PhotosbyKev

Using a freely available program called Zoomify from www.zoomify.com I have taken a panoramic image of Pistyll Rhaeadr waterfall which is 18,000 pixels wide by 7,200 pixels high and zoomified it using the export option built in to Photoshop CS3.

Using the navigation buttons below the image or the mouse you can zoom into the image and see parts of the Pistyll Rhaeadr waterfall in very high resolution.

The image of Pistyll Rhaeadr waterfall was produced using 3 rows of 15 images, with each image being bracketed -2, 0 and +2 stops to get the dynamic range. The final image size is 18,000 pixels wide and the the Tiff file is 1.6Gb in size which is obviously way too large for displaying on the internet.

By zoomifying the photograph it breaks the image file into individual sections of the photograph, both low, medium and high resolution versions, which are then automatically loaded as you move around or zoom into the image.

Ashley, the Melanistic Black Barn Owl
On Friday 8th August 2008, a very special & unique Melanistic Black Barn Owl called Ashley arrived at the Barn Owl Centre in Gloucestershire.

History in brief. Ashley’s is a male Barn Owl who hatched in May 2008, he was bred in captivity & he still retains the same latin name as the white Common Barn Owl (Tyto alba).

Come & meet him. By visiting the Barn Owl Centre, you will be able to to learn more about him & his family history plus you will be able to meet him up close.

Using a Mumford Time machine and a ballistic sensor it is relatively easy to capture the flight of a 0.177 air gun pellet going through objects.

The timing on this was planned to make sure the pellet was completely out of the image so a multipler of 8 was used on the Time machine so the pellet was long gone. The internal pressure in the Red Bull can has caused the top to fail.

---

A light bulb captured just as an air gun pellet exits the bulb on the left hand side. Two Canon 580Ex flashguns were used to illuminate the event and they were set at 1/128 of full power.

---

A 5 second exposure was taken which allowed me time to manually fire a flashgun behind the cigarette to get the smoke trail and then fire an air gun pellet through the cigarette, this event was captured by a flashgun on 1/128 full power which was triggered by a Mumford time machine.

---

A playing card being struck by an air gun pellet. In order to get the spray on this image I taped a small teabag to the rear of the card that I had filled with talcum powder.

Two 580Ex flashguns were used both on the right hand side of the camera about 150mm from the playing card. They were manually set to 1/128 of full power to get the very short flash duration required. To trigger the flashguns at the right time the ballistic sensor attached to a Mumford time machine was used.

1 second exposure @ f22 iso 200 using a Canon 40D and 100mm macro lens.

---

This image is taken with two Canon 580Ex flashguns placed about 100mm from the candle. The main flashgun is triggered directly from the Time Machine and the second gun triggered wirelessly from the first gun.

Both guns were set to 1/128 of full power and a multiplier of 2 was used to trigger the flashguns when the pellet was 200mm (8″) from the end of the sensor tube. The candle was positioned about 7″ from the sensor so the event would be captured after the pellet had passed through the candle.

The ballistic sensor also measures the velocity of the pellet and in this instance it was travelling at 433 feet/sec, that’s approximately 130m/sec. During the flash duration of 1/35,000sec the pellet will have travelled almost 4 millimetres and is just visible at the edge of the spray.

An exposure of 1 second @ f22 iso 100 was used in a darkened room. The camera shutter was manually triggered just before firing the air gun. The 1 second exposure has captured the flame as it was dragged away from the candle wick by the pressure wave from the pellet and the initial impact.

---

This image is of a small cherry tomato being struck by a 0.177 air gun pellet travelling at 433 fps.

Again two Canon 580Ex flashguns were used to capture the event. One in front of the tomato and one behind to backlight the spray of the juice. Both guns were set on 1/64 of full power and zoomed to 70mm to increase the light on the subject.

Exposure was 1 second @ f11 iso 200 taken in a darkened room. Taken on a Canon EOS 40D and 100mm macro lens. Interesting to see the spray travelling backwards from the entry point of the pellet.

---

More experiments can be seen here.

A recent stop motion animation test on a clockwork mechanism.

500 high-resolution full frame images taken at 1 millisecond intervals using a high speed flash setup and a Mumford Time Machine.

500 photographs triggered by a photodiode across one of the moving arms. Each frame was incremented by 0.001 second delay. So this represents 0.5 second of movement but took a couple of hours to shoot.

This is an updated attempt at this animation, the original can be seen here.

A recent stop motion animation test on a clockwork mechanism.

