Bubble Photography Techniques
This body of work depicts the natural, magical colors found dancing on the surface of various soap films I have made. I haven't digitally or otherwise changed or enhanced the colors in any way. The colors may appear to be more intense and vibrant than the bubbles you are familiar with because I have eliminated all background illumination. If you were to sit under your back porch light at night and blow bubbles you would have a similar experience. Or try creating a flat soap film across the opening of a black cup.
The colors are actually caused by the Thin Film Interference Effect - the light is reflecting off of both the front and rear surfaces of the thin soap film. But the thickness of the soap bubble is actually less than that of a wavelength of visible light. The wavelengths of light bouncing off of the front and back surfaces are subtracted from each other, according to the exact thickness of the film at each point, yielding these magnificent colors. Clear areas on the bubble are so thin that the interference colors are above the visible spectrum. Who says Science isn't exciting?
I call these Bubble Photographs because I make them with special bubble solutions I concoct. But actually they are large, flat soap films held in a metal frame and supported vertically in front of a black velvet background. The soap films must be flat to limit the depth of field problems associated with photographing a round bubble. I do all the photography in my studio using either a Nikon or a Mamiya RB67 medium format camera (on a tripod) with a macro telephoto lens and a single 15,000 watt studio flash with a special home-made diffusion head. I use a Minolta Flash Meter and stop down the lens for the best depth of field possible. With the Mamiya I use a 1/400 shutter speed.
The secret to long-lasting, interesting bubble solutions is to not use the commercial soap bubble solutions. Also, don't use dishwasher or washing machine detergents - they are designed to be low-sudsing. Try any good-foaming hand-dishwashing detergents, car-washing detergents, etc. My favorite soap is an off-brand green detergent from an obscure hardware store. Using different detergents will give you a greater variety of results. Secondly - you need to use a lot of glycerine. Find a chemical supplier who will sell it to you in gallon jugs. You may need to use a solution that is 1/3 detergent, 1/3 glycerine and 1/3 water. If the soap films don't last long enough, they may be too thick - add more water.
Mardi Gras is a good example of what a very young bubble looks like just after raising the frame up and out of the solution. You can see the colors are all mixed together, meaning that the bubble film thickness has a great deal of inherent chaos. Spectrum of Life is a good example of what a complete full-frame bubble looks like a few minutes later, when it has stabilized with the thinnest areas at the top and the thickest areas at the bottom. You can see the bright green is at the bottom, where it is thickest, followed by magenta, and on up from there. Golden Pathway and Starburst Galaxy are good examples of bubbles near the end of their life spans. The colors are beginning to break up, separated by extremely thin areas that appear black (because of the black background). All the other photographs are close-ups and various manipulations of techniques.
By carefully controlling the air drafts in the studio, I can make my soap films last as long as an hour. This gives me plenty of time to study them, looking for exciting images, and to manipulate them at the top and the sides.