This photo was my attempt at taking something like the famous Edgerton photographs of a bullet through a balloon. I had only a 35mm film camera, a potato masher flash, and a DIY contraption that triggered the flash from the sound of the light bulb crashing onto the hammer.

Keeping the shutter locked open in a darkened room, I moved the microphone so that the flash would fire at some point after impact. Nearer meant the flash would fire almost immediately after impact, further a longer interval afterward.

So altough there was no delay due to the shutter firing, the speed of sound limited how short after impact the flash could fire.

Circa 1981. Basement apartment, 316 S. Allen St., State College, PA.)

(Click the pic for a full size version.)