High speed photography

Tadej Slemc (2010) High speed photography. EngD thesis.

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Abstract

The main purpose of photography is to capture a moment in time and transfer the captured information onto the photographic paper. High speed photography is a photography technique in which parts of a very fast phenomenon are being captured. A phenomenon, which usually happens too fast to be captured by the human eye. An example of such is contact of a water drop with another surface. A person is capable to register the contact, but it is only by means of the high speed photography that one is able to see what happens at the exact moment of contact. The main problem here is the appropriate timing of the shutter release because the shutter must be released at exactly the right moment in order to capture the desired phenomena. Because the human reaction is too slow and therefore most of the phenomena would be lost. I developed a device which reacts to a stimulus and together with a camera and flash units helps capturing the desired moment. The different approaches to the high speed photography, along with the positive and negative side of each approach, are described in the introductory chapter of this work. In the main chapters the software and hardware of the device is being explained. The main characteristics of the device are the functions which make the high speed photography technique easier to use. Also incorporated are the functions that come in handy in everyday photography. The device is easily managed with the use of control buttons and information displayed on a LCD screen or with the use of a special program on personal computer. The device management is described in the last part of this work. In the final part a few suggestions for improvements are given and a few photo examples made by the use of this device are presented.

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