500 high-resolution full frame images taken at 2 millisecond intervals using a high speed flash setup and a Mumford Time Machine.

500 photographs triggered by a photodiode across one of the moving arms. Each frame was incremented by 0.002 second delay. So this represents 1 second of movement but took a couple of hours to shoot.

There is something odd happening to the clockwork which I haven’t figured out yet, the timing appears to be accurate looking at the out of focus gear wheel on the left but the central mechanism is very irregular. Perhaps I need to shoot at even smaller timing increments.

This animation has been reshot at 1 millisecond intervals and can be viewed here

EOS 40D and 100mm macro lens lit using a 580Ex and 550Ex flashgun on 1/128 of full power placed a few inches away from the clockwork. Each frame 2″ @ f22 iso 200 in a darkened room

Lighting setup

Th optical trigger can just be seen clipped to the right hand side of the mechanism

I was curious as to what I could freeze using my Canon 580Ex flashgun so I had a play in the lab using a photodiode and scope to measure the flash duration of the flashgun (averaged value over 4 flashes) at the various power output settings. The results were:

1/1 power = 1/1000 second
1/2 power = 1/2000
1/4 power = 1/4000
1/8 power = 1/9000
1/16 power = 1/15000
1/32 power = 1/21000
1/64 power = 1/30000
1/128 power = 1/35000

“What does this mean” I hear you scream, closely followed by “wtf has this to do with photography”?

Well the answer is, in order to freeze the movement of a fast moving subject a photographer will, at first, try to freeze the movement using a fast shutter speed. The maximum shutter speed on a good DSLR is around 1/8000 second but in order to use this speed you either need:

very, very strong lighting,
a wide open aperture and/or
a high ISO setting

An alternative is to use a flashgun(s) and by reducing the power output of the flashgun the flash durations can be as short as 1/35000 second for the 580Ex flashgun. If the flash is placed very close to the subject a small aperture and low ISO setting can also be used.

Various experiments with High Speed Flash can be viewed here

Experimenting with High Speed Flash Photography and a Mumford Time Machine, other experiments can be seen here

“Catch a Falling Star”, an image I’m very pleased with:

a. 2″ @ f16 iso 200 cable release. 50mm on a 40D, full frame image.
b. Front 580Ex 1/32 power with diffuser
c. Rear 580Ex 1/64 power zoomed in to 105mm as a spotlight. Reduced to 1/64 because it was much closer than the main flashgun.
d. Flashes triggered from microphone (200mm away), 0.009 seconds delay.
e. Balloon smaller than previous attempts and under more pressure.

---

A water droplet animation consisting of 480 images taken at 0.5 millisecond intervals. Click here to see the full animation.

---

A biscuit being shot by an air gun pellet from a Beeman 0.177 air pistol.

The muzzle velocity of this gun is 130 metres/second and the muzzle was approx 250mm from the biscuit.

a. 2″ @ f11 iso 200 cable release. 100mm on a 40D, full frame image.
b. Front 580Ex 1/128 power zoomed into 105mm to maximise the lighting.
c. Rear 580Ex 1/128 power zoomed into 105mm as a rim light.
d. Flashes triggered from microphone attached to the gun barrel, 0.002 seconds delay.
The flash duration is approximately 1/35,000 second and the pellet has traveled about 4mm during this exposure and it can be seen in the debris trail.

---

A party popper captured 0.003 milliseconds after the popper was popped.

A single 580EX flashgun on 1/64 power was used to capture this image. The flashgun was triggered using a microphone sensor picking up the bang from the party popper.

---

A journey through failed experiments with notes on each experiment which might help anyone else taking this path.

---

Falling Apart at the Seams

A failure in my book because I didn’t get the shot I was after ie I wanted to capture the pellet after it broken the internal filament but before it exited the bulb.

Interesting to see what appears to be a double exposure around the edge of the bulb but no evidence of it if you look at the cracking in the middle of the bulb. I can’t figure out what would cause this.

It was a 1 second exposure BUT in a completely darkened room and lit by two flashguns wirelessly triggered. One aimed at the background and one aimed from in front of the bulb. Both guns on 1/128 of full power so flash duration would be about 1/35,000 of a second.

This was another attempt using the same setup but the double exposure effect isn’t apparent.

f16 @ iso200 using a Canon 40D and 100mm macro len

update: a possible solution to the double exposure is an electronic delay between the firing of the two flashguns which I haven’t observed before.

---

A recent stop motion animation test on a clockwork mechanism.

