Alan Sailer, High Speed Photographer

Most of you have probably seen this famous picture of an apple being shot and photographed with a high speed camera. I am not quite sure who is the actual author of that picture but there is someone else whose work is well worth looking at. Alan Sailer is an American photographer who made these type of shots his specialty. Shooting various objects with an air rifle, he has set up a system that lets him take a photograph at the exact moment the bullet pierces the object.

Knowing that the pellets shot by these rifles can reach speeds of up to 200 meters per second, an elaborate triggering system was needed. When the pellet is shot, it goes through a laser beam which itself triggers a 17,000 volts flash and the photography is taken during a microsecond (or 1 millionth of a second!).

Enjoy the shots below and do not hesitate to visit his flickr gallery gathering pictures of his work and details about his photography technique.