I would like to share the production process of "Light Sculpture" project.
I hope you will find it exhilarating and stimulating to photograph water.
Light Sculpture
Have You Ever Really Seen a Rainbow?
As I zoomed in, I realized what was there. The sunlight in the water droplets warps, reflects, and disperses, showing us the rainbow.
125” x177” [318cm x 450cm]
Data size 37,686px x 26,697px, 1 giga pix
You can see each individual water drop.
We feel lucky and happy when we see a rainbow.
But what are we seeing?
Within each drop of water, there is a color, and the aggregate of these colors form a rainbow.
I believe there is a beauty that cannot be seen with the naked eye.
This work is an attempt to express that.
Viewed from afar, it is a rainbow.
When you get closer, you will discover the beauty hidden in it.
I love shooting water-themed shoots and thought I was good at it.
When I came up with this idea, I expected it to be completed in three months, but it took three years.
■ Water Sculpture / Discovering color in pictures of water.
This was the inspiration for Light Sculpture, a piece I created over a decade ago called "Water Sculpture".
Lighting was done to create sharp, unblurred shadows so that the water would look like a sculpture.
When photographing water with a point light source such as sunlight, colors may appear in the water drop. At the time, I did not pay attention to where the colors came from, but later I realized that this is the principle behind the appearance of rainbows.
I decided to use it to create a work of art.
■ Principle of rainbow visibility
The truth you seem to know but don't.
This diagram illustrates the principle of a rainbow.
Light entering a drop of water is refracted and reflected on the backside and refracted again as it exits the front side. The light is spectrally split to reveal the color.
After one reflection, it becomes the primary rainbow.
It becomes a secondary rainbow when it is reflected twice.
This is weak light, and the color order is reversed. If you look closely at an ordinary rainbow, you will notice that there is another rainbow on the outside.
■ Production Process
Test in sunlight
I checked in the sunlight to see if the color appeared per the principle.
【Day 1 April 14, 2016】Nikon D810 28mm 28-300mm ISO400 f 3.5
Then I started shooting in the studio.
However, I soon realized that there were many problems that needed to be solved.
The three main problems with studio photography were:
1. [Water droplet problem] Some size and perfect spherical shape
2.[Strobe problem] Short flash duration and power
3.[Image quality problem] Large prints & details are also important
[Water droplet problem] A certain size and a perfect sphere
Water droplets must be of a certain size to be captured in a photograph and must be perfectly spherical to form a rainbow.
Nikon D810 28mm 28-300mm ISO3200
Nikon D810 28mm 28-300mm ISO6400
Shape test of faImmediately after falling, the speed is slow, but the shape is greatly distorted.
The larger the water droplet, the larger the distortion.
I tested liquids other than water to find the right size and viscosity.
I wanted to use pure water, but to obtain perfect spheres, I mixed about 30% glycerin.
The tip is a pipette tip for research use.
As the pump keeps the liquid flowing, only the water evaporates, changing the ratio and the refraction angle. The position at which the rainbow is generated shifts. Therefore, the ratio of water to glycerin had to be constantly adjusted.
Result
Using water containing 30% glycerin and the appropriately sized pipette tip, I was able to obtain nearly spherical water droplets with a diameter of 3 mm.
[Problems with strobes] Short flash duration and power
Water droplets of 3 mm in diameter are falling at high speed, so an ordinary strobe will blur the image. If the light source is large, it will not be spectral. I needed a light source that was powerful, as small as possible, and with a short flash duration.
Strobe Type
Strobe Testing
I tested all potential strobes available on the market that seemed optimal
Industrial strobes and two tubes in one head.
Light Source Size
Flash duration
A disk with lines drawn upon it is rotated at high speed and photographed. Even broncolor and Profoto, which are known for their short flash duration, proved unsuitable for this project.
Spot Light
Spotlights are advantageous for producing the amount of light needed.
Color in strobe light
I could not find the best strobe on the market.
Strobe used
I ended up using a bundle of six Nikon clip-on strobes for the main light.
Controlling flash duration and output with an Arduino
I modified the program so that it would change flash duration. I bought many types of strobes on eBay and looked for a model that I could hack the program with. I found the perfect strobe, however it was discontinued, so I had to order it from different countries throughout the world on eBay. I connected a custom made socket to the electronic contacts and controlled the flash duration and output with an Arduino.
For the background, I used Vela LED lights made in England.
The flash duration is very short, 1 / 2,000,000s
Flash duration 1 / 2,000,000s
Result
Main light instead of sunlight
Six Nikon clip-on strobes with improved programming.
Flash duration about 1/50,000s
Background lights
Four Vela (LED lights) are used.
Flash duration is 1/200,000s
[Image Quality Matters] Large prints & details are also important.
The resolution needs to be good enough to make the water drop look good when viewed close to the print. I tested which camera and lens to use.
First, I made actual prints to determine the final print size and the size of the water drop on the print.
Print size: 3m x 4.5m
Size of polka dots on print: 1.5 cm
Determining the angle of view
With ordinary subjects, the distance to the subject is determined by considering perspective, but since a rainbow is the same no matter what distance one shoots it from, the angle of view (focal length of the lens) was determined by which part of the rainbow is to be cropped.
In order to express the rainbow in three dimensions, I adjusted the amount of water drop present in the space so that the rainbow arcs from the front to the back.
Most rainbows in nature should appear flat.
Selection of photographic equipment
Film Camera Test
I liked the tone of the film, but the resolution is not sufficient. Considering the work efficiency, I gave up using a film camera.
Digital camera test
Even with Phaseone 100M, the image quality was not high enough, so I decided to split the image.
Sensitivity and Lens Test
Depth of Field Test
Rolling shutter test
I considered using steady light and a fast shutter speed.
However, the rolling shutter distortion was too large for the electronic shutter of the time.
Split shot Test
Using a lens with a wide image circle
Telephoto lens used
Final equipment used
120 segments, shot and composited with PTGui software
Due to insufficient light, the image was shot at ISO 1600, so noise was noticeable and Neat Image was used to remove the noise.
Result
Photography Data Sheet
One page is one section.
The light intensity of the strobe is also changed.
Composite in Photoshop
This is Photoshop data. I usually use a Mac, but decided to purchase a Windows PC for this file.
It took about 30 minutes just to open the file.
I retouched it little by little for over a year.
37,686px x 26,697px 1,006,103,142px File size : 388.4G
■Exhibition
Although this is such a thoughtful work, it has not been exhibited at a/the gallery because it is too large. It was exhibited only in my studio and in the Metaverse space. I am currently looking for an opportunity to exhibit it.