Explosive! Spectacular pictures of the moment a bullet shatters food

Alan Sailer uses a loaded weapon and explosives to blow up objects

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If you have ever wondered what would happen if you shot a coconut, here is your answer...

Looking almost more like an exploded loaf of bread than the exotic fruit, the bullet's direction and the energy of the impact is caught on camera.

Photographer Alan Sailer uses an air rifle and firecrackers to create these images.

Mushroom cloud: A Portobello mushroom implodes

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Hotdogging: Sausages burst

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Going bananas: The missile slips through the skin

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Looking beet: A beetroot explodes in a colourful mess

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Strawberry shake: The seeds on the skin can still be made out

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Based in California, USA, the 57-year-old has rigged up a camera with a special flash in his garage using parts off eBay.

A normal flash lasts a millisecond (a thousandth of a second) while Alan's special set-up freezes about a microsecond (a millionth of a second).

Alan uses a slow shutter speed on his Nikon 40X digital camera and the picture is taken in darkness - apart from the brief moment of the flash.

Fired from an air rifle, the pellet or marble travels at 200 metres per second as it hits.

A sensor triggered as the missile passes sets off the flash at the moment of the impact.

Alan reckons he has shot around 10,000 items over the last four years.

Fruit, vegetables, ornaments and cameras are among the targets he has used for his explosive photography.

Is it a fish? A Christmas bauble shatters

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Colourful: Alan added extra food colouring to this yoghurt pot

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Water fight: A water balloon splits

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Playschool: Crayons are blasted

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More pictures to marvel at...