A Step by Step Guide

I am asked on a constant basis - How's it done? what effects do I use?  How do you create the Bubbles?

Well here's your exclusive step by step guide on how you create Bubble Art

These are the ingredients;

This is what you will need;
A bubble tank - A large wine glass is good, but I use a flat faced glass cookie jar
Fizzy water - My choice is my local supermarkets cheap brand, as you can imagine I tend to go through a
                     lot of this stuff!
A weight    - You will find that some subjects float and will need weighing down in the water
Needle and Thread or Sellotape - This allows the subject to be attached to the weight

You will also need;
A camera - I use my iPhone, which is not the best quality, but all the post-shoot editing can be accomplished
                  using iPhone apps
A Subject - Choose something that will fit completely within the glass, you must test items out for bubble  
                   adherence not every surface allows the bubbles to adhere
Patience   - Remember you are not shooting still life, those naughty little bubbles can get very excited about
                  being photographed and they so don't like having to sit still

STEP 1
The first step is to fill your bubble tank with the fizzy water, don't under fill your tank as this leads to reflections from the top of the water level and don't over fill, if the water sploshes down the sides of the bubble tank it can lead to distortion of the image.  Don't start shooting immediately, wait for a while until the bubbles have calmed down, the fast moving bubbles will photograph as a white hair line rather than a bubble, if you wait for a few minutes they will move slower, the longer you leave them the slower they become. You will need to wipe the insides of the bubble tank with a clean finger as some of the bubbles like to stick to the inside edges impairing your view of the subject.

STEP 2
Choose a good location. I find a natural light adds a depth to the image that artificial light cannot reproduce.  Think about the background, this can always be edited out later editing is easier if you have a dark and even background to begin with, I have a black chopping board that I place behind the bubble tank, but a laptop lid works just as well.  Also you must consider the reflections that you are getting on the actual bubbles, so clear any tools that you are not using from your workspace.  Remember that a good image is a clean and tidy one.

STEP 3
Most objects need to weighed down due to buoyancy.  I use an old brass ring that I have attached a metal plate to using thick sellotape.  Your subject will then need to be secured to the weight, I use either wide plastic tape (sellotape) for this or I use needle and thread depending on the subject, sellotape will not adhere to wet materials.

STEP 4
Submerge the subject in the bubble tank being careful not to allow the fluid to slosh down the outside of the tank.  Give the bubbles a few minutes to calm down from all the excitement. Now shoot!!  Click as many times as you can, as I said those bubble are moving constantly and moving bubbles come out as blurs or lines.  The longer you leave the subject in the water the slower the bubble become.  I sometimes leave the subject soaking overnight.

STEP 5
The editing stage. Of course no one can tell you how to edit, this is your art and only you can produce it.  Although I will show you how I went from this......

to this....

The Editing

The first job in editing is to isolate the subject.  I find the the neatest way to do this is by using the iPhone app 'Colorstrokes' choose your image from your library and crop it to your selected size.  Then put the colour back into your subject by swiping your finger across the subject.  Now you want to add the blackout, tap and hold down the re-color (bottom right) and this takes you to a 'choose color' screen.  Tap the pipette on the bottom right and drag the line all the way to the black and tap done.  Now colour in the background of your shot with the black, take your time to pan and zoom and get in really close, colour pixel by pixel if you have the patience, remember the longer you spend on this the better your image is going to look.

You should then have an image that looks like this....

Once you have a blacked out background you can edit the image in many different ways.  Using apps such as Photowizard, Colourmania, WowFX, and many more, as long as the app has a way of masking a highlighted area, then you can use it.

The smoke in my image was produced by using Colormania, an app that is easy to use and has many different styles in which you can edit an image.  On My Bubble Photos  page you can see my images and the iphone apps that I have used.

Now you have the knowledge!!! Go shoot some bubbles!!!

Feedback
Please don't forget to tag me @upyanose and #upyanose if you try this and upload the picture to Instagram.  I would hate to miss any fabulous bubble images!!