I tested out the laser function of the Pluto Trigger. For those that don’t know, the Pluto comes with a laser. I had high hopes for this but unfortunately in the daylight situation it fell short. I still think that it could be useful in complete darkness but for daylight situations this is not a viable option. Check out the video below for a full showing of my tests and my results!
Creating water drop collisions with the Pluto Trigger can be an extremely fun and rewarding process. It can also be extremely frustrating. I will attempt to explain things here but I have also put together two videos to show the process of how to do it which are linked below. The first video shows the setup, I show 2 different ways to connect flashes, the valve, and your camera so that you can start capturing water drop collisions. In the second video I show the process of getting the two drops to collide. There are a lot of things that I didn’t cover in the video that pertain to getting artistic photos, I will mention those briefly here but do not plan to make a video on it at any time in the future.
First of all there are two, potentially three different ways to set the Pluto and Valve up in order to get results. The first and most simple way is to plug the Pluto into the valve and then plug the Pluto into your flash. For this you need one camera, one flash and nothing more to trigger them than what came in the box with the Pluto and the Valve. You can add more flashes to this method by purchasing wire splitters, which are available from Pluto, and splitting your wire out to as many flashes as you like. This method requires it to be perfectly dark as you will be working with long shutter speeds to capture the action. First set the shutter speed to 1-2 seconds. Then trigger the shutter so that it is open. Then start the trigger. The flashes with illuminate the scene and capture the image to the open sensor.
The second method, my preferred method, I plug the valve into the Pluto then plug the Pluto into the camera, the camera then fires the flashes using a wireless transmitter. I like this method because it allows me to work with the lights on. In this method I am able to set the shutter speed to 1/200 of a second which makes the entire scene dark aside from what is illuminated by the flashes. The flashes are then triggered with the wireless transmitter.
The third method I have not tested so I am not even sure that it works. The third method would be a hybrid method because the Pluto allows you to trigger your camera with IR. In theory you could plug the Pluto into your flashes with a wire and also use it to trigger the camera with the IR trigger. I think this creates too many variables but if you’re feeling spry you could give it a shot.
When it comes to the water basin I usually set the valve up about 1 foot above it, meaning that the bottom of the valve is roughly one foot above the top of the water. I fill the catch basin all the way to the brim, because of this I always make sure to have it inside of a second basin to catch the overflow. As for mixing the water I show how to do it in both videos. In the first video I mix in some borax, in the second I use just plain water. It’s possible to get great collisions without mixing anything in but I have found to get big stringy drops you need to add something. I have experimented with all sorts of stuff but I always use borax as a base. I have experimented by adding in some acrylic paint for color, food coloring and corn syrup. Keep in mind that adding things to the water changes the consistency and will also change the required settings.
Lastly, to get a drop to collide with another drop you need to get the first drop to fall, drop, hit the water then rebound to it’s highest point. This will give you a pillar. The best way to do this is to shut off drop 2 completely and just photograph drop one until it is at that point. Once drop one is at that point then add in drop 2. Keep in mind that the drop 2 delay will always be less than your flash delay, typically by a considerable amount.
When it comes to the artistic stuff you can add things to your water as I mentioned or you can use flash gels, interesting backgrounds, really when it comes to this there are no limits, use your imagination and have fun! If you have any questions that weren’t cleared up by this or the videos please feel free to shoot me an email I will do my best to help you out. If you want to see some images that I have captured using the Pluto trigger click here.
If you found this helpful and would like to help me out you can use this affiliate link (or the one at the top of the article) to make purchases from Pluto, you can also become a supporter on Patreon.
Thanks for stopping by, have a great day!
The Pluto Trigger includes a time lapse mode which is not all that different from the star trail mode but it does have enough differences to warrant it’s own review. The time lapse mode has several presets included which will automatically set the values to what are predetermined to be the “best” suited settings for the given presets. The presets include: custom, standard, miniature, sunrise, sunset, nightscn, night sky, and cloud sky. Personally I would suggest doing some sample time lapses using the presets to test them out and see what kind of results are given. This is the best way to learn and see what works best for your needs. Compiling the images into a software and getting a time-lapse output is really beyond the scope of this tutorial. I do show you how to do it using Photoshop in the video below but there are so many programs out there that are capable of compiling the images that it would be impossible for me to show all of the options.
There are some things to keep in mind though, standard video is 24 frames per second, which means that to get one second of video you will need to fire 24 shots for your time lapse. If you are using an interval of 10 seconds this can get extremely lengthy. To get just 10 seconds of video you will need 240 frames, with a 10 second interval between frames this will require 40 minutes of shooting to accomplish. My suggestion here is to get in mind what you want to capture and plan ahead. Make sure your batteries are charged and everything is ready to go. Have the scene that you want in mind and allow plenty of time to get to the spot and get set up. Time lapses can be very rewarding when done right but an ample amount of planning is required.
The Pluto Trigger includes a wonderful star trail mode that allows you to take star trail photos with ease. The app allows you to set the number of shots, the exposure, the time between the shots and the delay between shots. The tricky part of this is the processing of the images to actually show star trails. I show how to do all of this in the video below but just in case you are unable to watch, I will give a brief written description. The easiest way that I know to do this is to edit all of the photos to your liking either using Adobe Camera Raw or whatever program you are comfortable using. Then go into Photoshop, File>Scripts>Load Files Into Stack. This will bring up a dialogue allowing you to import the files that you wish to use for your star trails. Using this dialog will load all of the selected files into one Photoshop file, each one will be a different layer. Once they are here select all of the layers except the bottom one and change the blending mode to “lighter color.” This will show each of the stars and merge them together giving you the appearance of star trails. I have included a gallery of photos showing this process.
