The Drip Kit

The Drip Kit is an accessory for the Time Machine that makes it easy to photograph single water drops or multiple drops and drop collisions. It is shown with a Time Machine and tripod in the photo above. The Drip Kit consists of the following parts:

A control box
An electric water valve on a fluid reservoir
A plate to mount on a tripod, and a bar that screws into the plate to suspend the reservoir above the catch bowl
A push button to initiate an exposure

The fluid reservoir is mounted to the top of a tripod you provide. The valve will dispense drops on command that fall into a pool below. You can easily adjust the height of the drops by raising or lowering the tripod. You can easily control the number of drops, their size, and the timing with the Drop Mode in the Time Machine.

The kit is ready to use and can be quickly set up on a kitchen table to photograph perfectly timed drops within a few minutes. It runs on built-in batteries so no electrical outlet is needed.

Click Here to download a PDF file of the Drip Kit instructions.

Operation of the Time Machine is simple and easy to understand. You enter the parameters in plain English. The Drop Mode asks for the following settings:

"Drop count: 1" This is the number of drops to emit, from one to 255.
"Interval: 0.050" This is the time to wait between multiple drops, in seconds.
"Drop size: 0.050" This is the time, in seconds, the valve is open to form each drop. A longer time gives larger drops. You can also apply different sized nozzles to the water valve.
"Flash lag: 0.300" This is the time, in seconds, to wait before the flash is fired.
"Advance: .0000" This is the number of seconds to add to the next button press and next drop sequence.

The Time Machine then waits for you to push the remote trigger button. This button is on a cord so you can keep it with you behind the camera. When you press the trigger button the camera shutter will open and the drop(s) will be emitted. After the specified delay the flash will fire. The camera will have been set by you for an exposure time of about 1/4 second, and it will close automatically. You can then evaluate the image that was captured and adjust the lighting or timing to get the picture you want.

To capture another image, just push the trigger button again. The shutter will open, the drops will fall, the flash will fire, and your camera will show you the next image. You can shoot drops during the daytime in a room that's not completely dark because the exposure time is short. This makes it easier to adjust the equipment while you work.

The Advance setting allows you to automatically step through the drop event by small increments of time. Click here to see a movie made from 230 sequential drops made with an "Advance" increment of .001 seconds.

The remote trigger button allows you to comfortably stand or sit behind the camera and fire off new exposures.

If you wish to change colors it's easy to tip the reservoir to pour out one fluid and replace it with another.

There is no need for an optical sensor in the drop path because the drop release is timed by the electric water valve. The images below illustrate the degree of precision. They were taken one after another within a couple seconds. In each case the first drop has struck the pool and bounced up. A second drop is falling afterwards, and has just made contact with the first drop. The collision is beginning to spread into a sheet at the intersection. All four images are nearly identical, which demonstrates the accuracy and repeatability of the drops generated by the Drip Kit. All you have to do is press the trigger button and everything happens automatically.

If you still feel the need for an optical sensor to initiate the flash timing, one is available as an option. With an optical sensor, timing of the flash delay begins when a drop has broken the light beam.

To get different effects you can change the drop size, the interval between drops, the delay before the flash goes off, the depth and type of fluids, lighting, coloring, etc. These choices make the difference between mechanics and Art.

The Drip Kit also requires a Time Machine, a shutter cable for your camera, a flash cable to connect your off-camera flash to the Time Machine's sync jack, and two simple tripods to hold the water reservoir and your camera.