Lenny Loc: Boston

I remember years ago Dr Edgerton associate demonstrated to us a light bulb crashing with a hammer that stop it in mid air, it was a spectacular photo that is still a iconic photo. I would like to demonstrate it to my class, does any one have a access to a simple diagram how to achieve this? On line it does not give how it was done but just photos Thank You.

bleirer

Strobes that he invented to create shutterless exposure times of 1/100,000 of a second according to this article
https://www.lensrentals.com/blog/2013/07/and-edgerton-said-let-there-be-light/

There is a lot on Google scholar also, one would have to slog through it https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C36&q=edgerton+photographic+system&oq=edgerton+photo

Some of those are selling for a lot of money https://www.invaluable.com/artist/edgerton-harold-e-mkb03pl9sp/sold-at-auction-prices/

Sounds like an interesting man.

Timmers Loc: San Antonio Texas.

It is high speed motion photography. If you want a 'wow' type image(s) you might look for the film Zabriskie Point. In the final part of the film a house is demolished by an explosion, in the film the interior is a study of high speed motion picture photography. Your students will see all manner of common objects flying through the air and see their interaction with other objects all in extremely slow motion.

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

Suggestion: just show that one scene. If you show the entire movie, you run the risk of the entire class being either asleep or absent by the end. Good music, but not Antonioni’s finest effort in my humble opinion.

Timmers Loc: San Antonio Texas.

I loved his film The Devils. If you ever travel to Zabriskie Point above Death Valley it make more sense.

E.L.. Shapiro Loc: Ottawa, Ontario Canada

The articles about Dr. Edgerton are extremely interesting, scientific and historical.

If you are trying to simulate the "bulb smashing" effect, here a few things you shoud know.

Back in the day if Egerton's experiments, the electronic flash systems operated on extremely high voltages and relatively low capacitance. The capacitors that were available at that time were of significantly lower ratings (in microfarads) so the high voltage was required to attain the sufficient watt. second output for adequate photographic exposure. Currently, manufactured electronic flash units and so-called Speedlights operate with capacitors of much many high values and these require less voltage to produce sufficient volumes of light.

The reason I mention this basic difference is that the lesser rated capacitors discharge more quickly so the early flash units and strobes had an extremely short flash duration- 1/100,000 sec. were not uncommon in these early units. Modern flash units and Speedlights average about 1/1000 sec, however, some thyristor controlled units will provide a shorter duration when powered down to lower output settings.

There are special stroboscopic units that are used for scientific purposes, mechanica motion studies, and special photographic effects but these are not regular camera store fare and would most likely be very costly.

For a science class experiment, there are a few things that can be done. There is some accessories that can fire the flash via sound activation. I recall reading that Egerton's first experiments were done with a trip wire device.

My suggestion would be an open flash method in a darkened room whereby you open the shutter, create the action and fire the flash manually. You might want to start with running water and try to freeze the splash. If the flash unit is powered down to its lowest output, the duration will be shorter. If the room is darkened sufficiently, no blur will occur from ambient light. The camera's sensor will only "see" the flash. You can determine the exposure (f/stop) by shooting a few static exposures.

This can be done with synchronized flash as well but the idea is to practice and the try to eventually time the flash while striking a glass object. Perhaps you can set up a tripwire to short out the flash synch terminals or find a little micro switch to react to the impact. This method will also enable off-camera flash lighting coming for the side or back- this will transilluminate the water or glass for a better effect.

I don't know if this will work but it can make for a very interesting project that will capture the student's attention.

I once attempted this for a client who wanted such a shot for advertising purposes. The results were not too bad but we ended renting a stroboscopic light source that is used for engine timing and it worked better. Even the failed shot woud have made a great science fair project. If I can dig it up somewhere in my files- I'll post it.

The shots of bullets in midair and the football kick were done with specialized gear.

sb Loc: Florida's East Coast

Doc Edgerton was such a creative but down-to-earth professor at MIT that when he retired he was granted the rare title "Institute Professor", which meant that he could keep his lab and pretty much do what he wanted. He still had grad students working with him, and he taught an introductory course in designing and building strobes and taking high-speed photographs. I was fortunate enough to take one of Doc's classes. He would invite us overwhelmed freshman students to have dinner with him and his wife.

