DIY Photography

Your one stop shop for everything photo-video

  • News
  • Inspiration
  • Reviews
  • Tutorials
  • DIY
  • Gear
Search

Submit A Story

How to take awesome paint splash photos with a speaker, a garbage bag and some noise

Jun 22, 2019 by Dunja Djudjic Add Comment

  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Flipboard
  • WhatsApp

Paint splash photos are really fun to take, and they can certainly look amazing. If you would like to experiment with this technique, Steve Kazemir shares a very cool technique in his latest video. He takes fantastic, colorful paint splash photos with the help of a speaker, a garbage bag and some noise. Check out his video below if you want to learn how to take them, too!

You will need

  • A functional speaker with a black garbage bag stretched over it
  • An amplifier set to maximum volume
  • A tablet to generate sound, Steve used an app called Function Generator, also set to maximum volume.
  • Two speedlights set to 1/32 or less. A higher power flash lasts longer so it won’t freeze the action
  • A sound trigger – when it detects the sound, it will trigger the speedlights (not the camera)
  • Paint – dollar store acrylic paint diluted with water to achieve the consistency of milk
  • Eyedroppers

Camera settings

Set the camera on a tripod and place it so you get the composition you want. Steve used an 18-55mm lens set to 35mm, but of course, you can use whichever lens you prefer. Keep in mind that placing the camera close to the subject means that some paint might end up on it. So, if you put it very close, perhaps you could use a UV filter to protect the front lens element from getting the paint on it.

Steve set the camera to ISO 400, f/14 and 2-sec exposure. Yup, that’s two seconds – you’ll shoot in a totally dark room, and the speedlights will freeze the action.

App settings

  • As for the app settings, you might need to fiddle with it a bit until you get it right. 40Hz worked for Steve, but it depends on the speaker size, color consistency, etc., so it might be different for you.
  • Steve used six cycles of the square wave.
  • Steve suggests that you set the amplitude to somewhere between 80 % and 100 %. Experiment and find what works best for you

Taking the photo

Use eyedroppers to place paint on the garbage bag stretched over the speaker. Experiment with colors and patterns and feel free to play around. Next, arm the sound trigger and turn off all the lights. Then start the 2-sec exposure on the camera, and at the same time initiate the sound on the tablet. The sound trigger will trigger the speedlights – and the photo is taken.

Now, turn the lights on, clean up the speaker, and repeat! As I mentioned, play with colors and patterns, and experiment. Here are a few more photos Steve took using this technique:

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Steve (@stevekazemir)

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Steve (@stevekazemir)

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Steve (@stevekazemir)

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Steve (@stevekazemir)

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Steve (@stevekazemir)

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Steve (@stevekazemir)

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Steve (@stevekazemir)

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Steve (@stevekazemir)

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Steve (@stevekazemir)

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Steve (@stevekazemir)

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Steve (@stevekazemir)

I hope that you enjoyed this tutorial and that you’ll try it out yourself. Check out Steve’s website for more of his work, and make sure to follow him on Instagram and Facebook.

FIND THIS INTERESTING? SHARE IT WITH YOUR FRIENDS!

  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Flipboard
  • WhatsApp

Related posts:

Eight ways to use a garbage bag in your photo and video shoots Default ThumbnailCapturing Colored Salt Thrown By Speaker Sound Light-paint the rainbow with these awesome DIY light tubes Delivering Awesome Content On Time – How Preston Kanak Delivered an Awesome D810 Demo

Filed Under: Inspiration Tagged With: color, paint, splash, splash photography, Steve Kazemir

Dunja Djudjic: from diyphotography.net

About Dunja Djudjic

Dunja Djudjic is a multi-talented artist based in Novi Sad, Serbia. With 15 years of experience as a photographer, she specializes in capturing the beauty of nature, travel, and fine art. In addition to her photography, Dunja also expresses her creativity through writing, embroidery, and jewelry making.

« Watch how Fujifilm makes the new GFX100 camera
Take your light painting game to the next level with these unconventional techniques »

Submit A Story

Get our FREE Lighting Book

DIYP lighting book cover

* download requires newsletter signup
DIYPhotography

Recent Comments

Free Resources

Advanced lighting book

Recent Posts

  • Here’s a bullet time video booth you can build yourself
  • Ricoh has discontinued the HD PENTAX-DA 21mm F3.2AL Limited silver lens
  • This “stellar flower” unravels the twilight’s evolution in 360 degrees
  • Strobes vs Continuous LEDs – Which is right for you?
  • Wave goodbye to Apple’s My Photo Stream next month

Udi Tirosh: from diyphotography.netUdi Tirosh is an entrepreneur, photography inventor, journalist, educator, and writer based in Israel. With over 25 years of experience in the photo-video industry, Udi has built and sold several photography-related brands. Udi has a double degree in mass media communications and computer science.

Alex Baker: from diyphotography.netAlex Baker is a portrait and lifestyle driven photographer based in Valencia, Spain. She works on a range of projects from commercial to fine art and has had work featured in publications such as The Daily Mail, Conde Nast Traveller and El Mundo, and has exhibited work across Europe

David Williams: from diyphotography.netDave Williams is an accomplished travel photographer, writer, and best-selling author from the UK. He is also a photography educator and published Aurora expert. Dave has traveled extensively in recent years, capturing stunning images from around the world in a modified van. His work has been featured in various publications and he has worked with notable brands such as Skoda, EE, Boeing, Huawei, Microsoft, BMW, Conde Nast, Electronic Arts, Discovery, BBC, The Guardian, ESPN, NBC, and many others.

John Aldred: from diyphotography.netJohn Aldred is a photographer with over 20 years of experience in the portrait and commercial worlds. He is based in Scotland and has been an early adopter - and occasional beta tester - of almost every digital imaging technology in that time. As well as his creative visual work, John uses 3D printing, electronics and programming to create his own photography and filmmaking tools and consults for a number of brands across the industry.

Dunja Djudjic: from diyphotography.netDunja Djudjic is a multi-talented artist based in Novi Sad, Serbia. With 15 years of experience as a photographer, she specializes in capturing the beauty of nature, travel, and fine art. In addition to her photography, Dunja also expresses her creativity through writing, embroidery, and jewelry making.

Copyright © DIYPhotography 2006 - 2023 | About | Contact | Advertise | Write for DIYP | Full Disclosure | Privacy Policy