Creative Flash Photography

Workshop 37

Shooting Splashes in an Aquarium

▸ Using Trans-Lum sheeting instead of a softbox

▸ How to light big splashes

The small size of the splash in the previous workshop made it tricky to capture, and we had to make several dozen attempts before we captured the result we were looking for. Larger splashes made with bigger objects are easier to capture. We used a cheap aquarium, but any large glass container will do. Instead of an expensive studio flash with a softbox, a sheet of Trans-Lum is all you need to produce an interesting and flattering lighting.

The Setup

The bathroom is the best place for a setup like this. The shot requires light both from behind to illuminate the liquid and from the front to illuminate the object that causes ...