how do i take a picture of something breaking?

[amir_vii]

<p>I have a Canon 7D with a 50mm 1.8, a 70-200 lens and also a wide tamron lens<br>

I also have an alienbees B1600 if that can be any use for the type of shot i'm taking<br>

I want to take a picture of a vase hitting the floor and breaking, i want to take a picture right when it hits the floor<br>

what setting should i use for this type of shot?</p>

[adam_puzach]

<p>Well im not sure of the flash duration on the B1600 but if it goes low enough you could just set the flash to the lowest power setting. But you should look up the flash duration first. Otherwise canon speedlights all have have extremely fast flash durations at the lowest power settings so those will work for sure. Basically the lower the power on the flash the shorter the flash stays on for. Essentially giving you a faster shutter. The other option would be trying to have the object in extremely bright light. Such as the sun. This would then allow you to use a fast shutter speed. I reccomend something around 1/4000th of a second to really get it sharp. Hope this helps. </p>

[bob_sunley]

<p>Try this web site for how to do it.</p>

<p>http://www.hiviz.com/GALLERY/galleries.htm</p>

<p> </p>

[Mattman944]

<p>Motion freezing images are best taken with a speedlight since they have short flash durations, especially at low power settings. Pressing the shutter manually at the right time is difficult, it is better to use a sound trigger to trigger the flash with a long shutter speed in a dark room. There are trigger systems for sale or they can be built fairly easily if you know some electronics. </p><div></div>

[george_ghio]

<p>As an example, using a P&S with a 12 second delay on the shutter and counting to time throwing the rock.<br>

Fifteen exposures to get the rock and splash in the frame. The sound switch sounds good to me as well.</p><div></div>

[scooter0071]

<p>I have done this before with the use of a sound trigger. See my profile with the arrow going through tube lights as they shatter. You hook the sound trigger up to the flash and be in a dark room. Then open the shutter on bulb and when the sound hits the flash will go off and you have your image. It takes some practice but I think the results are worth it. I have talked to some people who just do the multi shot and rely on luck but the sound trigger works well. You can google sound trigger and find some kits off the internet to build your own.</p>

[James G. Dainis]

Me? I do stuff on the cheap. I would just use a very dimly lit room, set the camera to a small aperture, low ISO and long shutter speed and just manually pop the flash as the vase hits the floor.

[devon_mccarroll]

<p>@ Adam, flash duration on a monolight like the B1600 actually slows down at lower power, I believe because the excess in the capacitor has to "trail off" (but someone else could probably explain it better than me). At full power, a B1600 is 1/1800 sec., and at 1/32 power, it's 1/900. So the speedlights would be better for this, I think.</p>

[steven_f1]

<p>Google is helpful for this:<br>

<a href="http://courses.ncssm.edu/hsi/pacsci/fpaper.html">http://courses.ncssm.edu/hsi/pacsci/fpaper.html</a><br>

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVUxKnNMW44">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVUxKnNMW44</a><br>

<a href="http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1025&message=36067029">http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1025&message=36067029</a></p>

[Jeff Lear]

<p>If you decide to just wing it with the flash I would second the suggestions of others about shooting in a darkened room and using slow shutter speeds. I would also suggest practicing with plastic bottles half filled with water. Filling them half way keeps them from bouncing all over the place but gives them some weight so that you can practice your timing. Open shutter, drop bottle, fire flash, close shutter.<br /><br />I'm gonna build a sound trigger, that looks fun. </p>

[Jeff Lear]

<p>By the way, here are the approximate flash durations for the Canon 580EX II:<br /><br />Manual at 1/128 power ~ 1/35,000 second<br />Manual at 1/64 power ~ 1/31,000 second<br />Manual at 1/32 power ~ 1/19,000 second<br />Manual at 1/16 power ~ 1/15,000 second</p>

[richard_klein1]

<p>When I taught photo classes to kids, we used to do a high speed project. We used a Wein Sound Trigger, a Honeywell Potato Masher strobe, and a balloon. The strobe was AC powered, and a PC cord ran from the strobe to the sound trigger. The trigger was taped to a table. A balloon was inflated, and also taped to the table close to the trigger. The room lights were turned off, the camera was set on Bulb, the aperture on the lens (50mm F1.8) was set at f16. The film was Tri-X rated at ASA 400. The strobe to balloon distance required F16. A cable release opened the shutter as the camera was affixed to a sturdy tripod. A child then popped the balloon with a pin. The noise of the pop activated the sound trigger and the flash would fire. It was set on auto to give the fastest duration possible at the distance from it to the balloon. In the dark, you could see the balloon come apart as the flash fired. The shutter was closed and the room lights could be turned on. This was always a crowd pleaser!</p><div></div>