High Speed Photography

You can click on the image or name for any of the following photos and travel to the website of the artist.

High speed photography involves both artistry and technological wizardry.

A standard photographic flash lasts around a thousandth of a second (a millisecond). But high speed photography creates a flash of light around a microsecond (a millionth of a second). This allows the photographer to freeze time at a precise moment.  Check out the delicate beauty these ingenious artists  have created.

High speed photographer Jim Kramer uses food coloring, water, and dishwater soap to help thicken the water, and captures the moment a drop of liquid explodes into a multicolored splash in these incredible images.

Using a timer to track the path of falling drops, a flash is set off at the exact split second of impact and captures the shot.

 

 

 

 

Alan Sailer likes to shoot bullets through inanimate objects, then capture the resulting carnage at the moment of impact.

Using an air rifle, he has set up a system that lets him take a photograph at the exact moment the bullet pierces the object.  Knowing that the pellets shot by these rifles can reach speeds of up to 656 feet (200 meters) per second, an elaborate triggering system was needed. When the pellet is shot, it goes through a laser beam which itself triggers a 17,000 volts flash and the photography is taken during a microsecond (or 1 millionth of a second.)

 

 

1. 

The liquid sculpture of Martin Waugh is amazingly intricate.

“Sometimes I have a very specific goal, like, “create a splash in the shape of a
martini glass,” and I design a method for doing that. Other times, I might think, “I
wonder what happens if I increase the viscosity of the drop’s liquid?” Then I set out
experimenting. In both cases, serendipity is a rich source of new ideas and effects.

I can spend several days getting things ready to take a shot. I may have to build
equipment or electronics, and work to get the lighting the way I want it. Then the
liquids will get uppity and require taming. This process can burn a few thousand
shots. Then, I have everything cornered right where I want it, and I can get
dozens of shots that are keepers. Those I choose from.”

From an interview posted on:   liquid-imagination.com

Martin Waugh kindly shares his techniques on his blog, and he also sells prints of his work.

Here’s a video where he discusses how he works.

 

Heinz Maier started photography only about a year ago, but his high-speed water drop photos are stunning.

 

 

 

 

Here are more photos using high speed techniques.

 

 

Now feast your eyes on these images by Marcus Reugels.

 

 

As if the above aren’t unique enough, Reugels devised a different approach, using the vibration from a speaker to jostle liquids.   To create this work he stretches a black balloon over a bass reflex tube which sits over a speaker. He adds a spoonful of water to the middle of the balloon, drops in some coloring, cranks some techno basslines through the speakers.

 

 

 

 

Finally, here is a sampling from his refractions series. Single droplets of water with images refracted within them – apparently focus and lighting are the tricky parts.

 

 

 

 

Finally, if you want to sit back and enjoy a slideshow with music and high speed images posted by Corrie White, here you go:

 

 

Thanks to Merry for getting me started on this.

Thanks to huffingtonpost.com for post about Jim Kramer.

Thanks to www.demilked.com for images from Heinz Maier and weburbanist for images and quotes.

Thanks to Hadro at  feedonthis.blogspot.com for images and info about Alan Sailer.

Thanks to  artsintherightplace  for images by Marcus Reugels.