I was watching Top Gear today and I saw they were doing the High-Speed-Water-Balloon-Popping™ thing when they introduced one of the cars. It’s always pretty to look at but I’ve been seeing it used quite a lot lately. Awfully fun to do and certainly great to view if done well.

More examples, plus my own attempts at it from earlier this year, after the jump.

Top Gear Season 12 Episode 6

I love Top Gear’s use of slow motion / high speed cameras. For a show that’s mostly about speed, I think it’s very appropriate that they borrow some of David Attenborough’s toys. I’d love to get my hands on one of those cameras.

The Schweppes Ad

Click here to view the embedded video.

Beautifully made ad. Strong visuals combined with appropriate music and you’ve got a winner here. No purpose than to look good. I like.

Chase Jarvis on High Speed Photography

Click here to view the embedded video.

Good explanation of how to achieve the high speed shot but unfortunately it’s a bit slim on the Photoshop techniques used.

My Own Examples

These three shots were hand triggered ( yes, using my finger on the shutter ) at 1/8000 of a second with my Canon 5D. I prefer these shots to some of the more clinical shots that you find on Flickr as they’re mostly done the Chase Jarvis way using flash on a black background. I think the colour and composition of these shots make them more interesting because they feel more complete as opposed to just balloon popping on black/white background.