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Methods and Setup
Method 1: Pin Prick
Equipment Used:
Nikon Coolpix 990 Digital still camera
Vivitar 283 Flash Unit
Camera Tripod
Custom Plexiglas Water Tank
Sound trigger with remote microphone
Balloons (spherical)
2 five pound weights
1 pin (2-3" in length)
Equipment Setup:
The camera and tripod was positioned directly in front of the tank approximately 1 meter away. (A black cloth was wrapped around the metal legs of the tripod to avoid a possible reflection of the tank.)
The flash was positioned on the side of the tank and directed at the balloon. In order to obtain the shortest flash duration possible, a variable resistor was used instead of the auto-thyristor. The flash was placed there in order to illuminate the subject and eliminate the glare off the tank.
The sound trigger was placed at a pre-determined distance in order to capture the desired instant of this phenomenon.
Description:
The camera was mounted on the tripod and placed directly in front of the tank (approximately 1 meter away). The tank was then filled partially with water (about 3/4). This was done to minimize spillage. The Vivitar 283 Flash Unit was placed on the side of the tank in order to illuminate the subject and minimize glare. A variable resistor set to 0 ohms was used to make the flash the shortest duration possible in order to clearly capture this high speed event. The microphone was placed near the tank (several locations and distances were used to created the desired effect). The microphone is connected to the sound trigger which is in turn connected to the flash unit. An air-filled balloon was then tied down using 2 five pound weights and placed into the water-filled tank. This left the top of the balloon at the surface of the water and not completely submerged. After each balloon was popped/photographed we wiped the tank down to get the water drops off the outside and the bubble from the sides of the inside of the tank.
In order to capture these images and create the desired effect in our resulting photographs, a system had to be developed. This system had to successfully coordinate popping the balloon manually with the trigger of the flash and the opening and closing of the camera shutter. To do this we used a simple countdown from 3. On 2 one of us depressed the shutter button and on 1 the other popped the balloon with the pin and the button was released as soon as possible after the flash. The shutter speed was purposely kept as low as possible as to avoid thermal noise in our photographs. The bulb setting for shutter speed was used in order to determine and adjust shutter speed ourselves quickly and easily. (The delay between the pressing of the shutter button and the popping of the balloon was used in order to account for shutter lag, a common problem in most digital cameras.) The other camera settings we manually adjusted were aperture and iso speed. We used an iso speed of 400 the entire time, but used various f-stops between 5.5 and 8. The electronic part of this process involved the use a sound trigger. Here is how it works: The sound from the popping of the balloon is picked up by the microphone. The signal from the microphone then alerts the sound trigger to send the signal to the flash to discharge. If the shutter is open when this flash occurs, a photograph (hopefully of what you want) has been recorded.
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