A YouTuber’s playful photography experiment has already racked up over one million views in just a few days.

Pavel Mamontov, aka Lensevision, tried to perfectly synchronize a fan with his video camera.

The theory, known as the stroboscopic effect, holds that if a camera is recording at 30 frames per second, a fan with three blades rotating at 10 revolutions per second should appear completely stationary, as each blade occupies the position of the previous one in successive frames. The phenomenon also works with helicopters .

Mamontov drew symbols on each of the three blades of his fan, then turned it on to find the right speed when the fan appears motionless and the symbols are clearly visible.

“I’m using a potentiometer to control the speed,” Mamontov explains. “So the RPM keeps fluctuating, and I have to find just the right moment.”

Initially, he manages to freeze the blades, but not the symbols.…