High-speed photography

By WhiteWall expert Jan-Ole Schmidt

In a world that is constantly in motion, high-speed photography offers a unique opportunity to capture moments that are too fast for the human eye. This special technique provides fascinating insights into fleeting moments and creates impressive images of events that unfold in fractions of a second. Learn what high-speed photography is all about, how you can use it creatively, what camera settings are necessary, how to work with flash, what accessories you need, and what else you should keep in mind.

What is high-speed photography?

High-speed photography is a photographic technique designed to capture events that occur extremely quickly and are barely perceptible to the human eye. These include, for example, water droplets hitting a surface, bursting balloons and light bulbs, or flying insects. High-speed photography requires special camera settings and often special accessories to capture fast movements with sharp focus and rich detail.

The main difference between high-speed photography and photography of conventional subjects lies in the camera’s shutter speed and the flash’s duration. While shutter speeds of about 1/60 to 1/2,000 of a second are common for standard subjects like portraits, landscapes, or everyday situations, high-speed photography often uses shutter speeds of 1/8,000 of a second or even shorter. These extremely short shutter speeds are necessary to “freeze” motion and capture sharp images of fast-moving events. In low ambient light, the flash duration also becomes a key factor. Instead of using high flash output—as is required, for example, to illuminate subjects against the sun—high-speed photography employs low flash output combined with very short flash durations. The result is comparable to the camera’s fast shutter speed. Both methods result in motion being frozen. You’ll learn how this works later in this blog post.

Creative Applications of High-Speed Photography

High-speed photography offers a wide range of creative possibilities that go far beyond simply freezing motion.

Water and Liquids

High-speed photography enables spectacular shots of water by freezing fast movements such as drops, splashes, and waves in fractions of a second. This makes it possible to visualize complex movement patterns of water, such as the moment a drop hits the water’s surface and forms a crown, or the dynamic shapes of splashes and currents.

A well-known example is the appetizing images of fruits or candies falling into water, milk, or syrup. The appeal always lies in capturing the splashing of the liquid. The popularity of such shots stems, among other things, from the fact that such tabletop high-speed shots can be recreated at home with little effort. All you need for the shot is a camera and one or two flash units.

Explosions and Breaks

High-speed photography is also used to capture the moment of an explosion or a break. This can be of interest for both scientific purposes and creative projects. The moment a glass shatters or a balloon bursts offers a dramatic and visually striking depiction of movement and forces.

Nature and Animals

Animal photography benefits enormously from high-speed photography. Imagine being able to capture the moment a bird lifts its wings to take flight, or the moment a big cat pounces on its prey. These fleeting moments, which usually happen too quickly for the human eye to see, can be captured with astonishing precision using extremely fast shutter speeds.

Sports Photography

In sports photography, high-speed technology allows you to capture dynamic movements. Whether a soccer player is kicking the ball, a sprinter is crossing the finish line, or a gymnast is soaring through the air—high-speed photography lets you capture fascinating moments full of power and dynamism.

To showcase your high-speed shots in the best possible light, we recommend, for example, an elegant presentation as a photo in a Pop Art frame.

More information about photos in pop art frames

Important camera and flash settings for high-speed photography

The necessary camera and, if applicable, flash settings for high-speed photography vary depending on the ambient light.

High-speed photography in daylight

To freeze the movements of animals or athletes in daylight, a short shutter speed of about 1/4,000 to 1/8,000 of a second is recommended. Some modern mirrorless cameras can even achieve 1/16,000 second or faster. Additionally, you should use continuous shooting mode to capture the entire sequence of the animal’s or athlete’s movement. This allows you to select the best images later at your leisure.

The shorter the shutter speed, the less light hits the sensor. To achieve ideal exposure, you must therefore adjust the aperture and ISO sensitivity. We recommend an aperture of f/8 or f/11 to increase the depth of field, ensuring the subject does not go out of focus too quickly when moving. When photographing animals or athletes in bright daylight, it’s also a good idea to set the autofocus to continuous focus tracking (AF-S). Finally, select an ISO value that matches the settings—either manually or, if you’re in a hurry, using automatic ISO.

