Amazing photo made at the range today.

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I've seen 38s and 45 autos with the naked eye when the light is right. Probaly the projo, as most said. :cool:
 
I'd say it's the bullet. I almost always see the reflection of the 38's and 9mm that I throw down range. In the range that I frequent, the lights are pointing forwards. Great picture! Congrats.
 
Late to this thread, I know, but here's my $0.02... specifically in reference to Double Naught's sharp "bullet" / blurred hand dilemma:

Easy to explain this one. Note the floodlight at the top left of the picture illuminating the shooter's position. There's plenty of ambient light at the firing line to create a ghost image of the shooter's hand corresponding to motion during the time the shutter was open. The angle of the lamp is such that it wouldn't provide much illumination downrange. On re-reading the replies I see Pappy John said essentially the same thing.

Fascinating thread, guys, with lots of well-reasoned replies. My vote is that the bright spot is quite possibly, if not likely the bullet. Cool pic one way or the other.
 
Man, this photo controversy has generated more discussion than the Kennedy assasination.
 
[Posted by hksw
Man, this photo controversy has generated more discussion than the Kennedy assasination.
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Yeah........with about the same divided conclusions.;)
 
Just two cents worth, maybe less...

First an assumption or three: that the round in question was a typical hardball load or not very dissimilar ballistically and had a muzzle velocity of 850 fps and BC near enough to .150 as to make no worthwhile difference, and that the camera’s synch shutter speed was 1/1000 sec or slower (very, very generous). From a ballistics program, such a bullet slows to about 830 fps in 25 yards and I will also assume that the range to the white dot is 25 yards or less. A thyristor controlled auto flash adjusts exposure by shortening the duration of the pulse, maximum power is generally 1/1000 of a second, minimum typically 1/50,000 and sometimes even shorter. Given that the shooter is wearing white and the camera is very close, I will guess that the flash duration is near minimum just to be generous. 830 fps, the lowest bullet velocity worth discussing in this setup, divided by 50,000 (and multiplied by 12) gives image streaking of .199 inch. Given the angle of bullet travel to the camera angle, I don’t think image streaking eliminates the idea of a bullet producing the image is eliminated if the image is produced by the strobelight.

If the image IS produced by the camera’s flash, the inverse square law comes into play. The shooter’s shirt is well exposed. If the flash is 1 yard from the shirt and the 5 yards from the bullet, the bullet is getting 1/25 the light of the shirt, a difference of over 4.5 stops for the photographers, a difference even a mirror polish on the bullets base is unlikely to overcome. The bullet would have had to be much closer in order to have received enough of the flash to be sufficiently lighted to produce a visible exposure.

If the bullet produced the image and was lit by a range flood lamp while going no less than 830 fps, it would produce an image over a distance of 9.96 inches for a shutter speed of 1/1000 sec, much longer for the more likely 1/250 sec to 1/125 sec.

Sorry, gang, I vote no.

edited for a typo: .199 inch image streaking in the strobe light, not .119.
 
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Not so fast Huck.
Streaking would occur if the bullet remained inside the light source. If the bullet wasd breaking the a narrow focused beam it would only reflect back for the time it was in the beam. This could produce a non-streaked image. Also, if the flash is the souce, it is an expanding wave that lights the bullet for only the duration of the flash (the wave passes the bullet by.) Either of these situations could reflect back a seeming point source of light from a moving object. It may not be the flash due to the intensity arguement given above. I lean toiward the momentary reflection of the flood beam as the bullet broke the beam while the shutter was open.
 
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