This article was published in Scientific American’s former blog network and reflects the views of the author, not necessarily those of Scientific American
Thrifty Thursdays feature photographs taken with equipment costing less than $500.
[Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS3 - $241; Canon 430EX II speedlight - $208; Jasmine the Cat - priceless]
I wouldn't ordinarily attempt this kind of precision shot with a cheap automatic camera. But I needed a photograph for Thrifty Thursday, so here we are.
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In high-speed photography, motion is typically frozen with a quick burst from an off-camera strobe. The secret is a dark room and a camera with an open shutter so that the only light originates from the flash. The shorter the flash duration, the sharper the shot.
As much as I love the little Panasonic digicam, the lack of manual control is a real problem in this application. The lack of a connection for an off-camera flash meant I needed to hand-fire the strobe. In a darkened room the Panasonic exposes for about 1/8 second. That's not long. My timing had to be precise.
After some practice, I could hit the window about half the time. Not great, but workable, and this system operates for a fraction of the cost of the more expensive SLR gear.
The Panasonic does have a built-in flash. Why not use that? Consider the aesthetics of lighting from the camera:
The flash reflections on the droplet aren't as pleasing, and harsh shadows fall distractingly on the backdrop.
The green field, incidentally, is just a sheet of posterboard from the supermarket:
As to the cat, she was unplanned. She inserted herself in the sink to get a drink from the tap, and I walked away with a much more interesting shot than I'd intended. Some photographs are just lucky.
