Nathan, 1/8 to 1/4 pound? You should have set up a second camera set to go off a few seconds later to capture the corpse of the animal -- literally scared to death! Sauntering through the woods at night, minding my own business, and boom! At least I'm sure it would give me a heart attack...
Back in the day, many a photographer lost fingers or worse with that stuff. It is very dangerous. Especially when loading a second charge because sparks may be left over from the first that causes everything to explode. No fun! No wonder flashbulbs were invented...
Well, I guess anything is dangerous. Back in the day all pros and essentially all serious amateurs used flash powder, so I guess with a little common sense its not too dangerous. Certainly nowhere near as dangerous as texting while driving. Plus, its fun! And seriously, flash powder doesn't explode, it flashes, so while pouring powder on hot coals might result in a burn, not sure how you could lose fingers.
The reason flash bulbs were invented is because powder makes a terrible mess, particularly indoors.
Wipe the flash pan with a wet rag, just as canons were swabbed with water between shots.Originally Posted by AtlantaTerry
It can explode if too much is piled on. The weight of the extra powder can cause enough resistance to contain the burn and cause it to explode.Tim: "flash powder doesn't explode, it flashes"
The stuff gets hot enough to erode concrete. Objects two feet away shrivel and burst into flame. But yeah, it doesn't detonate, true.
Science is what we understand well enough to explain to a computer. Art is everything else we do.
--A=B by Petkovšek et. al.
I was given about a 1/2 pound, of what I was told was flash powder but I think the moisture or something as gotten to it since it just burns almost like black power. I ended up burning the rest of it in a coffee can, very uneventful.
It reminds me of the Illuminating trip flares we used in the army. Nail them to a tree (or house), set the trip wire and wait. Of course with our luck they were always tripped by stray dogs and not by Iraqis, Al-Qaeda, or whoever we were trying to kill at the time.
Do they even make flash pans anymore? I never see them on ebay
Signature deleted as to not offend certain people
This came up in a thread several years ago. At that time I checked Wikipedia and found an extensive article on it.
My take is that this stuff is potentially dangerous to mess around with. Basically, it is an unconfined explosion. Read the Wikipedia article.
Safety issues aside: In the current climate of security concerns I would stay away from this area of photographic history.
Drew Bedo
www.quietlightphoto.com
http://www.artsyhome.com/author/drew-bedo
There are only three types of mounting flanges; too big, too small and wrong thread!
One man's safety concern is another's safety hysteria. There's a lot of that lately, the expectation that any safety level below an unobtainable 100% is unacceptable, combined with the willingness, no eagerness, to implement draconian restrictions to attempt to achieve that. I am cynical.
Thanks, but I'd rather just watch:
Large format: http://flickr.com/michaeldarnton
Mostly 35mm: http://flickr.com/mdarnton
You want digital, color, etc?: http://www.flickr.com/photos/stradofear
Cress Photo flashpans. They also sell flashbulbs.
"It's the way to educate your eyes. Stare. Pry, listen, eavesdrop. Die knowing something. You are not here long." - Walker Evans
I'm a pretty careful person. These days...
Here is what I have. The smaller pan has been used. I found the second screw after the photo.
Obviously you put primer cap in the handle, cock it, fill tray with a small amount of powder and pull the trigger.
I will take the caution of filling the tray from a small folded paper and not have the entire jug tipped over a cocked primer.
I think I will need to cock before filling to prevent spilling. Can't be any worse than having a 1962 'dud' firecracker explode in my stupid hands. They were numb for a while.
Also it is good advice to let the pan cool down before adding powder for a second flash.
We see these in movies all the time. Stunt men do not get to have all the fun in life. I also always wear safety glasses as I damn blind.
In movies people seem to raise the pan over their head, to avoid 'the flash in the pan'. I will do the same. perhaps 4th of July, when my neighborhood becomes insane with fireworks and gunshots. A city boy can hear the the difference.
Notice it's called 'smokeless'!
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