Experiments

Start Slide Show or read below about project work in High-Speed Imaging.

One of the creative aspects of the High-Speed Imaging course is that students devise their own projects and then design and set up the experiments to carry out the projects.

In the first quarter, students learn experimental and photographic techniques leading up to their first project. The assignment for that project is to photograph a high-speed phenomenon in some unique way. Students tend to let their imaginations go wild in coming up with ideas, but they have to settle on something that can be done within the space, equipment, and time constraints under which they must work.  Even so, there's much room for creativity, a fact to which the projects on this site attest.

At the beginning of the second quarter, students spend a few days photographing splashes of milk drops. Splashes are a challenge to photograph due to the small size of the subject. This requires that the camera be positioned close to the subject; hence, a small aperture must be used in order to obtain sufficient depth-of-field. That requires bright lighting, and students must determine ways to boost the light level without increasing flash duration to the point of producing blurred motion.

The next assignment of the second quarter is to measure the speed or duration of a high-speed phenomenon. Here is where students learn the quantitative skills that will come in useful for their final project. 

The final project is a systematic study that may have either aesthetic or scientific emphasis. These projects extend over a period of about 5 weeks in order to provide time for students to build their experimental setups, shoot and shoot again as many times as needed to get the best images, process and analyze the images, write a report, and create a web site. With so much to do in such a short time, these projects serve primarily as initial forays that pique rather than satisfy the experimenters' curiosity. Some students occasionally continue their studies in independent studies after the completion of the course. In other cases, the final project in High-Speed Imaging serves as a starting point for future students with similar interests.

In past years, we have used conventional film SLR cameras exclusively for student projects. Fall of 2000 was the first semester that we used digital cameras. For their first projects, the experimental groups were split on the use of digital vs. conventional film cameras. For the final projects, all groups had been converted to digital cameras. The advantages of instant playback and easy uploading of images to a computer outweighed any reduction in image quality compared to silver-based film. The various digital cameras that were used for the images on this site included a Nikon Coolpix 990, Sony DKC-FP3, Olympus C-3000 Zoom, and Nikon D1. All of these cameras have the creative control necessary for high-speed imaging. An Olympus D600L was used to take some of the experiment setup photos, and a Canon Optura was used for motion digital work.

For a selection of photos showing students at work on their projects, click below.

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