How to photograph high-end watches with a cheap shower head, black cloth and a few speedlites by Nick Fancher

For this shot I wanted to try freezing water drops in an effort to duplicate the Profoto vs. Broncolor light tests.

Technical info:

Four 430ex Speedlites at full power, zoomed to 105mm on stand just above and to the right. The umbrella that is seen in the shot was used to block the water from getting my flashes wet. My settings were: shutter speed @ 1/8000, aperture @ f/16, with an ISO of 800.

And most water photography is done with flashes set to the lowest output so that the flash duration is the fastest ( in order to best freeze the water) but I wanted to retain a high aperture because this was a product shot.

Note: I am not a water photography expert so I am not sure there is a technique that would allow me to make the water droplets bigger and fatter like in the Broncolor shoot. As it was, I was working with a cheap shower head that was about eight feet away from the watches. I am told that glycerin works in helping the water bead up more, but I am not sure that I can spritz it. Next time I may try pouring the water from a closer distance, like in the Broncolor shoot.

 

 Text and images thanks to Nick Fancher: Columbus based photographer that specializes in modern portraiture; specifically with the use of small flash.

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