Splash Studio
This is my splash photography studio.
The actual splash photography kit I purchased over 5 years ago. The kit comprises of the cup and solenoid, a couple of clamps for fixing, various wires and the splash control boxes.
There were several different splash kits available at the time but this was the only one that did not require a smart phone or apps to use it.
I gave up using this pretty quickly as it took a long time to set up, was messy and I nearly ruined my macro lens as it was constantly getting splashed in the process.
A couple of years ago I found the scientific stand for a bargain price. I had all good intentions of using this to create a better set up for the flash but never got around to it.
Moving forward to a couple of months ago.
I found a 3D printer for sale at a local car boot sale. The first thing I did was to print the macro flash diffuser that I had designed for my camera. This works extremely well. Then I dragged out the splash kit and started designing the splash studio for it.
The goal here was to create a studio set up which would work without being messy or taking too long to set up.
The photo above shows the studio set-up. This does not show all of the parts that I created but is the basic set-up at this time.
This involved many hours design time and over 100 hours of printing time.
At the top of the stand is the cup and solenoid. These are now housed in a plastic support.
Below the cup is the photo studio itself. The glass panel on the front stops any stray drips so no external mess. (The glass was fitted into the frame during the 3D print so there is no danger of the glass falling out of the panel.) This panel does have to be wiped after every shot but well worth the effort. There is a built in drain within the studio so water height in the bowl is maintained at a constant level. The water overflows into the drip tray that can be seen under the right hand corner in the photo. The drip tray also locates the studio bowl for correct positioning when setting up.
To the left of the photo are the control boxes. They are kept in the stand that can be seen here.
The stand is also a storage box to keep the wiring, batteries and spare spacers when not in use. The spacers come in different lengths for adjusting the height of the splash solenoid and cup support.
The two grey coloured control boxes run the splash kit. I have also added a laser trigger to this set up. Possible a bit of an overkill but I had the laser trap already so incorporated it here. You can just see the wire coming from the laser sender at the bottom of the cup support (the receiver is on the opposite side). On the right of the photo is my wireless flash controller. I also made a stand/storage box for this. When not in use the batteries have a compartment within this stand/box.
All in all I am very happy with the early results from this setup.
I have found that best results come from longer exposures in a darkened room.
I use an exposure of about 1 second and drive the flash from the splash controls.
The 1 second exposure gives me time to fire the camera and then fire the splash.
Running it this way as opposed to putting the wireless flash controller onto the camera and connecting the camera directly to the splash control produces far better images.
Photographing with the 1 second exposure reduces the power output required from the flashes by over half.
Focus is obtained manually. I have a focus guide that is lowered through the drop hole at the top of the studio bowl.
On a final note here, The splash studio bowl also works well as a stand alone macro studio. I printed a plug that covers the water drop hole in the top of the studio bowl.
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Taken on Tuesday October 13, 2026
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Posted on Tuesday October 13, 2026
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5 comments
Dominique 60 said:
Kayleigh said:
Günter Klaus said:
Wünsche noch einen schönen Nachmittag,liebe Grüße Güni :))
Dave C replied to Günter Klaus:
As I have said before.
I get as much pleasure from creating new tools to assist my photography as I do from actually taking the photo's.
Have a great afternoon my friend.
James said: