In my last blog post, I wrote about how you can create amazing abstracts of soap bubbles using oil, water and a tiny bit of dish soap. For this blog post, I am going to get even more creative and tell you how to create magical out-of-this-world soap bubble planets.
What you’ll need:
- Camera
- Macro lens. I used my 100mm macro lens, but you can use a telephoto lens of kit lens (the one that comes with your camera) or zoom lens
- Tripod
- External flash or LED light
- Softbox
- Black cloth or construction paper
- Bubble mixture
- Straw to blow the bubbles
- Container to pout the bubble mix into
First make the bubble mixture. Put 1/2 cup water, 2 tablespoons hand soap and 2 tablespoons glycerin into a small container. Glycerin is the key ingredient here as it makes the bubbles bigger and last longer. You can buy glycerin at your local drugstore or off Amazon. If you can’t buy it, you can always go the pre-made route and just buy a bottle of soap bubble mixture. I made mine from scratch as I could add more glycerin if I wanted to. If you make the mixture, let it sit for 4-5 hours. I made mine in the afternoon and let it sit overnight. While the bubble mixture is sitting, set up your studio.
Set up your table next to a wall. Then tape up your background. I used my black velvet cloth taped to my wall with gaffer’s tape.
For lighting, you can use LED lights or an external flash unit with a diffuser. I used my NanLite Forza 60 LED light with a softbox directly above the bubble. You can also try placing the lights at a 45 degree angle which will add dimension to your image.
For lenses, you’ll want to get close-up photos, so it’s best if you use a macro lens. If you don’t have a dedicated macro lens, you can use a telephoto or kit lens. Place your camera on a tripod. If you have a remote trigger use it as it will prevent unnecessary issues like throwing off your focus when you touch the camera. If you don’t have a remote trigger, you could use the self timer. Set it for two seconds and wait for the shutter to click. Keep in mind using the self timer isn’t time efficient as the bubbles only last for so long until they pop.
Camera settings are going to depend on the strength of the light source. I would start at F/11 for aperture and play around. I went higher sometimes, lower other times. For ISO, stick between 200-800 if you can to prevent image noise. For shutter speed try not to go lower than 1/60th.
Now the fun begins. Pour the soap mixture into a small bowl and place it in the middle of the table. To get the soapy spheres, stir the solution with a straw and blow. Start taking photos right away. Use Live View on your camera to focus and see the soapy spheres forming.
That’s all there is to it! Have fun and play around with different ways of taking bubble photos. You’ll be amazed with the results.
Here’s a couple of my soap bubble planets. For more soap bubble planets, click here to go to my album.
