Who am I?

I am Simon Coates and here's my story. As a kid I was always a keen photographer, but started out my professional career in computing. After the cliched mid-life crisis a career change was needed and I have been a professional photographer for the last 15 years.

my Story

why water droplets?

I was just playing around in my spare time and hit upon the idea of trying to photograph water droplet collisions - as you do! I've always enjoyed my photography the most when tackling tricky subjects and believe me, getting the timing right to capture two water droplets colliding is very tricky.

This photo was the first real success I had. It was while experimenting with setups that I realised just how different each and every image would be.

Picking

genuine photography

Emboldened by my initial success I decided to perfect my technique so that I could have a higher success rate.  It is important to me that my photographs are genuine and not edited to within an inch of their life! Other than cleaning up a few itinerant droplets and adjusting the vibrancy, these are "honest" photos.
Design

anatomy of a water drop

As well as being beautiful, there is a huge amount of science behind the water droplet photos. The technique seems simple - two droplets of water are released towards a container. The first droplet will generate an upward tower when it hits the water below. This is known as a Worthington Jet  named after Arthur Worthington who first investigated them in the late 1800's.

The aim is to then get the second droplet to hit the top of the Worthington Jet when it is at its peak. If everything has worked, the second droplet will form a Crown.

Crafting

timing is everything

As you might expect, timing is absolutely crucial in this endeavour. I'm operating with millisecond precision. Every factor plays a significant role in the photo's success - from the droplets' size and the interval between them to the timing of the camera's shutter release after the first droplet falls, even down to the viscosity of the fluids and the height of their descent. Each variable can dramatically alter the outcome.
Design