Photographing Soap Bubbles

A soap bubble reveals, in close-up, an almost hypnotic play of iridescent colours — an ephemeral subject that calls for both the precision of macro photography and a good dose of quick reflexes.

Light, the source of the colours

The iridescence of a soap bubble comes from light refracting through the thin soap film — a fairly soft, diffused light, never a direct flash which would flatten these subtle hues, brings out these colours far more effectively. Walking around the bubble, or making it spin slightly, completely changes the visible hues depending on the angle to the light source.

A contrasting, plain background

A dark or plain, contrasting background makes the transparency and reflections of the bubble stand out far better than a busy backdrop, where the bubble visually gets lost. A simple piece of coloured fabric or card, placed behind the area where the bubbles will be blown, is enough to set up a good scene.

Freezing it before it pops

A soap bubble pops in a split second, often without warning — a fast shutter speed combined with continuous burst shooting while the bubbles float greatly increases your chances of getting a sharp image at just the right moment. Blowing several bubbles at once, rather than just one, also gives you more time and more options to frame before they all disappear.

Focus, a real challenge

A floating bubble moves unpredictably, making continuous autofocus fairly unreliable at this close range. Manually pre-setting focus to the approximate distance where the bubbles will be, then slightly adjusting your own position at the moment of shooting, is often more effective than relying on autofocus.