How Were These Shot?

PhilGarber · Jan 25, 2009

Hi-

How do you guys suppose these were shot? Do you reckon they could be shot with a Rebel XT? (With some good glass, of course).

As per forum rules, since these are not my photos, I have linked them:

Beautiful High Speed Water Photography | Design Inspiration + Visual Art Inspiration | Designflavr

tsaraleksi · Jan 25, 2009

If you note the link that was at the bottom of the page explaining how this kind of thing is done, it's all set up using lights. The camera is focused, then the shutter is left open. Specially set up lights are used that are tripped to take the picture. With the gunshot images, a sound trigger is usually used to fire the lights as the gun fires. You can use really any camera, so long as you have the lights.

PhilGarber · Jan 25, 2009

But like, my camera only goes up to 1/4000 of second. Wouldn't that be too slow for some images like those?

Kegger · Jan 25, 2009

Actually, that fast of a shutter will do you no good. You have to have a long exposure for these kinds of photos. Then use an audio trigger to trigger your lights. So when the water droplet hits the surface, the sound sets off the lights giving you your exposure.

ksmattfish · Jan 26, 2009

PhilGarber said:
Do you reckon they could be shot with a Rebel XT?

I think they could be shot with a point-n-shoot, as long as it allowed for off camera flash. The key is the lighting, not the camera body or lens.

Sarah23 · Jan 26, 2009

Yep, as long as you have the lighting this isnt that hard. I have done it before (mine were not this beautiful, but same effect) with my XTi, off camera flash, and my 100 2.8 macro lens.

ksmattfish · Jan 26, 2009

PhilGarber said:
But like, my camera only goes up to 1/4000 of second. Wouldn't that be too slow for some images like those?

Yes, but your flash simulates a much higher shutter speed. As long as you set the camera so ambient light won't expose (slow ISO, small aperture...) the flash duration effectively becomes the shutter speed.

PhilGarber · Jan 26, 2009

ksmattfish said:
Yes, but your flash simulates a much higher shutter speed. As long as you set the camera so ambient light won't expose (slow ISO, small aperture...) the flash duration effectively becomes the shutter speed.

How would I do that? Sorry, lol, I feel stupid.

Garbz · Jan 26, 2009

Ok a complete explanation.

When you take a photo with a flash. The flash power is controlled by how long it is on for. This is instant, very instant, think in terms of 1/2000th of a second for a really really strong flash at full power, to 1/40000th of a second for a strong flash at 1/128th power. (These two numbers are actually the shortest and longest duration of the SB-800 if I recall correctly). Now the camera shutter opens, waits till it syncs (i.e. both shutter curtains are open), and then signals the flash to fire at a certain power and the flash illuminates the subject for a split second of the entire exposure. (As an asside this is also why shutter speed makes no difference to flash brightness, only to background light brightness).

With the theory out of the way to take a photo like this:
1. Prefocus your camera, and setup your lights.
2. Make the room pitch black, not dark, pitch black. The idea is that it should be dark enough so it won't show up on an exposure several seconds long.
3. Fire the camera off in manual for an exposure of a few seconds.
4. Drop the water, fire the bullet, pop the balloon or do whatever action you want to freeze, and at that instance you need to manually release the flash.

Now the SB-800 along with lots of other flashes allow manual settings, and also have a trigger button, if possible use this trigger. If you don't have the trigger button the easy thing to do is to use a wire to short the middle pin on the flash with the ground connector on the bit that holds to the hotshoe. This is exactly what the camera does when it signals the flash to fire.

5. Once the action and flash is over, close the shutter and enjoy the moment frozen in time.

The reason this is done rather than use the camera shutter button is because of camera lag. When you push the button, the electronics get ready, the rapid return mirror flips up, the shutter opens, then you have to wait at least 1/128th of a second on most cameras for the first shutter curtain to fully open, and then it triggers the flash, all in all costing you around 100-400ms depending on the camera and causing you to miss that critical shot. Triggering the flash on the other hand is instant. The split second the signal is received an electronic switch dumps the charge into the flash. This takes less than 10nanoseconds to happen, thus allowing you accurate control over when the camera "sees" the actions.

PhilGarber · Jan 27, 2009

Garbz said:
Ok a complete explanation.

When you take a photo with a flash. The flash power is controlled by how long it is on for. This is instant, very instant, think in terms of 1/2000th of a second for a really really strong flash at full power, to 1/40000th of a second for a strong flash at 1/128th power. (These two numbers are actually the shortest and longest duration of the SB-800 if I recall correctly). Now the camera shutter opens, waits till it syncs (i.e. both shutter curtains are open), and then signals the flash to fire at a certain power and the flash illuminates the subject for a split second of the entire exposure. (As an asside this is also why shutter speed makes no difference to flash brightness, only to background light brightness).

With the theory out of the way to take a photo like this:
1. Prefocus your camera, and setup your lights.
2. Make the room pitch black, not dark, pitch black. The idea is that it should be dark enough so it won't show up on an exposure several seconds long.
3. Fire the camera off in manual for an exposure of a few seconds.
4. Drop the water, fire the bullet, pop the balloon or do whatever action you want to freeze, and at that instance you need to manually release the flash.

Now the SB-800 along with lots of other flashes allow manual settings, and also have a trigger button, if possible use this trigger. If you don't have the trigger button the easy thing to do is to use a wire to short the middle pin on the flash with the ground connector on the bit that holds to the hotshoe. This is exactly what the camera does when it signals the flash to fire.

5. Once the action and flash is over, close the shutter and enjoy the moment frozen in time.

The reason this is done rather than use the camera shutter button is because of camera lag. When you push the button, the electronics get ready, the rapid return mirror flips up, the shutter opens, then you have to wait at least 1/128th of a second on most cameras for the first shutter curtain to fully open, and then it triggers the flash, all in all costing you around 100-400ms depending on the camera and causing you to miss that critical shot. Triggering the flash on the other hand is instant. The split second the signal is received an electronic switch dumps the charge into the flash. This takes less than 10nanoseconds to happen, thus allowing you accurate control over when the camera "sees" the actions.