Smashfest 2011, high speed camera vs. everyday objects.
What do you get when you take a high speed camera, a canister full of liquid nitrogen and a bunch of geeks? You get Smashfest 2011 and a lot of awesome pictures.
The system was pretty simple. A big plexiglas box with a black backdrop on one side. A high speed camera on the other side pointed at a steel plate. A sensitive microphone inside the box tied to a very slightly delayed flash behind the camera. Drop something in the top, get a picture out the other end. Oh, and sometimes you use liquid nitrogen to freeze the things you want to smash because they make better pictures that way.
You should check out the whole slideshow on Flickr but some of my favorites are below.
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Frozen flower. - I love how you can see the steam coming off of everything.
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Punctured balloon - you can just barely make out the needle that punctured the balloon at the top of this picture.
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“No, don’t touch me!” - this is an awesome picture that shows more of the needle and how the balloon feels about it.
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“Wedge of Doom” vs. marshmallow - this is the best picture out of a series of wedge vs. marshmallow pictures that shows just how cool liquid nitrogen can be.
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Water balloon - Jenny and I had to leave before the water balloons were photographed. I can only imagine the mess they left behind. This was one of the cooler pictures in the bunch.
Anyway, it was a fantastic few hours at Steve and Hillary’s house.I hope they invite us back next year.