11 Water Photography Ideas to Get You Inspired

Last Updated on Mar 14 2024

Water is essential to life — and sometimes it’s essential to your photography too! While water photography is a budding field with tons of possibilities, you might need a bit of inspiration to get you in the right frame of mind to take creative pictures.

Here are 11 different water photography trends that you can use to inspire your own water photography pictures. 

11 Water Photography Ideas

1. Capture the Droplets from prîñçèxx.Rañî

Sometimes you do not need a ton of water for outstanding water pictures. It is not always the easiest task to capture a single water droplet on camera, but if you can, it is well worth it.

Simply capturing a well-defined water droplet in a photo is challenging, and doing so in a unique way makes for stunning pictures.

2. Find Unique Landscapes from The Cultural Landscape Foundation

There are incredible landscapes out there, and if you lengthen the exposure of your camera, you’ll smooth out the surface. Quick exposures capture finer details in water, and long exposure will make the water look calm and still.

Use both ways to capture images of these unique landscapes, and see which ones you like more!

3. Capture Reflections from Shopify

There are many different ways that you can do this. Capture crystal-clear reflections in the water or stir things up for an abstract image. You can use large bodies of water or puddles. Either way, using reflections is a great method for water images.

4. Freeze Things from Bored Panda

When we think of water photography, we tend to think of flowing water. But one way to use water differently is to freeze different types of objects and photograph them. Don’t just throw the object in the freezer, though; submerge it in water and then freeze it.

This will create a unique-looking object that you can highlight in different ways for your photographs. You can also let the ice melt a bit to capture the subject in different states.

5. Use Ice Cubes

While you can put different objects in water and freeze them, sometimes all you need to do for great pictures is to freeze the water itself. You’ll want clear ice cubes, and there are tons of interesting tips and tricks to help you with that.

Regardless, highlight the ice cubes in a unique way for amazing water photography pictures.

6. Pictures in the Rain from All women stalk

You don’t necessarily need large bodies of water to get into water photography. All you need to do is head out for a photo shoot the next time that it rains. Before you head out, ensure that your camera and gear are waterproof. We also recommend a hood for your camera lens, so water droplets don’t get on the lens and ruin your picture.

7. Make a Splash from Savage

Nothing quite captures childhood exuberance quite like a splash. Whether it’s splashing in puddles by the side of the road or jumping in a pool, make a splash and get it on camera. Ensure that you have a fast enough shutter speed to capture the individual details of the water for an incredible picture.

8. Oil and Water from Jenna Gang Photography

Oil and water just don’t mix, but that doesn’t mean you can’t put them together and get great pictures! You can create unique oil pools in the water that you can highlight in pictures.

Add color or other elements for more flair, and see how many pictures you can capture with oil and water!

9. Go Underwater from Flicker

Taking pictures underwater introduces many variables and challenges that you will have to overcome for your pictures, but when you do it right, you can get outstanding images. You’ll need an entirely waterproof setup, and you’ll need to ensure that your camera works underwater.

You’ll also need to find ideal conditions for the pictures that you want, but get creative with things. Head to a swimming pool, a lake, or the ocean, or just stick your camera inside the local aquarium to see what you can capture!

10. Look Out at the Waves from Flicker

Sometimes we all need a reminder of the serenity and power of nature. Few things capture that as effectively as waves crashing onto the beach or a cliffside. But they can be a challenging target to capture in all their glory.

You’ll need a camera with a high enough shutter speed to capture all the finer details.

11. Get Creative With Editing from Bridal Guide

With photo editing, you don’t need any water to get into water photography. You can put water in places where it’s not normally at, or you can remove water from locations where you expect to see it. With photo editing, the only limitations that you have are the skills you have with the software that you’re using and your creativity.

Conclusion

Now that you have a few ideas to use for your water photography, it’s up to you to get out there and start taking pictures. Get creative, practice, make mistakes, and most importantly, have fun with it.

The more you practice, the better you get, and before long, you might start your own water photography trend that other people will look to for inspiration!

See also: 

• 20 Still Life Photography Ideas to Get You Inspired
• 10 Flower Photography Ideas To Get You Inspired

Featured Image Credit: structuresxx, Shutterstock