Stunning High-Speed Liquid Photography!

Liquid Art & droplet photography

It takes great skill (and good high speed photography equipment) to create such frozen-in-time compositions, revealing the inherent energy, the dynamics of flowing water and the beauty of it all! Some artists substitute water with more viscous liquids, producing even more lava-lamp-like effects. But often just playing with coloring and light is enough to make an effective picture. In this article, we will try to cover a large variety of stunning high-speed liquid photography.

Luiz Luxvich makes startlingly clear images of splashing water

This master from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, has a good presence on flickr, so make sure to check out the rest of his colorful creations.


Amazingly, water looks simply great without any added coloring, like in these shots from the French photographer

Liquid Sculptures of Martin Waugh

Martin Waugh at Liquid Sculpture is perhaps the most famous artist in this "sub-genre". His works are described as full of "fun, whimsy and wonder". The full gallery is here, and it is exceptional.

Water Kiss!
Not mercury, not ice - just water... splendid वाटर


Woke up one morning, saw this thing crawling toward me across the sink... decided to go to sleep some more -
Suspended...
For more great examples of colored drops high-speed photography we're going to recommend this flickr group. The following photographs, though, we've received without any credit, so please let us know if you recognize them:

Masters of balancing Rocks

His balanced rocks look very cool, but I have a hard time believing that they're all just balancing naturally without a little extra help. Actually, he seems quite legitimate... and they're supposed to look like they're defying gravity. That's the whole point. But still. Some of the rocks on his site I look at and say to myself 'there's no way that would possibly stand.

Fountain holds car in air

This unusual fountain set up in Rome, Italy and is the work of Spanish artist Juan Galdeano who wanted to make a statement that would hopefully draw attention to the issue of global warming. The fountain was built to look like it's sustaining a hatchback Seat Ibiza, when in reality the car is being supported by an intricate installation. Let's face it, that would have to be quite a powerful jet of water to sustain the car.

Pocket Light

It’s about the size of a credit card and powered by a small cell. Flip up the lightbulb shaped cut-out to switch on the soft, mellow, glow of bliss. What’s the point? Novel - next time you have a bright idea, you can have an actual lightbulb “bling!” on.

Used Condoms Reborn As Hair/Rubber Bands

Soiled condoms *HORF* are being recycled into hair bands and rubber bands in China.
"There are a lot of bacteria and viruses on the rubber bands and hair ties made from used condoms," a dermatologist at the Guangzhou Hospital of Armed Police, who asked to be identified by his surname Dong, told the local paper. "People could be infected with AIDS, warts or other diseases if they hold the rubber bands or strings in their mouths while weaving their hair into plaits or buns."

*HORF* Jesus. But on the upside, a bag of 10 hair bands only costs 3¢. Which, I think we can all agree is worth the risk of contracting something.

Floating Market- Thailand

Drunken Pumpkins

Remember what happens when you exaggerate on the cerveza!

Absolutely Bonkers for Conkers

The fall to the ground of the conker is a great signifier that the year is moving inexorably onwards. The fruit of the horse chestnut has many uses, particularly in the United Kingdom where generations of school children have played a game inspired by them. Read on to discover more uses of this noble product of the Fall!



The stuff of nightmares, perhaps? This rather spooky take on the conker looks as if it may have come from a horror film. "The Trees Have Eyes", possibly? The thought of wandering all lonesome through a wood on Halloween would be even spookier if these things were taking a look at you! Run, run!



Some people have slightly dirty minds. Others can't get the wild thing out of their minds for a second. Let's think about which category you fall in to. If your mind produced an ever so slightly dirty image when you saw the above harmless horse chestnut, then you probably fall in to the latter.



Autumn school yards in the UK are littered with the pulverized carcasses of conkers that have lost the ultimate fight. A hole is drilled though the conker and a string attached. Then, one small boy (small girls usually being far too sensible to take part) holds his conker at arms length. Another small boy takes a swing with his own, the aim being to smash his opponent's conker in to smithereens. If it doesn't happen, the other contestant has a turn. This follows until one of the conkers greets oblivion. If the conker has previously smashed five others, then with this it is known as a six-er. And so on!



Conkers are usually gathered from the ground, even though some collectors will try to throw stones in to the branches of the horse chestnut tree to try and get some juicy looking specimen they have spotted. However, although the casing may look large, big conkers are often not the best to use in competition. If you are an alien with god-like powers, however, getting that particular conker down from the upper canopy is no problem whatsoever.



Ah, but Mr Ambassador, you are spoiling us! Some people believe that conkers are edible, but horse chestnuts and chestnuts are not to be confused with each other as if they are the result will be a nasty stomach ache. It is difficult to resist them, though, when they are presented so temptingly!



