CAMERA:
35mm camera
90mm macro lens
Ultra high speed photographic example
SETUP:
For this high speed photographic triple exposure the tricolor filter technique was used with 3 separate clear lit light bulbs maintained in registration before each was shot with a pellet gun. To use the tricolor RGB filter technique 3 exposures, each with a different color filter have to be made. A light bulb socket was firmly mounted to a table over a black backdrop with the camera mounted on a tripod and sandbagged to keep everything in registration for all 3 exposures. A pellet gun was mounted to a V support with the tip of the barrel exactly 48 inches from the bulb for all 3 exposures. A sound trigger was used to capture the sound the each exploding light bulb and was placed close to the bulbs and It also worked just fine to place the sound trigger pointing at the pellet gun to detect the gun firing. The sound trigger was connected to the input of a delay module who's output in turn was connected to an electronic cable release. By adjusting the delay to correspond with the pellets piercing the lit light bulbs I captured the filaments still lit with the hot gasses escaping before the bulb actually exploded. I re-cocked the shutter after each exposure and changed the bulb and filter 3 times. The repeatability of both the electronic and mechanical timing was critical.
Note: This stop action photo shot could not have been achieved using open flash technique as the lit bulbs would have totally washed out the image. This was one of the most technically challenging shots I ever did and luckily got it on the first roll of film.