High-speed photography in the studio

There are two ways to capture high-speed shots in a dimly lit studio. For example, if you want to work with fast shutter speeds in the studio, you’ll need flash units that support high-speed sync (HSS). In this mode, the flash unit emits rapid, short bursts of light. This is necessary because, at shutter speeds faster than the camera’s flash sync speed, the sensor is never fully exposed. With such short shutter speeds, the second mechanical shutter curtain follows the first so quickly that a slit forms, which moves across the sensor surface. To ensure that the flash photograph does not contain dark areas shadowed by the shutter, high-speed synchronization ensures that the sensor is evenly exposed by the rapid light pulses during the slit shutter’s intermittent exposure ( ).

However, there is another method that circumvents the limitation of the flash sync speed and enables high-speed photography even with flash units without an HSS function. In this method, the motion is frozen not by the camera’s shutter speed, but by the flash unit’s burn time. Here’s how it’s done: The technique is based on a long exposure in a dark room. For example, the camera is set to a long exposure of between two and five seconds. During this exposure time, the room remains dark so that the camera captures nothing and the background stays black. If, during the long exposure, the action—such as a water droplet falling onto the water’s surface—takes place and is briefly illuminated by the flash at the right moment, the motion can be frozen without causing motion blur. For the remainder of the long exposure, the image remains dark. Since autofocus does not work in the dark, the focus is set manually to the desired point beforehand with the studio light turned on. The ISO sensitivity should be set as low as possible to avoid image noise. When selecting the aperture, an aperture between f/8 and f/16 is recommended to achieve sufficient depth of field, especially when shooting with macro lenses.

Helpful accessories for high-speed photography

In addition to a camera and flash units, there are other accessories that can help you capture impressive high-speed shots. When working in a studio, a tripod is essential for keeping the camera steady and preventing camera shake. This is especially important when using long exposure times. In daylight, a tripod is usually not necessary. However, when using heavy telephoto lenses in sports and wildlife photography, it can be helpful to use a monopod.

In addition, special remote triggers are helpful in high-speed studio photography to fire the camera or flash at the right moment and prevent camera shake. The latter can occur, for example, when the camera’s shutter button is pressed with a finger during a long exposure. There are special triggers that respond to sound, light, and movement. For example, in a dark studio, a sound trigger can detect the moment a balloon or a light bulb bursts, while a light trigger reacts to rapid changes in light, such as those caused by a flash in the sky. Some specialized triggers are also equipped with a laser and react when the laser beam is interrupted by movement. This can be very helpful in wildlife photography, for example.

When choosing a remote trigger, it’s also important to consider whether the trigger should be attached only to the camera or directly to the flash as well. For example, when working in a dark studio with long exposure times, the special remote trigger should be connected directly to the flash to freeze the subject’s movement at the right moment with a precise flash pulse. In this case, make sure the remote trigger is compatible with your flash unit’s connection.

Safety first!

Ensure your safety and that of everyone present when working with potentially dangerous scenarios such as exploding objects or flying sparks. Create a safe working environment and wear protective clothing if necessary. If you are working only with water, we recommend having enough towels on hand to catch or wipe away water splashes.

Conclusion

High-speed photography is a fascinating and challenging technique that allows you to capture fleeting moments with astonishing detail. With the right camera settings, the use of flash, and the appropriate accessories, you can create impressive images that freeze fast movements in a unique way. Patience and good preparation are the keys to success. High-speed photography often requires many attempts before the perfect image is captured. Be ready to try out different settings and techniques, and don’t give up if the initial results don’t meet your expectations. With a little practice and a willingness to experiment, you’ll soon be able to take fascinating high-speed shots.

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More information about metallic Photo Prints behind acrylic glass