High-speed Photographs By Lex Augusteijn

Lex Augusteijn is an amateur Dutch photographer specialising in high-speed photography, capturing the moment a bullet hits objects such as light bulbs, water-filled ballons and even drops of water.
Lex says: “I started photography back in 1976, mostly black and white which I developed and printed myself. In the eighties and nighties my photographic activies declined, until I bought my first digital camera in 2001, an HP715 point-and-shoot camera. This boosted my enthusiasm again, and I found myself not touching my analog SLR any more, but I missed its versatility. This made me buy my Canon Digital Rebel (300D) in 2004. But still missing some features, I joined a group that developed a firmware upgrade, enabling features similar to the 10D. The images are frozen by the flash speed. I can go as low as 1/40.000 by reducing flash power. The bullet is real, though fired by a coil gun, which has much less energy than an air rifle, which again has lower energy than fire arms. It is all controlled by a laptop, releasing the drop, opening the shutter, firing the flash and shooting the bullet. No triggering required.”