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Any tips on using Flash with Long Exposure
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PostPosted: Wed Aug 25, 2010 8:36 am    Post subject: Any tips on using Flash with Long Exposure Reply with quote

I was out few days ago trying to shoot long exposure photos with people standing in front. The shots easily a few seconds as it is at night. The people is very blur even when flash is used. Any tips?

The joke is I was using timer and tripod to shoot myself and most of the photos, I don't even turned up even with flash. What did I do wrong?


PostPosted: Thu Aug 26, 2010 1:08 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Can we get some information on the lens that was used,camera setting, distance of the camera to the person you were trying to take a picture of.


PostPosted: Thu Aug 26, 2010 2:26 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Here is a sample of what I was trying to shoot as the background.



I try shooting with 20mm and 28mm. This particular photo if I remember correctly was shot with a 28mm, aperture around f5.6-f8, speed 2-6 seconds. I setup the tripod and timer and dash and stand so I guess maybe 8-10 meters from the camera. I tried various flash setting at 1/4, 1/2 and even 1. Not much difference.


PostPosted: Thu Aug 26, 2010 3:52 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I have never tried this; I don't know. Sharing my thoughts, which might be wrong. Wink

Just checking, the flash fired when you were standing in position, correct? Then I can say obviously the flash had not enough effect at that distance to brighten you enough to be seen in photo.

8-10 meters is pretty far; flash at half that distance would be 4 times more powerful.

My flash has an adjustable lens for wide angle, normal, and telephoto; in this situation, even with wide angle lens, I would use telephoto position to throw flash beam farthest.

Some cameras have 'second curtain sync' setting which fires flash at end of exposure instead of at the beginning; that seems necessary here so flash doesn't fire before you are in position.


PostPosted: Thu Aug 26, 2010 4:44 am    Post subject: Re: Any tips on using Flash with Long Exposure Reply with quote

visualopsins is right on with all of his advice. Cool

I think that this is a revealing clue:
my_photography wrote:
The shots easily a few seconds as it is at night. The people is very blur even when flash is used.


If you have a long exposure flash shot and the people are blurry, then this confirms that a substantial portion of the exposure of the people is coming from ambient light, and not from the flash.

So to solve that condition, you need to change the lighting on the subjects such that a significant portion comes purely from the flash, with a much smaller portion coming from ambient light. To do this, you pretty much need a brighter flash, a shorter exposure time, or a combination of the two.

Or friends who are better at holding still. Very Happy


PostPosted: Thu Aug 26, 2010 5:14 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks visualopsins & Scheimpflug.

I did try setting the flash for 20mm up till 100mm that day. I even tried to use a flash with 'second curtain sync' with my camera but there were not much difference. I could be standing too far. Just out of curiosity, how was this type of photo taken last time when there were no '2nd curtain' flash technology?


PostPosted: Thu Aug 26, 2010 5:31 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Try this:
Take a shot using manual and no flash, see what settings you need to corrrectly expose for the ambient whilst keeping a shutter speed of 1/15. Set the shutter to 1/30 and set the flash to give enough power to illuminate the people (or use TTL).

Flash isn't affected by shutter speed so you have to try and balance things here.It really is a tricky one to do and looks like it will have to be a compromise due to the lack of ambient light.