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The Tomato and the Pellet

Tuesday, June 2nd, 2009
Plum Tomato

Plum Tomato

When I first starting talking about shooting a ripe plum tomato with a pellet gun at close range, my wife had visions of tomato sauce splattered on every wall.

The tomato proved to be beefier and more resiliant than expected, however, with very little in the way of an explosion of color that I was seeking. As you can see in this photo, the pellet has passed through the tomato, leaving very little in the way of a visible path of destruction.

To get the solid black background, I’m using a glossy black ceramic tile, with a black fabric behind the tomato, draped over a foam board. As in previous sessions, I’m using a Vivitar 283 flash on its shortest duration (1/30,000 second) triggered by a sound detector in order to capture the moment of impact.

I digress, however – back to the tomatoes. Not satisfied by my results, I decided to try again, placing the pellet gun just inches away from the tomato.

Plum Tomato Shot at Close Range

Plum Tomato Shot at Close Range

As you can see in this picture, there is a more dramatic impact captured, although much of this is just the CO2 released by the pellet gun. You can also see that this tomato has survived multiple puncture wounds and is on its last legs.

I’m still searching for subjects that will make a good photograph. I had high hopes for the red tomato, reflected off the glossy black tile, but the impact was not as strong as I’d like. If you have any candidates you’d like to see explored, let me know.

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The Quest Continues…

Thursday, May 21st, 2009

…for the perfect water balloon explosion.  And while not perfect, I think today I’ve come about as close as I can with the basic equipment and setup I have at my disposal.

Balloon & Pellet

Balloon & Pellet

Now that I’ve got the basic timing down, I was able to capture the picture at the left, with the pellet (fired from a pellet gun at about 400 feet/second) in the picture and about to hit the water-filled balloon.

Because the difference between a hanging balloon, a balloon that has deflated with the water still hanging, and a complete watery mess are milliseconds apart, my timing consists of moving the sound detector by a matter of inches.

Pellet Inside Balloon

Pellet Inside Balloon

In this next picture, the pellet has literally just entered the balloon on the right, but the balloon has not deflated yet.

Again, the difference between these two pictures is so short that it’s hard to imagine. So all that’s left is to capture the instance after the actual point of impact when the balloon has collapsed, but the water still retains its shape as gravity starts to pull it down.

I couldn’t decide which picture I thought represented that best, so here’s a series of water balloons punctured by shots fired from a pellet gun.

And finally, the setup.  Last week, I had a comment on one of my water balloon pictures, asking that I show the setup I use in taking these pictures. So here it is.

Water Balloon Setup

Water Balloon Setup

Not the most elegant of setups, essentially you can see the camera (Canon 20D) on a tripod to the left, with the Vivitar 283 flash just to the right and below it.

I have the balloon hanging from a shoe lace that’s dropped from a ceiling brace, with a matte black backdrop behind the balloon. I’m using a roasting pan to capture the water as it falls from the balloon, with an inverted funnel to (hopefully) lessen the impact of the water falling.

On the table is a plastic tablecloth, with my sound detector device (described here) on the front left corner. For the actual shot, I move the sound detector to get the delay I want. On the far edge of the table is the homemade backstop for the pellets (essentially a cardboard box stuffed with 2 pieces of 1/4″ plywood, magazines, and newspapers).

And finally, on the front edge of the table are the pellet gun (described here) and safety glasses.

When I take the picture, I set the camera on a 1 second shutter speed, manually focused, with as large an aperture as possible. I turn off the lights, using a small flashlight to provide a limited amount of light. I then take aim on the balloon, use a shutter release to trip the camera shutter, and fire the pellet gun.

If it all works to plan, the sound of the gun triggers the flash just as the pellet reaches the balloon. And since the flash has a duration of 1/30,000 second, the camera sensor just captures that instant in time when the flash exposes the scene.

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Short Duration Flashes

Thursday, May 14th, 2009

While I’ve been making progress exploring the world of High Speed Flash Photography, I felt the duration of my flash unit (1/1000 second while off camera) was too long to freeze the action well enough. After doing some research, I settled on acquiring a Vivitar 283 flash unit, which can be set for a flash duration of 1/30,000 second – a significant improvement. I was able to find a used one on eBay for $40, and so I was excited to give this a try.

First, though, I wanted to make some improvements to my sound detector device. As originally built (see High Speed Photography), it’s a bit exposed to the elements – and by elements, I mean the cornstarch, water, and whatever else I come up with as I expand my range of pellet gun targets.

Sound Detector

Sound Detector

So, as seen in the picture to the right, I enclosed the electronics in a plastic box with a metal lid. I drilled holes in the box for the wires that extend out, and velcroed the sound pickup device on the side.

I added a dip switch so that I could turn the device on and off, while keeping the battery connected.

And lastly, I put in a new potentiometer for controlling the length of the sound delay, connecting it to a knob on top of the device, and eliminating the need to use a screwdriver to make adjustments.

Balloon and Pellet

Balloon and Pellet

To test the new flash, I went back to the beginning and fired the pellet gun at an inflated balloon.

As you can see in this picture, the shorter flash really improved the stop action feel to the picture. The balloon is clearly popping, but has not completly deflated. The pellet (traveling at about 400 feet/second) can be seen exiting the balloon on the left. In fact, you can see the exit hole in the balloon.

There is still some blur – even at 1/30,000 second, things are moving fast. And there is a side effect to such a short duration – less light is thrown from the flash, and hence, less light is reaching the camera sensor. This can partially be compensated for by moving the flash closer to the subject. The only other controls are to open the aperture as much as possible (f/4 in this particular case) and/or adjust the ISO. Using a high ISO does help, but it also increases noise in the picture – so for this picture I kept it as low as possible (ISO 200).

Now that I think I have the basic pieces I need, and understand the basic mechanics that work in my environment, I hope to explore more subjects in the coming weeks in order to create some truly unique pictures.

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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!

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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.

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