Hilarious photography of explosive bullets power captures by U.S. artist Alan Sailer

Rat-a-tat-tat: A handful of cocktail stirrers shatter as artist Alan Sailer fires a rifle at them, capturing every step of the carnage
Wham: A bullet erupts through a tin of Spam luncheon meat

Light show: The bullet (left) is pictured just moments before smashing the lightbulb (right)

An expert at high-speed photography, Mr Sailer takes the pictures in a dark room positioned around 20cm from the target.

The camera, which features a unique home-made flash, is set at a one-second delay.

Mr Sailer, who describes the process as 'beyond dangerous', says: 'The special item is the flash. It is a home-built unit based on the design of Harold Edgerton. The flash is about .5 microsecond in duration and runs at 17,000 volts. It is beyond dangerous, it's deadly.'
Half time orange: A citrus fruit explodes on impact

The flash is triggered when the pellet from a rifle travelling at about 200 metres per seconds passes through a laser beam. Its the same principle as those beams that set off a chime when you walk into a store,' he added.

'The camera is set at one second and an f-stop of 9-13 depending on the reflectivity of the subject. The flash stops the action. The one second gives me time to click the camera shutter with one hand while I pull the trigger on the rifle with the other.'


Five a day: A carrot and a banana are distorted beyond recognition during the shoot

Vices: A bottle of vodka and a lipstick feature in a different kind of shoot-out