Something as simple as a water droplet can be a wonderful subject to photograph, especially when the right ingredients are aligned to create an almost magical refraction image. A spherical droplet can act like a lens – the more spherical the better. Supported on a wildflower seed or a vine, flower petal spider web or even a blade of grass, you quickly become a droplet architect first, photographer second. Your subject doesn’t exist until you create it!

There are a few useful tools to consider when getting started in this area of photography. First and foremost, “third hand tools” are essential and very inexpensive. You’ll find a number of different types, some with tweezers and others with alligator clips for around $10.
In the video I was using a NiteCore TM26 which conveniently has a tripod mount on the bottom, perfect for attaching a Manfrotto Pixi tripod. A 4000 lumen LED light is a bit overkill for this, however! I’d recommend the SRT7GT flashlight instead, but you’ll need a little clamp adapter.
Gerbera daisies work best, but any daisy-like flower will work for this. Osteospermum, Gazania, etc. are all great choices. The distance of the flower from the droplet is largely decided by the size of the flower – move smaller flowers closer.
In terms of camera settings, when shooting handheld with a continuous light I’ll usually be around ISO 800, F/8 and I’ll let the camera decide my shutter speed in Aperture Priority mode. If the shutter speed is too slow, crank up your ISO – these types of images survive heavy noise reduction processing very well. If you’re shooting with a flash (my preferred method, but harder to demo and previsualize), you can usually get away with your lowest base ISO, F/8 – F/11, and your fastest ordinary flash sync speed (1/160sec – 1/250sec are common). You do not need high-speed sync, it would actually be working against you when the flash is the only light source in the photo.
Focus is achieved by setting the camera usually to the closest focusing distance, manual focus, and then physically moving the camera forward and back. Alternatively on a tripod, you can keep the camera stationary and move the subject into the focal plane and frame it as needed – this is how I demonstrated the technique on the video.
I’ll often lock myself in my (very messy) studio for a few hours while I tinker with a variety of compositions, getting new ideas along the way. You can even use a printed map of The Earth and put our planet inside of a droplet!
In the end, you’ll only be limited by the creative ideas you can come up with and the time it takes to explore them.