Tips

...now browsing by category

Posts relating to general photography tips.

 

Balloon Meets Pellet

Thursday, May 7th, 2009
Daisy Powerline 008

Daisy Powerline 008

Not content to just pop balloons with a needle, my next foray into high speed flash photography involves the use of a pellet gun to fire pellets at high speed into unsuspecting subjects (nothing living, of course) to capture the point of impact. In my case, I added a Daisy Powerline 008 pellet gun to my arsenal.

As you can imagine, getting the timing down on this is even more difficult due to the high speed of the pellet (around 400 feet/second). In fact, working again with balloons, I found that the placement of the sound detecter was critical in the timing process. Too close to the gun and the flash triggered before the pellet reached the balloon, giving me a picture of a balloon hanging from the ceiling.

Moving the sound detecter several feet away from the gun, the flash triggered after the pellet had exited the balloon and had hit the pellet trap I set up, leaving me with a picture of empty space.

Balloon Meets Pellet

Balloon Meets Pellet

Through a fair amount of trial and error, I was able to capture the picture at left. The pellet has exited the balloon, but there is still a discernable shape to the balloon (particularly apparent at the top of the balloon). It’s still a split second later than I’d like – the exit wound in the balloon is large and most of the balloon is gone – so I still have some work to do on the timing.

There’s also a great deal of softness in the picture – the balloon is blurred, which is likely due to the duration of the flash, which on my flash unit (Canon 420EX) is about 1.2 ms (about 1/1000 second). This is actually a longer duration than I want – something I’ll have to work on improving.

So what’s next? Working on getting the timing down a little better, and than expanding my choice of subjects. Stay tuned!

VN:F [1.9.10_1130]
Rating: 0.0/5 (0 votes cast)
Share

Posted in Photos, Tips | No Responses »
Tags: , , , ,

First Attempts – High Speed Flash Photography

Wednesday, May 6th, 2009
Balloon Pop I

Balloon Pop I

Balloon Pop II

Balloon Pop II

Yesterday I made my first attempt at High Speed Flash Photography – which is a more accurate term than I used in my post on Monday. The key word being flash - since high speed photography really refers to any type of stop action photography, including for instance photographing race cars, sporting events, etc.

My attempt at high speed photography will use flash to capture an instance in time. And my first two attempts are shown to the right (or I should say, my first two attempts that actually captured anything!).

As you can see, the results leave room for a lot of improvement – but for a first session, I learned a lot.

I started by setting up my camera (Canon 20D) on a tripod, manually focused on an inflated balloon that I hung from a ceiling tile. My plan was to set the camera on ‘bulb’ setting in a totally dark room and use the sound detector I built (explained in my post on Monday) to trigger a flash at the point the balloon is popped. Using the bulb setting keeps the shutter open – since there is no light, no image is captured until the flash goes off. The duration of the flash is so short (typically around 1/30,000 second) that the sensor freezes the image as it captures it.

For my first test, I set the flash on a table below the balloon and pointed it up at the balloon, connected to the sound detector. With the lights off, I tested the flash by clapping my hands. As my eyes were adjusting to the dark, the flash went off, blinding me – I stumbled around the room completely blinded, looking for the light switch. It immediately occurred to me that I need to plan this better…

After several more attempts (using a low powered flashlight to get around), I settled on keeping the camera on manual, using f/22 with a 5 second exposure. The 5 second exposure gave me enough time to press the shutter button on the camera, find the balloon, and pop it with a needle. I dropped the idea of using the bulb setting, since it would require holding the shutter button down during the exposure and I didn’t have enough hands.

Spirit Dance

Spirit Dance

I also modified the time delay – as configured using the original instructions, the time delay from the time the balloon was popped until the flash was triggered was 0.5 seconds – an eternity in the life of a popped balloon. Changing capacitors allowed me to reduce the delay to 0.01 seconds.While still a long ways from where I’d like to get it, having the basic process worked out will now allow me to experiment and refine my methodology – I hope to be able to show better pictures over the next few days.

With some creative cropping, the popped balloons start to take on their own life. This balloon reminds me of a human form – with the knot representing the head, two legs descended and arms upraised.

Given the fluid motion of the balloon deflating, it has the feel of a spirit dancing to me. I expect to see new and interesting images in the days ahead as I experiment further with High Speed Flash Photography.

And I hope you join me on my journey.

VN:F [1.9.10_1130]
Rating: 0.0/5 (0 votes cast)
Share

Posted in Photos, Tips | No Responses »
Tags: , , , ,

High Speed Photography

Monday, May 4th, 2009

I’ve always been interested in high speed photography – the ability to capture the precise moment a balloon is popped, or capturing a drop of water just as it hits the water’s surface. An earlier example of that is the ‘Splash!‘ photo I posted a little while back.

In an effort to take this to the next level, I’m working on a setup that will let me experiment more with high speed photography. In order to do this, I need something that will trigger a flash at precisely the right moment, and I think I’ve found something that will help me do that.

Sound Kit Unassembled

Sound Kit Unassembled

For this first iteration, I will be using sound to trigger the flash – using an electronic circuit to detect the sound and close the circuit to fire the flash. This is the Sound trigger with Delay Unit Kit from HiViz.com.

