"Row of 2 Circles" Pattern Turned Into a "Row of 3 Circles" Pattern

 Photo date: October 2, 2020. Photographer: Mark Mahin.   

I took the photos below while photographing only ordinary drops of pure, clean water falling in front of a black featureless background.  On this day I first got a two-part pattern consisting of orbs with a row of two circles:

Then, as often happens when I am photographing such patterns, the pattern became more complex. The row of two circles became a row of three circles, as we see in the examples below. Such a pattern persisted for almost all of 100+ consecutive photos.