How Martin Waugh Makes His Astonishing Liquid Sculpture
Photographs   posted Thursday, April 26, 2012 at 12:35 PM EST
Portland, Oregon photographer Martin Waugh is obsessed with
water. Trained in physics, about 10 years ago he was fascinated
by high-speed photography and the balloon popping, smashing
light bulb, water splashing images of Harold Edgerton.  Seeing
those images, he decided that it was the perfect way to blend
his love of science and photography. He set up a rig for taking
photos and began to make images à la Edgerton. Then quite by
accident, he made an important discovery.  "One night, I was
taking pictures of the moment that the splash forms a column
with a ball on top," he says. "But, one image was very
different, in fact, it seemed physically impossible: the top of
the column was flat!” After thinking about this curious image,
Waugh realized that the collision of droplets, a second ball
falling on the column, had flattened it. Waugh then built a
timer that could produce controlled droplet co