Last week I made an article about How To Create the Perfect Outdoor Milk Splash, so this is the Part 2 of that article and how to do it indoors or inside the studio using a flash.
Velo POP Claims to Be The Fastest Retail Trigger In The World
After successfully funding the Vela One – an uber-high-speed strobe the obvious question was now that you have a trigger that can freezer a bullet in mid air, how do you trigger it to catch the action. This is why I am not surprised that Vela Labs now announces the Vela Pop, a companion sound trigger for the LED strobe.
There are other solutions out there if you want a sound trigger: Camera Axe is one of them, MIOPS is another and TriggerTrap is a phone based one, and while that are all very good at what they do, Vela Pop does bring some news into this market:
DIY High Speed Splash Photography
We’ve shared several interesting DIY projects that revolve around an Arduino, they’re pretty nifty little boards if you have the know how or the willingness to learn. It seems like the photography tinkerers out there are coming up with some new use for them on a pretty regular basis. Take this video from Thomas Burg, Johannes Gottwald, and MAKE, for example. Using an Arduino UNO, the team has devised a way to build a high speed photography set-up, that takes the guess work out of capturing splashes of various sorts.
If you’ve been attempting this the hard way (dropping an object in the water and hoping your timing is right when you press the shutter release on your camera), you know how frustrating it can be. This setup will allow you to capture the moment repeatedly, with little effort. (And don’t be scared off by having to program an Arduino–you can download the simple program for free from Thomas Burg.)
Here’s the video:
Photographer Creates Superhero Portraits by Splashing Milk on Naked Models (NSFW)
Jaroslav Wieczorkiewicz made quite a splash with his Milky Pin-Ups, and following that success he decided to create another series called Splash Heroes.
Using the same techniques of high-speed photography and expertly splashed milk, Jaroslav created an outstanding series of photos which he used to make a calendar (sold out in days).
Jaroslav was kind enough to share a lot of information regarding this project, including his gear, lighting setup, work process and plenty of behind-the-scenes footage.
$500K High-Speed Trigger Project Funds. Pulls Back After A Year. Owner Is Taking Responsibility
This is an interesting story about how your best dream coming true can turn into your worst nightmare. TriggerTrap who makes mobile camera triggers did the impossible and raised over £290,386 in their Ada kickstarter campaign, this is not trivial at all considering that high speed photography is a bit of a niche. Now a year after funding they are cancelling the project. I think it is a great story about what Kickstarter really is, why it takes so long to deliver a good product and how you handle (or should handle) such a massive fail.
You would think that funding half a million dollars would make almost anything impossible, right? Turns out that even that much money may not be enough when you are making a high-ended-complex product.
How To Use High Speed Photography Gear To Photograph Your Hyperactive Pet
I love dogs. About a month ago we adopted a puppy, we named her Sol. Sol, as most puppies, has a bio-polar personality – Either she is asleep and is perfectly still or she is awake and is perfectly hyperactive. Between those two moods it is incredibly difficult to take a photo of here which is both interesting (i.e. not sleeping) and sharp (i.e. focused on a faster than a bullet object).
My first attempts of shooting Sol were hand held using the camera’s built in auto fucus. Sadly (yet happily on other occasions) Sol was faster than the focus motor, I only got about one good photo out of every 100 clicks.
This would be a very typical photo….
High Speed Camera Allows Scientists To Photograph The Smell Of Rain
Ah, the smell of fresh rain. Clean, refreshing, and light…There’s nothing else quite like it. And, unfortunately, according to a team of researchers from MIT, that nostalgic aroma of a rain shower could also be loaded with hazardous viruses and bacteria. This interesting discovery was made possible through the use of high speed cameras, which the scientists used to record “roughly 600 experiments on 28 types of surfaces”, where a drop of water was released onto each of the 28 varying soil surfaces. The scientists then took their high speed footage and played it back at 1/250 of the actual speed.
Their findings showed that, upon making contact with the surface, air bubbles were trapped between the soil surface and the drop of water. This resulted in the trapped air to be forced upwards through the drop of rain, effectively creating an aerosol effect. This entire process, scientists believe, is essentially how the “smell of rain” is created.[Read More…]
An Insane Rig Of 50 EOS1DX DSLRs Captures Really Expensive Bullet Time Photos
We have covered quite a bit of bullet time rigs but even the really high-end ones usually use an array of GoPros which are not the cheapest way to get a good bullet time shot but is it manageable.
A collaboration between Swiss TV station and Swiss Canon upped the game by making a bullet time rig with 50 Canon EOS 1DX DSLRs (yes that’s a 5 followed by a zero). A single one of those bodies is about $6,800 so it totals up to roughly $340,000. Oh yea, they needed lenses too. Weapon of choice was Canon’s top notch 24-70mm f/2.8L II USM. Those roughly cost $2,100 a lens. So we are looking at an additional $105,000 of lenses, bringing the total (with some memory cards, cables and 50 bubble levels) to just about half a million Dollar’s worth of gear.
Vela Lab’s Uber High Speed Flash Aims To Freeze Bullets In Mid Air
Vela Labs developed an LED flash with speeds of up to 1 /2,000,000 of a second – the Vela One. This means that the Vela One is fast enough to stop a bullet in flight.
Vela Labs CEO, Matt Kane, told us that such a fast speed is obtained by using ultra-high flux COB LEDs, and overdriving them. My first question was how exactly can you push an LED so brutally and not damage it. Matt explained that the massive currents are delivered in very short pulses and do not damage or shorten the life of the unit. [Read More…]
Photographer Brings $140,000 Camera Into The Ocean To Capture This Jaw Dropping Surf Film
I have to admit, I get nervous enough just bringing my DSLR into the ocean even when I’m using a waterproof housing which cost more than my camera itself. Needless to say, it would be really difficult for me to slip into my wetsuit and take a $140,000 Phantom 4K Flex out for a little swim. In a housing I made myself, to boot.
Then again, I’m not Chris Bryan. Bryan, an Australian based sports cinematographer, has recently spent time in New York training to become a Phantom technician while also working closely with the camera makers to develop “his own unique custom light weight self contained underwater housing for the new state of the art Phantom Flex 4K, complete with Directors underwater video split.” [Read More…]
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