Click here to see the full animation.
500 photographs triggered by a photodiode across one of the moving arms. Each frame was incremented by 0.002 second delay. So this represents 1 second of movement but took a couple of hours to shoot. 9 trigger events were ignored to allow the flashes to recycle. A 580Ex and 550Ex flashgun on 1/128 full power were used to stop the movement.
Fail: Using a poor quality alarm clock mechanism has resulted in an irregular movement of the main lever

---

Water Balloons Trials

a. 2″ @ f11 iso 200 cable release. 50mm on a 40D
b. Front 580Ex 1/32 power with diffuser
c. Rear 580Ex 1/32 power zoomed in to 105mm
d. Flashes triggered from microphone set 200mm from the balloon, 0.003 seconds delay.
Fail: Delay slightly too short for the balloon to clear the balloon.

---

a. 2″ @ f11 iso 200 cable release. 50mm on a 40D, full frame image.
b. Front 580Ex 1/32 power with diffuser
c. Rear 580Ex 1/64 power zoomed in to 105mm as a spotlight. Reduced to 1/64 because it was much closer than the main flashgun.
d. Flashes triggered from microphone (200mm away), 0.006 seconds delay.
Fail: Pressure in the balloon wasn’t high enough to rip the balloon apart quickly enough.

---

Pushing the laws of physics too hard

a. 2″ @ f16 iso 200 cable release. 50mm on a 40D, full frame image.
b. Front 580Ex 1/32 power with diffuser
c. Rear 580Ex 1/64 power zoomed in to 105mm as a spotlight. Reduced to 1/64 because it was much closer than the main flashgun.
d. Flashes triggered from microphone (200mm away), 0.012 seconds delay.
Fail: at 12 milliseconds after the balloon was popped the water sphere has collapsed into chaos

---

more to follow

The Skerries lighthouse (53° 25’.3 N; 04° 36’.4 W) is situated to the North-East of Holyhead off the Isle of Anglesey. The rocks upon which the lighthouse stand are at the end of a low tract of submerged land, directly in the path of the major shipping lines operating to and from Ireland.

In 1716 the first working beacon started operation on the Skerries. This was a simple round tower, 35 feet high with an open grate on top in which coal was burnt. In 1987 the lighthouse was finally automated.

Today the Skerries are home to a large breeding colony of Arctic Tern (approximately 2,500 breeding pairs in 2008). Roseate Tern breeds occasionally in very small numbers. The following species also breed on the islands: Puffin, Black-legged Kittiwake, Herring Gull and Lesser Black-backed Gull. The Skerries are wardened by the RSPB during the tern breeding season.

West Mouse islet

The Mouse is known as Maen-y-Bugail (The Shepherd’s Stone) in Welsh. This is based on an old tale about a shepherd who lived on the headland.

While tending his flock of sheep, he got a stone in his shoe. The stone caused him a lot of pain and in his anger he pulled out the stone and threw it out to sea. And so we have West Mouse.

This white beacon, in daylight of course, is a daymark which helps local shipping as they navigate past this very tidal stretch of the coast.

An interactive Panoramic view of the waterfall can been seen here: Java or Flash version. To see the waterfall as a very high resolution photography please click here

At 240ft Pistyll Rhaeadr waterfall is the highest waterfall in England or Wales.

Referred to as “The Hidden Pearl of Wales” this waterfall provides a magnificent backdrop to one of the most beautiful and serene valleys I’ve had the pleasure of photographing.

Full of surprises with a wide variety of wildlife and birds that can be seen from the comfort of the friendly restaurant/tearoom conveniently found at the bottom of the Pistyll Rhaeadr waterfall.

The folklore and legends of the Pistyll Rhaeadr waterfall can be read on the main website located here.

Wylfa power station, located on the north coast of Anglesey has two Magnox nuclear reactors and four turbine generators. Wylfa power station meets more than 40% of Wales’ electricity needs and on a typical day, the power station supplies 23 million Kilowatt hours of electricity, enough to meet the needs of two cities the size of Liverpool and Manchester put together.

Java viewer - Cemlyn Bay, Anglesey, N. Wales.

Wylfa power station is the second pre-stressed concrete pressure vessel built in the UK and is the last Magnox plant to be built, with the design being superseded by the Advanced Gas Cooled Reactor (AGR). Construction of Wylfa power station commenced in 1963 and it started supplying electricity to the grid in 1971.

Wylfa power station is owned by the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) and is operated, on their behalf, by Magnox Electric Ltd.