I've seen some crazy setups for high speed photography utilizing all sorts of weird parts. There is even a system that will turn the lights off for you, if you so please. But, this is the first time I am seeing such a huge overkill in term of components used to gain some control over the circuit.
Our buddy Destin from Smarter Every Day is about to have a new baby, but seconds before rushing to the hospital, he shares a neat slo-mo (or high-speed, depending on your take) video of a Canon 60D shutter going through the a full exposure cycle.
You can see the four stages of the exposure:
Now, here is a question for extra credit, can you calculate the exposure time?
If you are like me and like this kind of random science, you can register to Smarter Every Day Youtube channel here.
Congrats Destin for your new baby! Click to continue ›
On the previous post we build all the circuitry needed for complete control over high speed setups and today we will put it to the test. We will recreate one of the images previously done on DIYP (and has been in the title for this series). Click to continue ›
Eeeeveryboy loves Bullet Time. Bullet Time is that magical moment in a movie when everything freezes and the camera makes a circle or a semi circle around an object. I guess it is called bullet time cuz the camera moves at the speed of a bullet.
By now, you probably know that this effect is achieved with a battery of stills camera that will set you back a small house. To achieve Bullet Time, the photographers (or Bullet time specialist) places cameras in a circle and use both a green screen and clever triggering software.
The big number of cameras are used to maintain smooth motion as the point of view moves from one camera to another.
The Triggering mechanism is used to trigger the camera one after the other in very close succession, so it would seem like time is still flowing while the POV changes.
And the green screens is used to eliminate any interference and gain control over the set.
Or..... You could crowd source it all. Click to continue ›
On our last post we built and used a sound trigger to shoot a crossbow shoots an egg, today we add a photo gate trigger and shoot things falling.
After using the original trigger circuits for quite a while, I decided to make some improvements and to amalgamate the various devices into one, and to finally "hard wire" the whole lot. My excuse was that while I was incorporating the improvements I could rationalize the kit, but to be honest this was a bit of a vanity project. The finished control box is better, and much more versatile, and has enough knobs and switches to impress the unwary, but functionally the quick-and-easy separate circuits are just as good!
So, you can treat this post as a bit of a vanity project too, and skip it completely unless you are a inveterate tinkerer yourself! Click to continue ›
On our last post we saw what high speed triggers are available, on this post we will build our first trigger and and take the very first high speed photo.
I started doing high-speed photography after being wowed by images I saw on the Filckr. Images made by hobbyists like me. As a very experimental (purely for fun) activity, I wasn't about to commit large amounts of money to it. Click to continue ›
On our last post we went through the basic ideas of capturing a high speed photograph, and today we will cover some of the basic triggers and kits available to play the high speed game.
So, we need a small and preferably cheap electronic gizmo that will be triggered when an event such as a passing cherry or a popping balloon occurs. We need it to then fire a flash unit, or even the camera shutter for slowish events like a bird taking off. (The camera can then fire the flash in the normal way that cameras do!) The range of triggers – and sensors for the various types of event - is quite extensive now. Click to continue ›
We have done quite a bit of High Speed Photography here on DIYP, but never took it from a step by step approach starting with the basics and moving up to elaborate setups. This is going to change today.
Starting today, and for every Monday in the next few weeks, high speed photographer Brian Davies is going to go show us the ropes on high speed photography. Brian is just your ordinary guy who loves to play with high speed, so the series is not going to be exclusive for lots-of-gear-super-techy-rich photographers, it is also aimed at the entry level togs who want to get some hands on with high speed. Actually there is very little that you would need other than a camera, a strobe, and a tripod to start with. All the high speed electronics can be DIYed if you have some basic soldering skills, or bought if you have a bit of extra green in your pocket. (Actually, for the triggers we show in this series, no soldering is neeed, they are on breadboard based).
And now, I step off and give the floor to Brian. Click to continue ›
If taking high end macro shots of insects strikes you as hard, how about upping the level by taking the pictures while insects are in buzzing around mid-flight. Too easy you say. Let do this 3D.
Photographer and designer Frans Fotoopa (photo grandpa) built a monster futuristic camera rig that does just that. Taking 3D images of fast flying insects in mid air. Click to continue ›
High Speed Photography may seem intimidating with all the high end Arduino Triggers and crazy setups that are going around.
If you just want to have a quick stub at high speed photography, your best chance is probably selecting a subject that is easy to shoot (pun intended) in the dark, and light it using a strobe. "How will the strobe know when to pop?" you ask. Easy, using a contact sensor. Such subjects include thing that you can blow up relatively slowly using an arrow or a slow moving pellet, like balloon, eggs and Christmas ornaments.
A contact sensor is one of the most primitive and easy to build high speed photography sensors and is basically build from two conductive surfaces each connected to one of the strobes contacts. When those two surfaces meet they short the circuit and pop the flash. Click to continue ›