The setup in his lab for most of the photographs was a flash designed to have a short duration which was triggered generally by a microphone. With the bullet photos the microphone would be moved closer or further from the rifle to catch the bullet at different parts of whatever you were shooting. The lights would be turned off, and the shutter of the camera opened. (Sometimes we used sheet film behind the object to catch shadows of the bullet's shockwave along with whatever was being shot.)

Modern flashes offer reduced power output by shortening the duration of the flash, so to capture high-speed photos you need the flash close and set at 1/8 or 1/16 power. That is how to freeze hummingbird wings, etc.

So to capture the bulb breaking you would need something to trigger the flash - either from the sound or from interrupting a beam of light. You will probably be able to use a semi-darkened room. If you are really coordinated - or have a lot of light bulbs - you could just trigger your camera and flash with a cable release as you swing the hammer!

Notorious T.O.D. Loc: Harrisburg, North Carolina

According to my Sekonic 858 meter the duration of my Canon 600 flash at lowest power is in the neighborhood of 1/40,000 second.

I believe the ETTR preflash is done at 1/32 full power in Canon flashes...

PixHound Loc: Marietta, GA

It has been over three decades since I played with such images (on slide film), but was fun! I started with shots of water drops hitting water. I built a simple glass tank with the camera aimed at the water line, so I could see what was going on above and below the water. I used a semi-darkened room and opened the shutter, as described on other posts.

To trip the flash, I used a light beam/photo cell just below a syringe with the water (all on a stand, so locations were fixed). The signal from the drop passing the photocell was then wired to a home-made timer. I incremented the timer a few milliseconds between shots to get a sequence of sorts.

Once I had established the process, I used red food coloring for the drops. I used a turkey baster to suck up as much color as possible after each shot (and then refilled the tank to the same level).

For your shot, no photocell or timer is needed. Just mount the hammer on a pivot. Attached to the handle (behind the field of view), I would attach a bracket that would sweep a micro-switch as the hammer head was a little past the bulb height. A little trial and error on the best trip point might be needed, but it would be a simple mechanical rig, easy for the students to understand. Good luck!

SDigger

Nice series. Thanks for explaining how you did it.

peterg Loc: Santa Rosa, CA

Investigate "Miops"
https://www.miops.com
Google for demos. Example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2d3AkHH3X4

Shutterbugger2 Loc: Chicago

The light source was a spark created by a 1mf capacitor charged to 20,000 volts. The spark was along the surface of a quartz tube, being triggered by an even higher voltage circuit.
This is what I remember from one of his books about 20 years ago.

scg3

In the late 1970's when I was a pro photographer in Cambridge, MA, as well as a reporter for the old Ziff-Davis magazine Photomethods my editor asked me to interview Doc Edgerton. I protested that I wasn't qualified to interview such a towering figure but my much-missed editor Fred Schmidt wouldn't take no for an answer so I went to "Strobe Alley" determined to do the best I could. Of course Doc was charming, gracious and tolerant of some embarrassingly naïve questions but as I left, his longtime secretary pulled me aside. "Check out your details with me before you send it in," she cautioned me. "Doc's been forgetting a lot lately." I was shaken by this revelation and I finally convinced Fred that any story I could write might reflect badly on my subject. This wasn't false modesty; Doc needed a better interviewer than me.

One amusing detail: If you look through some of the late-1930's U.S. Camera Annuals you'll find some od Doc's early work with references to the "Edgerton Speed Ray." Wow! That sounds much nicer than just "strobe!" I still try to use it when I know people will understand.

What a guy!

sb Loc: Florida's East Coast

In doing the math to determine what the potential output of a strobe would be, the formula he showed us had an unknown variable - I think it was an "f" - in it. When asked, he simply smiled and said that it was "the Edgerton fudge factor". He had in his lab some huge strobes in reflectors about 3 feet in diameter that he developed for night-time photography over Germany in WWII. Some grad students made night-time photographs of the Boston skyline across the river with them.

It should also be noted that Doc developed the side-scanning sonar, used in searches for the Loch Ness Monster and the Titanic.

He requested that when any of his students passed him in the hall that the greeting should be the "strobe lab salute" - holding the hand up with the fingers and thumb together and then quickly moved apart, as in a "flash".

tvhasben Loc: Chattanooga, Tennessee

Here is a link for a simple flash trigger for things like the light bulb. It's easy to construct, and as the article suggests some sort of delay might be needed to get the desired effect.

https://www.hiviz.com/tools/triggers/triggers1.htm

hiviz.com offers a lot of interesting "tools" for such stop action photography.