Ink Drops

Ink Drops in Water

Unique, impossible to recreate and infinitely creative; ink drop photography is a beautifully engaging art. And what’s more, it’s surprisingly easy to do yourself.

You really don’t need a great deal of equipment to get going with ink drop photography. As with any specialist technique you can spend a fortune on a flashy kit, but before you lay out hundreds of pounds on macro lenses why not take a trial run first?

You’ll need:

a selection of different coloured inks
a medicine dropper or pipette
a fish tank or a large glass container
a large piece of white paper or a soft box
a strong light

Step one

You need to make sure that your glass is absolutely spotless; stains can cause unwanted reflections. Next fill the glass with water and position your camera on the tripod in front of it. Put your light into position and switch it on. Look through the viewfinder to check for any reflections. If you spot them you’ll need to give your glass another once over in the wash. It may feel like hassle now, but it’s much quicker to do this than to comp out water spots and dirt later.

Step Two

Place your glass in front of a white sheet of paper. This approach means you’ll need to spend more time on test shots in order to work out the angle to position your light to ensure that the light reflects back from the wall, through the fish tank to the lens.

Step Three

Fill your glass with cold water. This will make the ink travel more slowly and extend the time it takes to fall to the bottom of the glass. The slower the ink travels, the more time you have to snap – it will also help reduce your ink usage.

Step Four

Make sure your camera is in Automatic Mode. You will need to set your camera to a macro setting as well to take advantage of a closer distance.

Step Five

It helps to have another person working with you; one person to control the ink droplets and t operate the camera. If you’re working alone you are going to need to work quickly drop ink into the water and to operate your camera.

Step Six

Drop a small amount of ink into the middle of the glass and focus the camera. Wait until the pattern is desirable and take your photo. Once you’ve got your technique nailed you can take shots in rapid succession.

Step seven; practice makes perfect

You could try experimenting with different shades of ink and varying the amount you drop into the water.
Don’t just throw away the water in the tank after a few attempts. It may look black but if you stir the water and snap away you’ll be surprised at the possible results.
When working as a team it takes time and practice to establish a good working rhythm.