Can someone explain how laser and sound triggers work?

[dennisbray]

Recently I stumbled upon a collection of photos called "Water Wigs" Incredible Water Wigs Done With Exploding Water Balloons The photographer is named Tim Tadder and he used exploding water balloons to achieve the effect of the "wigs". At first I though it's pure Photoshop, but then I dug deeper and found out it's very real. It's said he used laser and sound triggers to capture the right moment.
Does anyone know how this type of equipment works and how much it costs?

 

[Buckster]

How it works is that various means are used to trigger the flash(es). Basically, the flash(es) are connected to a piece of electronic gear that acts as the switch / timing device to fire the flash. Also connected to that device are the actual triggers one wants to use.

The triggers send a signal when they detect an event. A sound trigger is basically a microphone. When it hears something, it sends a pulse to the switch, which tells the flash to fire, all in an instant. A laser's beam is broken by an object that gets in the way, and it sends a pulse. An infrared beam does the same thing. A lightning trigger detects that suddenly a change in the light happened, and that sends a pulse, same as a flash slave does. There are various other types of triggers and associated devices available as well.

Cost varies from do it yourself kits that are VERY inexpensive, like at (click)--> HiViz.com: Learn High Speed Photography up to very expensive equipment for EXTREME high speed photography. In the middle are very nice gear that cost in the range of a couple to a few hundred dollars for the switch / timing device, and additional dollars for each type of trigger or other connecting device. I use a kit from Camera Axe that I really love (click)-->: Camera Axe

 

[dennybeall]

Since the ambient light is very low or not there at all the flash stops the action.

 

[KmH]

The flash can only stop the action if the duration of the flash is fast enough.

At full power most hot shoe flash units have a duration of about 1/1000 of a second.
When flash unit power is set to less than full power, the flash duration usually gets shorter.

At the 1/16 power setting a Nikon SB-700 flash unit has a flash duration of approx 1/10,000 of a second.

 

[dennisbray]

How it works is that various means are used to trigger the flash(es). Basically, the flash(es) are connected to a piece of electronic gear that acts as the switch / timing device to fire the flash. Also connected to that device are the actual triggers one wants to use...

Many thanks for shedding some light on the mystery, Buckster.