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http://www.flickr.com/photos/odinodin/5145524032/

I want to learn the technique needed to take this kind of picture. The exif data of that photo mentions 16-85mm as the lens used, which is not a macro lens AFAIK.

I have a Canon 18-55mm lens and 50mm f/1.4 lens.

mattdm
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Om Nom Nom
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  • That looks fake. I don't believe a view of a real soap bubble would look like that. – Olin Lathrop Mar 24 '12 at 21:03
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    Doesn't look fake to me, just heavily processed. – Matt Grum Mar 24 '12 at 23:52
  • @Matt: See the dark fringe around the bubble at top and top left. That seems like a artifact of merging two pictures. Note that reflection of the sky is brighter than the sky, even of the part we can see in the background. The refraction of the background thru the bubble doesn't seem right since there isn't any at all. This looks like two separate pictures merged together to me. – Olin Lathrop Mar 25 '12 at 13:13
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    @drewbenn: Even if this picture were real, the reflection of the photographer would be very dark compared to the sky, and lost in the same dark area that is reflecting the trees behind the camera. – Olin Lathrop Mar 25 '12 at 13:16

2 Answers2

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This is easy to do all it takes is some experimentation and patience.

  1. Place the camera on tripod
  2. Take 16-55 lens zoom in to 55mm or just use the 50mm
  3. Set the aperture to f/5.6 (if you're consistently getting out of focus images try closing down aperture to f/8 or f/11)
  4. Set the Auto Focus mode to Manual Focus (either on the lens or the body)
  5. Pre-focus, place some kind of object where you expect the bubbles to be; focus on that!
  6. Release the bubbles, shoot, shoot, shoot, shoot... (you might need an assistant if you don't have cable release or some kind of remote shutter release mechanism, to release bubbles and shoot at the same time, timer maybe?)

The shot above was most likely cropped to achieve that composition.
Hope that helps,
-Alen

Alen
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    Or you can just ask the photographer by sending her/him a quick private message via Flickr. :) – Alen Mar 25 '12 at 02:08
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As far as I can tell, its just a photo of a bubble which has had strong contrast and saturation adjustments in Photoshop. A macro lens is not necessary if you have a large bubble and moderate distance from the lens.

This isn't easy due to the random movement of bubbles and difficulty of close focusing on a moving subject, so expect to take a lot of tries to replicate this!

rfusca
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Matt Grum
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