Aim...Fire! (High Speed Photography)

High speed, or "flash" photography is an art, widely used in scientific research, which also has a dedicated following among those wanting to "blow things apart" in the most elegant way possible. Witness the very popular Flickr group and a multitude of posts around the world, all joining in the delirious excitement of exploding various objects on camera. It's not easy to come up with a perfect shot... consider 1200ft/sec average speed of a bullet, plus a synchronizing laser, hi-tec flash setup and a fancy camera-work. The following is "the best of" gallery from a few masters of the genre:

Stefan, a.k.a. Fotofrog has a gorgeous set, where fruits and some vegetables get blown to smithereens, together with some tableware:
























(images credit: Stefan - Fotofrog)

Crayons from Spyzter:


(image credit: Khuong)

Shattered glass lamp:


("Shattered Glass" by Raniel)

Peeled banana (and more from Jasper Nance)


(image credit: Jasper Nance)

Antibacterial soap bar:


(image credit: Jasper Nance)

Unfortunate? doll:


(image credit: Jasper Nance)

Hot tomato:


(image credit: Jasper Nance)

Bullet through a bottle:


(image credit: Johnny Lee)

"Pulsetronics" is UK company specializing in high-speed photography, mostly for science research. They also have a few artistic gems there:











Full Magnum Force:


(image credit: Arya Abidi)

Two spherical shock waves are visible on this "schlieren image" (an interferometric technique used to study the distribution of density gradients within a transparent medium). A serious weapon with considerable force, but nothing a good solid bottle of beer couldn't do:


(image credit: Laughlin Barker)