Photographing Exploding Edibles

Isaac Skibinski writes "Remember gawking at photos of bullets going through apples (and the pretty fruit gibbage)? We've recently built an apparatus to capture similar results, using a BASIC controller stamp, a disposable camera flash, an air compressor, an electronic sprinkler valve and some pipe. Considering the cost of the device, it has allowed us to take suprisingly crisp photos of high-velocity objects."

Comments

"Images in science"

[MrSpiff]

there are similar highspeed captures and a lot more fantastic photography and articles in this book from the swedish Karolinska Institute (http://www.imagesinscience.com) sadly only available from http://kup.ki.se/publications/images_sciences_en.h tml

Re:"Images in science"

[aheath]

The photograph of the apple and the bullet is the work of Harold E. "Doc" Edgerton. "By synchronizing strobe flashes with the motion being examined (for example, the spinning of engine rotors), then taking a series of photos through an open shutter at the rate of many flashes per second, Edgerton invented ultra-high-speed and stop-action photography (1931)." See Exploring the Art and Science of Stopping Time for more information on Harold Edgerton's life and work.

Easy to do using a sound-trigger

[vijayiyer]

There is a lot of information on building a sound-triggered system at http://www.hiviz.com/, along with some photos.

Flash Speed

[Detritus]

I thought that one of the advantages of the Edgerton setup was that he used a fast strobe, something on the order of 1/200,000 of a second. This produced much better detail than a generic camera flash unit.

If I remember correctly, he used a camera with an open shutter in a darkened room, triggering the strobe with the sound of the muzzle blast and an electronic delay.

Re:Flash Speed

[aderusha]

the shutter speed of the camera doesn't matter a bit. it's the speed of the flash that counts. the camera is setup for a long exposure, but it only collects light for the duration of the flash, so it doesn't really matter how fast the camera is.

Some more photos

[leoaugust]

Here are some more frozen-time photos

• In a spectacular career spanning nearly six decades, Edgerton and his "magic lamps" stopped bullets mid-flight and revealed the secrets of ocean depths. By photographing the usual in an unusual way, Edgerton brought to the world what James R. Killian, Jr., coined "sudden wonder."
• Some more photos by Harold Edgerton
• bullet thru baloon
• diver entering water
• bullet thru card
• Pigeon Released
• hitting a tennis ball
• cards

once built something similar

[SuperBanana]

A friend and I once built a sprinkler-valve based widget that was quite impressive. In our first test, however, we left the barrel off, and the resulting pressure wave nearly deafened us. Those valves flow pretty well...

You know how they tell you to shoot stuff into a hanging blanket, because it 'catches' the object? Our first 'victim', a magic marker, went THROUGH the blanket and was never seen again.

We developed the world's fastest(and messiest) french fry maker(use your imagination- sporting goods involved)...shot a 4-foot broom handle a couple hundred feet into the air and down his yard(looked like a mini-cruise-missile)...discovered it made an excellent fire extinguisher(fill barrel with water, cork, aim, blammo- between the gust of air and the water/steam, you could do a serious number a good sized fire with just two cups of water)...etc. You could even launch cylinders of compressed snow(trick is to compress it enough that it doesn't disintegrate on launch, but doesn't hurt anyone/anything when it impacts..although ice rods looked awesome fired at a brick wall).

The best was when my friend's parents got home. His mother walked out onto the porch first. "Oh my GOD, what are you DOING?" His father followed, saw the compressor, air tanks, etc..."Oh cool, whatcha guys doin'?" :-)