Adding Dew Drops to Enhance Macro Photography

Macro Photography  •  Photography Tips

Here is a secret weapon to add to your photography arsenal. It’s another simple tip that can take your nature photos to a whole new level!

Photo captured by Demi Kwant

Flower photography is what got a lot of us interested in photography in the first place. Even if flower photography wasn’t part of you getting bitten by the photo bug, and you have no interest in them at all, they’re a very good subject to practice on and learn to master your photo equipment.

Have you noticed that with most stunning flower photos, they are covered with dew drops?

The same with assembling macro scenes in studio. In fact, in this case, dew drops are an essential element of the shot. They shimmer, sparkle, and reflect, and they really make your photo come to life! In fact, without dew drops, many macro subjects are fairly boring.

Here is a secret… the dew drops are rarely—if ever—real.

The photographer’s secret weapon that should always be in your camera bag is a small spray bottle of water.

This way, no matter what time of day you’re shooting and no matter if there is dew or not, just give the flower a few spritzes and voila! You have a dew covered flower.

Photo by Roger Smith; f/8.0, 1/60-second exposure.

That’s how the pros do it, they are not searching out flowers and spider webs with natural dew drops!

Here is another tip. Sometimes with a spray bottle, we don’t get “dew drops” that are big enough to read well in the photo. Do you want the dew drops to be a bit bigger?

Try adding some glycerin to the water when assembling studio shots. It will help the water molecules bond together and make bigger “dew drops.” By the way, if you get thirsty, don’t drink the water and glycerin mix. Hydrate in some other way.

Adding glycerin and making the drops larger is almost essential if you want to get one of those close-up shots of a single dew drop reflecting the flowers behind it. These types of photos have better than average chance of doing well in photo contests.

Photo by Reuben Degiorgio; ISO 400, f/32.0, 3-second exposure.

Make today the day you commit to being the kind of photographer you dreamed of being when you first got into photography. You can do it—it’s not that hard. Add a glycerin-water bottle to your camera bag so it’s always available, and use flowers and things around the house as practice subjects. Who knows, that next photo contest winner could be you!

About the Author:
Dan Eitreim writes for OnTargetPhotoTraining. He has been a professional photographer in Southern California for over 20 years. His philosophy is that learning photography is easy if you know a few tried and true strategies.