How to Capture Motion and Splashing Water in Photography

Photography Tips

When the photography department at Utah’s Brigham Young University decided to do a photoshoot with the school’s gymnastic team, they opted to use an out of place prop—water. They set up studio at a pool in the campus’s Richards Building and got to work. Using a Canon EOS 1D and a backlit black background, the photography team captured poster-worthy photographs (see below). You can watch the photo shoot here:

To give the photos a truly creative edge, assistants threw buckets of water at the gymnasts as they were performing kicks and jumps. It was up to the photographer to capture each water-splashed kick at precisely the right time. Their results were amazing:

Capturing Motion and Splashing Water in a Photo Session

The photographer’s timing was key. As you can see in the video, lighting the background created enough contrast to make the drops of water pop from the photos. Learn more about freezing motion and water in the new Trick Photography Course 2.0.