I spent some time today playing around with my new high-speed flash unit (the one I built yesterday). I popped a lot of balloons; my bathroom looks like birthday party massacre, or something. :D I got some interesting shots, although nothing I really love. This is my favorite, so far. There's also a Flickr set with a few others:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/herebedragons/sets/72157604993633513/
Next, I want to figure out how to shoot a crown of water droplets. :)
Comments
S says he thinks milk might work better, but he could be wrong.
Also, LOL about the band name. That's awesome. :D I might take a picture of my own massacre - I still haven't picked up all the "dead" balloons. :D
I used the high-speed flash unit I built last week ( http://here-be-dragons.livejournal.com/554699.html ). In my bathroom (where I can make the room completely dark; no windows), I set the camera's shutter speed for about three seconds. Then (after pre-focusing and turning out the lights), I hit the shutter release, and then pop the balloon with a pin. The high-speed flash is hooked up to a microphone, so that the flash is triggered by the sound of the balloon popping; since the camera's shutter is open this whole time, it captures just that bit of action, and voila! Popping in action. The trick is to get the timing right - if I have the microphone too close to the balloon, the flash will fire before it's really popped; if I have it too far away, the flash will fire after all the action. So, I popped a few dozen balloons to get these shots. I intend to do a few more - and other subjects. It's a fun process. :)