If you are of a slightly artistic bent then why not try to create your own conker people? A little ingenuity and imagination go a long way. With the credit crunch tightening wallets at the moment, why not follow the instructions here to give your children those Christmas presents they never dreamed of! Or just pile hundred up at the base of their bed and tell them to get on with it!



If you are of an even more artistic bent, you can try your hand at the construction of a conker web. A tradition in some parts of the USA, these can them be made in to wonderful mobiles that will enhance your living space. Or make you look like an impossibly aging hippy. Take your pick!



Autumn can inspire in many ways. Pity the child who finds this conker - it would be almost as large as they are! It would probably propel their opponent in to the upper atmosphere if it were ever used! Of course, this is a carving of a conker but it would amaze any young children (or adults) who were gullible or innocent enough to believe that this giant fell from a tree!



There is no denying, however, that a conker is a thing of beauty. From when they open from their casing and are shiny and new, to when they are old and more than a little shriveled, the conker is for many people a wonderful thing, one of the signifiers that Fall has arrived.



Ah, we love a little political correctness gone mad! In some parts of the UK, local authorities have banned the playing of conkers in their schools and work places. This has inevitably led to a backlash amongst conker lovers who have formed their own political campaign to legalize conkering! Only in the UK!

Woman’s Paper Skin a Walking Notepad

Huang Xiangji is a 50-year-old woman from Chengdu who uses her skin like writing paper.



Huang claims that when she writes a word on her skin by using her fingernail, the letters protrude from her skin a moment later.

“I used my body as a notebook for years,” says Huang.

Even as a child, she was able to do this and she would often create shopping lists on her arm before going out to the stores

For this Chinese woman who suffers from a condition called artificial urticaria, her skin has served as a notebook for all the years of her life.

This strange medical anomaly has no ill effects, but most agree that it is very weird.

Art and science collide in microscopic pictures of nature

Art and science collide in truly awe-inspiring microscopic pictures of nature so small they are invisible to the human eye, such as these patterns on a thinning soap film

Farmer carves record with huge pumpkin

That's a lot of pumpkin seeds. A Canadian farmer has won a contest in California with a pumpkin that weighs more than 1,500 pounds.

Jake van Kooten of British Columbia collected more than $9,000 in prize money Saturday at the Elk Grove Giant Pumpkin and Harvest Festival.

Festival spokesman Steve Capps says the entry set a new California record — by just 1 pound.

Attraction brings tourists face to face with giant crocodiles

Australia's newest tourist attraction, the Crocosaurus Cove in Darwin, involves coming face to face underwater with giant saltwater crocodiles. The newly-opened attraction offers the chance to be lowered into a tank full of crocs, among them suspected man-eaters, wearing nothing more than a mask, snorkel and swimsuit or trunks.

The 'Cage of Death' is said to be "perfect for serious adrenalin junkies" who have perhaps become jaded with swimming with dolphins or cage diving among great white sharks.
The cage is hexagonal-shaped to stop the crocodiles from getting a grip on it with their fearsome teeth.

It enables tourists to come within a few feet of several 'salties' measuring more than 16ft long, some of the largest in captivity in the world.

A maximum of two tourists at a time climb into the purpose-built acrylic cage which is then lowered into one of four separate crocodile enclosures.

The cage stops just short of full immersion so that the visitors can still come up for air.

But they are free to dive down to the bottom of the 15ft-high enclosure, where the crocs are barely an arm's length away.

Is this something you would like to try on your holiday or do you think it is perhaps just a little too unsafe to do it just for fun?

A record breaker Huge diamond found

A diamond unearthed in the southern African nation of Lesotho could yield one of the largest and highest quality round polished diamonds, according to a statement Monday from company that found it.

Experts in Antwerp, Belgium who analyzed the 478-carat stone determined it to be of the highest color grading available for a white diamond, said a statement from Gem Diamonds Ltd., the company that found the stone.

“What makes it more remarkable is the color and quality of this stone,” said diamond consultant Neil Buxton.

“It’s a D color, which is the highest possible graded color you can get, and we believe there is a chance - a very good chance - of getting a 100-carat plus” round stone with the highest color and clarity rankings.

The company said such a stone would “to the best of our knowledge” be “the first one in history.” The diamond, which was found in September, ranks as the 20th largest rough diamond ever found, but is not the biggest ever taken from the Letseng Mine, which is co-owned by Gem Diamonds Ltd. and the Kingdom of Lesotho, a country of 2.1 million that is surrounded by South Africa.

Two bigger stones - 603 and 493 carats - were found in the mine in 2006 and 2007, respectively, the company said. A 601-carat diamond was mined there in 1960, it said.