German photographer Markus Reugels is a passionate of macro photography who captures unique liquid forms which he generates only with the help of water and colored ink. Using his imagination, and no photo manipulation at all, the artist freezes beautiful images of “liquid art”, images the human eye fails to notice otherwise. Luckily for high speed photography and for the talent of Markus that amazingly vivid color explosions and abstract shapes come to life! If you enjoyed our series of pictures of falling water drops, than this one will blow your mind, because Markus’s imagery displays more creative and colorful forms than ever.

Mole Empire got in touch with Markus to get to know more about his creativity and talent. Markus discovered photography out of the desire to take nice family photos, but he soon turned to macro photography. He’s also the father of 2 kids and in his day job he does parquet layers.

Here’s how the artist explains his beginnings in water drop photography and how he discovered it:

When I bought my first DSLR, I have spend lots of time in internet communities to read about the technique behind a DSLR camera. At first I thought the camera makes amazing pictures. But without the flash in Auto Mode, the pictures were crap, so I must understand the Settings of ISO, Aperture and Shutter speed.

To learn from other pictures I always take a look at the gallery of other photographer, and in one thread I found some simple water drops. I found these pictures so fascinating that I wanted to try it by my own. This was now nearly 3 years ago and since then I went further with the genre. It brings a lot of fun to show the hidden world in a life of a colliding water drop.

In this type of photography, timing is essential! The right color and lighting are things to consider. However, the most amazing thing is that the photos are not manipulated at all. Markus explains what difficulties he faces when working in this way.

The biggest obstacle is to understand the fluid dynamic. This is very important to adjust the timing in the right direction. Some people think that such pictures are made only by the technical device, but this is not true. A timing device is only the key to reach such pictures. Most of my work is very complex and not able without a timing device. But the most important thing is the right light and color combination and at least the composition of the whole picture. All must fit together, and then you get an big picture.

The beauty of water drop photography is that the water can always surprise you, as you can never predict what shapes it will generate.  You have to adapt and capture what is given. It’s very difficult to reach a specific image or shape.

I always start a series with a picture in my head, but it’s very rare that I get near this. There are too many factors which will influence the result (like water temperature, viscosity of the water, drop size, fall height, etc.). Even when I use the same settings like in the last series, the water comes with different shapes. It’s like a lucky bag, you must take what you get. When I see the shapes I can adjust the settings to get near the image in my head.

Through his imagery, Markus wants to re-focus the viewer’s attention on some small moments that often pass unnoticed in our busy lives, such as the hidden beauty in a small water drop or the shape that the camera can capture in a millisecond. The author’s series is also a reminder on the importance of water and the awareness towards the planet.

With photography you can show small inconspicuous things we don’t recognize or are not able to see with our eyes. So I can show a hidden world full of wonders and beautiful shapes. The shapes are live only for a split second, but in this time the simple drop of water formed a very complex and beautiful formation. To share this moments with the world is important for me. After all, water is the elixir of live, without it, we can’t live.

We must take more care of our home ” The World “. For this, I have made a series with a falling water drop and in this drop I capture a map of the world. So the drop looks like a little world. Very complex but so fragile. Maybe I can open some eyes for the small wonders around us. We must see things more like a child.

Markus Reugels’ art is a beautiful combination of composition and technical aspects, as he himself tries to balance the two sides of working in this way. In the future he’d like to turn to more commercial projects involving water splashes.

To balance the technical aspects of the high speed pictures I love to work with old m42 lenses, and capture flowers or insects . This is photography in pure culture.

Enjoy a selection of his works below. It’s amazing how relaxing and invigorating these shapes can be!

All photos are used with permission of Markus Reugel