The most amazing photos are a combination of simple things. Take oil and water. They couldn’t be more opposite. Washing up dishes with oil on it is a pain. When it comes to photography, it’s an entirely different thing. These two ingredients bring out the qualities of the other. Intrigued? Keep on reading to see how creative you can get by mixing oil and water and just a little bit of dish soap.
What you’ll need:
- Camera
- Macro lens or extension tubes
- Sheet of glass- glass from a picture frame works well. For my photos, I used a glass baking dish.
- A set of chairs or milk crates
- Tripod
- Oil
- Water
- Dish soap
- Colorful materials for the backdrop.
- Straw to mix and blow the bubbles or you can use a spoon or an eye dropper. For my photos, I used a straw and blew the bubbles.
- Paper towels or rags
- Glass cleaner
Gather your backdrops. I like using colored paper, or wrapping paper. Use bright colors as dark colors won’t reflect light. Now, that you have your backdrops, put your sheet of glass on the set of chairs or milk crates spread a little distance apart so that it forms a bridge. Lay your backdrops on the ground, right under the sheet of glass.
Set up your tripod. Macro lenses and extension tubes can reduce the amount of light reaching your camera’s sensor, so the tripod will steady the camera for longer exposures. Once your camera is locked on the tripod, turn it on and select Live View. Focus the camera on an area in front of the lens. You can set your aperture around f/2.8 and go from there. ISO can be at 100 or 200. Shutter speed will depend on the lighting conditions. Now it’s time for the fun!
Put your water, oil, dish soap, straw, spoon, eye dropper and a towel next to you. Now add a little bit of oil and a little bit of water to the glass top. Watch your LCD screen closely. I added a little bit of dish soap and blew with a straw to create the bubbles. Alternate between ingredients as it takes advantage of their natural resistance to each other. If you want, you can use a straw or a spoon to manipulate the shape of the bubbles. Watch the details unfurl and snap away! When you want to start over, use a paper towel or a rag with a glass cleaner and gently blot the glass clean.
That’s all there is to it. There are no rules to this. The more you experiment with this, the more you’ll discover. Have fun with this! It is addictive.
To see more photos of my abstract soap bubbles, click here.