The kit comes as you see in the picture on the left. It is a collection of resisters, capacitors, potentiometers, wires, etc., along with a solderless breadboard for assembly. While the kit comes with no instructions, HiViz has an excellent set of instructions on their website, with pictures of the assembly process at each step of the way. You really don’t have to be an electrician in order to assemble this – my biggest challenge was the small size of the components and my fat fingers!

Sound Kit Assembled

Sound Kit Assembled

You can see the assembled unit on the right. The large black circular device is the sound-detecting element, which has a sensitivity control. In addition to being triggered by a loud sound, the kit has a delay unit (also with a sensitivity control), which introduces a delay after the sound detection before the flash is triggered.

In my first experiment (which I haven’t done yet), the sound will come from a pellet gun, which will fire a pellet at an inflated balloon. There needs to be a slight delay as the pellet makes its way to the balloon, and if it works correctly, the flash will fire and capture the instance of the balloon being punctured. I’ll report back over the next couple of weeks as I work out the issues and see what kind of pictures I can capture.

VN:F [1.9.10_1130]
Rating: 5.0/5 (1 vote cast)
Share

Posted in Hardware & Equipment, Tips | No Responses »
Tags: , , , , ,

Favorite Links

Friday, May 1st, 2009

For today’s post, I thought I’d list a view of the websites that I enjoy visiting related to photography. While a number of the web sites I visit relate specifically to hardware or software that I use, the following sites are general in nature and focused on helping create better photographic images.

One of my favorites is the Digital Photography School, which you can access by clicking here. This web site provides a wealth of tips by many different photo enthusiasts. There is a mailing list if you’re interested that provides weekly updates on both newly published tips as well as popular archived tips.

Another good site for tips is DPhoto Journal, which you can access by clicking here. Again, these are general photography tips – for example, this group of articles specifically focused on taking better pictures of birds (click here).

For reviews of camera equipment, my hands-down favorite is Digital Photography Review, which you can access by clicking here. This website has detailed reviews of every major camera and lens manufactured – with extensive archives going back over about fifteen years. For instance, here’s the review of the camera I currently use – the Canon 20D (click here).

And then there’s photography magazines – some of my favorites are Outdoor Photographer, Shutterbug, Digital Photo Pro, and Professional Photographer.

In a future post, I’ll talk more specifically about what camera equipment I use and what computer software I use in post-processing of my photos, with links to some of the sites I visit related to these. For today, though, I hope you find some of the above websites interesting.

VN:F [1.9.10_1130]
Rating: 0.0/5 (0 votes cast)
Share

Posted in General, Tips | No Responses »
Tags: , , ,

Rainy Day Photos

Monday, April 27th, 2009
Calatrava in Clouds

Calatrava in Clouds

Rain, rain, and more rain. That’s what the weekend was like here in Milwaukee. And on Sunday, the storms brought low-lying clouds and low visibility.

These conditions can create some interesting photo opportunities, so I headed to the Milwaukee lake front. One of my favorite subjects is the addition to the Milwaukee Art Museum designed by Santiago Calatrava. The Burke Bries Soleil (the wing-like structure) was open, so the only challenge was to wait out the people entering and leaving via the bridge that leads to the museum’s entrance. The effect of the clouds was to complete obscur the background – normally you would be able to see the lake and a blue or gray sky – the clouds gave made for a white background, focusing all of the attention on the museum itself.

Burke Bries Soleil

Burke Bries Soleil

It’s also good to look for different types of photos to take under the conditions. The close up of the Burke Bries Soleil on the right also works because the clouds obscur some of the detail that would normally be seen in the background, making this perspective much more dramatic than on a sunny day. Click on the picture to expand it and get the full view of the contrasting angles that make up this magnificient structure.

The overcast conditions made for great lighting at the lagoon in Veterans Park at the lake front as well. Mid-day conditions usually produce harsh shadows, but this weather produces great soft lighting that gives a peaceful feeling, as in this picture looking across the lagoon.

Milwaukee Skyline

Milwaukee Skyline

The Milwaukee skyline is obscurred by the low-lying clouds, but the lagoon is very reflective. The light rain falling is just enough to keep the lagoon from being a perfect mirror surface – so the reflections have an impressionistic feel to them.

The viewer can tell that it’s a cloudy and foggy day, since the tops of the buildings fade into the clouds, instead of being crisply defined. In fact, you’d have to be from Milwaukee to know that the building in the center is Milwaukee’s tallest building.

This picture would be quite different on a sunny day.

Reflections

Reflections

Finally, this last picture agains shows a close up view taken from a larger scene. The reeds in the lagoon form interesting shapes, and the reflections provide nice contrast.

The light rainfall can be seen in the drops of water that hit the surface of the lagoon, producing various types of ripples through the water.

So while the conditions made staying a home a tempting option, getting out offered up some unique picture taking opportunities.

VN:F [1.9.10_1130]
Rating: 5.0/5 (2 votes cast)
Share

Posted in Photos, Tips | 3 Responses »
Tags: , , , , , ,

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »