A Splash of St Patricks Shamrocks by BrianZ

The shamrocks are part of the photograph, not a photoshop creation. They are out of focus points of light called "bokeh" reflected from tiny droplets in the splash of a water drop. I custom designed the bokeh shape by using a cardboard disk over the lens in which I cut a shamrock-shaped hole smaller than the camera's f/2.8 aperture.

2-drop collisions use a microcontroller was & solenoid valve to deliver 2 drops 60 ms apart & a 2nd circuit detects the falling drop, opens the camera shutter, times the delay & triggers flash units at the desired point during the splash. Setup and electronics are shown here:
http://flic.kr/s/aHsjysQBPW
Photographed in a dark room with high speed flash - about 1/15,000 sec to stop the action; gel filters on the flashes create the color. Photography and electronics are two of my hobbies.

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Happy St. Patrick's Day!
(c) 2012 BrianZ

(Irish, green, bokeh, water, drop, splash, photo, macro, close up, photograph)