop to clean up my images and crop them. And on occasion I have made one or two of the drops a tiny bit larger so you can really see what is inside. But the drops are real and the images that you see inside of them were NOT photoshopped in. 

HOW do I do it? Well, that is another blog post for another day! 

So- what do you think? Leave me a comment or just say hi below!!