The Pluto Trigger Shutter Release function allows you to perform a myriad of shutter release functions.
It includes functionality to remotely release the shutter using your phone, a built in physical button on the Pluto itself which can be used when connected to the camera via cable or with the infrared transmitter if your camera has the capability to be triggered with infrared. It has a setting to allow you to focus the lens.
“Hold” mode, this one allows you to push the button down on the phone app to open the shutter, when the button is released it will close the shutter.
“Lock” mode allows you to push the button once to open the shutter, it then keeps it open until the button is pressed again.
“Bulb” modeallows you to set a timer from 1 second all the way to 99 hours, 59 minutes, 59 seconds, once the timer is set you can press play and forget it, the shutter will stay open until the timer runs out.
“Burst” mode allows you to set an interval between shots. When you press play the shots will fire infinitely at the set interval until you press stop.
“Timer” mode allows you to set the camera to fire after a set amount of time. This too allows you to set a time from 1 second all the way to 99 hours 59 minutes 59 seconds. Once the timer expires a shot will be taken, the timer will reset and continue taking shots at the set time until stop is pressed.
It’s worth noting that all of these features will run indefinitely until stopped, when applicable.
I have put together a series of videos showing all of the functions of the Pluto Trigger in action! You can check those out by going to the YouTube Playlist below.
I have had an intermittent fascination with water drop photography. Every couple of years or so I get really into it and focus a lot of energy into making water drops then the joy fades and I forget about it for a while. My first water drop experiments were with a single drop which I controlled with a home made dropper that I made out of PVC parts that fed into a small brass nozzle. I controlled the flow with a simple ball valve. Without using any electronics I had to time it by hand and the hit rate was very low. At the time I didn’t want to shell out several hundred dollars for the electronic ideas on the market so I tucked the project away and sort of forgot about it.
Recently I was scrolling Facebook and came across the Pluto Trigger ad. I ignored it for months but it kept popping up, my curiosity got the best of me. The Pluto Trigger is a small, inexpensive trigger that hosts a ton of features. When looking into it I discovered the Pluto Valve for making water drop collisions. The valve is a very inexpensive $40. The trigger and the valve together come to around $150 which I thought was very affordable considering all of the things the trigger is capable of and how much competing water drop valves run.
Despite the large number of features contained within the Pluto Trigger I have only used it for water drops. I have plans to experiment more with it but my main objective was water drop collisions so that is where I have spent all of my time.
There are a couple of ways to set this up. I plug the trigger into the valve and into my camera. The other option is to plug the trigger into the valve and directly into your flashes. The delay is less when plugged directly into the flashes however I don’t have enough cables to do this so I run it into the camera and wirelessly trigger my flashes from the camera.
Edit May 16, 2017: The valve has a weak point where the reservoir tube connects to the valve. Mine became severed and in an attempt to fix it ended up breaking the piece entirely. I contacted Pluto via Facebook and they sent out replacement parts immediately. To my surprise when the parts arrived the package included 2 new plastic connectors, a brass connector and a brass spout for the bottom of the valve. I was very impressed with the customer service and the fact that they upgraded the parts. They did not charge me anything for the parts.
Overall I am extremely happy with my experience with Pluto as well as my experience with the valve. The valve is super easy to set up and use. It does take some trial and error but overall it is an absolute joy to use.
end edit.
Click here to see some shots taken with the Pluto Trigger/Valve set up, here are 5 tips to help you on your Pluto Valve water drop collision journey:
1: Add something to the water to make it thicker. Plain water will work fine but it is more temperamental. I have used borax, corn syrup and paint all with great success. My favorite mixture is 4 teaspoons of borax per cup of water. To get it a little thicker I sometimes add a teaspoon of paint or corn syrup to that mix. – when using additives in the water make sure you clean your valve thoroughly after each use.
2: Build a stand so that the valve is at a consistent height every time you shoot. I keep mine about 12 inches off of the top of the water.
3: Be patient. Even with electronics you are not going to get an awesome collision 100% of the time. There are many factors that contribute to a perfect collision. To get things dialed in I usually start with a drop size of 8 for both drops, a delay between drops of 95 and a flash delay of 195. I then tinker with the delay from there until I am getting consistent collisions. After that I start adjusting drop size. Once you have a baseline dialed in drop size adjustment just becomes a matter of some simple math.
4: Have fun! It’s easy to get frustrated when things aren’t working out but remember to have fun. Play around with different colors, flash arrangements, water additives, water temperatures, bowl shapes, height and any other factors you can think of.
5: Make sure you have a catch basin. I typically have a bowl to catch the water placed inside of a pan. I fill the bowl all the way to the brim, this is where the magic happens, then naturally every time a drop falls into it there is overflow. Make sure you have a second pan to catch this or you’re in for a mess.
Thanks for reading, click here to see some sample shots, if you want to buy your own Pluto Trigger click here!
Here is a video review showing how to create Water Droplets with the trigger and the valve.