- Playing with Time in the Same Frame
- Poring Over the Picture
- Poring Over the Picture
- Electronic Flash Basics
- Balancing Flash and Ambient Light
- Not All Flash Exposures Are Created Equal
- Fun with Multiple Flash Exposure
- Chapter 4 Assignments
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
Not All Flash Exposures Are Created Equal
Even the most remedial knowledge of flash photography is rooted in understanding that the operation consists of turning on the flash unit, pressing the camera shutter, and having a burst of light illuminate the subject. It’s a safe assumption that the flash will go off immediately—at least that’s how it works by default. Some advanced model flash units include a mode that will fire the flash at the end of the exposure. Although when the flash goes off doesn’t sound like that big of a deal, the two are noticeably different, especially during a long exposure. That’s not to say one is better than the other, yet each has a special purpose. It’s important to understand how each one captures the subject.
Dragged Shutter Flash
The dragged shutter flash effect blends the ambient and flash exposure in the same frame, with the burst coming at the beginning of exposure and the shutter continuing to collect light into the scene after the flash goes off. It’s not the kind of thing you would normally think about, because we tend to think of the flash going off during a fractional exposure; so within a blink the entire process is complete. But when exposure duration goes on for a bit longer, the flash fires and freezes the action, but exposure continues to collect in the picture along with any motion in the scene. This is the reason the dragged shutter flash technique works best with nonmoving subjects (illuminated by flash), such as portraits or stationary objects in the scene. Even when a partially moving object is frozen with flash, the object will show a motion (as an outward motion). By no means should this dissuade you from using this technique with moving subjects—either to exaggerate the effect of motion blur (Figure 4.13) or create a “softer” sense of motion (Figure 4.14) with a slower moving subject and faster shutter speed.
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Figure 4.13 This rendering of the early morning commuter rush consists of both motion and frozen action. I handheld the camera while trailing behind the pack.
Olympus D-40 • ISO 100 • .5 sec. • f/3.8 • Olympus 35mm lens • Built-in flash
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Figure 4.14 Although the exposure was too long to handhold the camera, the exposure was still relatively short, so the flash captured the color and motion of this party scene without creating an extreme motion blur.
Nikon 5000 • ISO 200 • 1/4 sec. • f/4 • Nikon 28mm lens
Rear Curtain Sync
In rear curtain synchronization mode (also known as second curtain synchronization), the flash fires at the end of a long exposure just before the second curtain closes. That makes it ideal for capturing moving subjects with flash during a long exposure. By setting the flash to rear curtain sync, you can capture the ambient parts of a scene and subject movement before the flash fires, producing a more fluid rendering of motion. Flash going off at the end of exposure can eliminate the awkward blur by freezing the subject at the end of exposure after it has moved through the scene. The effect can also convey a sense of speed, as shown in Figure 4.15.
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Figure 4.15 In this situation, the rear curtain synchronization works effectively by conveying a fluid sense of motion during the long exposure of Anthony jumping off a playhouse roof.
Canon 20D • ISO 1250 • 1 sec. • f/6.3 • Canon 20–35mm lens at 56mm • Canon Speedlite 580EX Flash
The Long Exposure Portrait
In many ways, taking a portrait at night can feel like a hybrid version of studio photography. Both offer active control when it comes to illuminating the subject. Whether portrait photography occurs in the studio or out in the field, flash illuminates the subject exactly the way you want. But unlike studio photography, photographing people over a long exposure time can also add a passive element to the image.
Although capturing the ambient portion of a scene makes the photograph more interesting, it also consists of variables out of your control. These include objects you can’t move, light sources you can’t control, and elements moving through the scene. But maybe the latter is not a bad thing, especially when it comes to the colorful rendering of taillights from passing traffic (Figure 4.16).
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Figure 4.16 Taken on a busy street, the subject remained stationary as the shutter stayed open long enough to capture passing traffic.
Canon 20D • ISO 400 • 2 sec. • f/9 • Canon 20–35mm lens at 35mm (equivalent to 32mm) • Canon Speedlite 580EX Flash
Filtering Flash
The many reasons for putting a colored filter over your flash head range from corrective to creative. Understanding why you would do this begins with understanding the basic output of flash, which produces a color temperature similar to daylight, or 5500 K.
As mentioned in the previous chapter, artificial light situations vary in color temperature, and at times you might want to override the colorcast on the subject illuminated by flash. Unfortunately, it doesn’t mean the ambient part of the scene will match the color balance. For example, you can balance a tungsten scene by setting the camera’s White Balance in the 3200 K range (tungsten, or indoor lighting) and using an orange gel over the flash. Not only do the setting and the gel correct the colorcast, but they also provide a uniform balance throughout the image.
You can also have some fun with colors that are not normal to the scene by placing filters over the lens. Place a green or red filter over the lens to make the subject that color. In addition, you could paint the scene with flash by using a long exposure and coloring the scene with pops of flash using different filters (Figure 4.17), as mentioned earlier in “Poring Over the Picture.”
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Figure 4.17 A lot can happen during a five-minute exposure. Not only does the long exposure “open up” the scene, but it allows you to paint the scene with flash and do it with multiple colors.
Canon EOS-1 • ISO 100 • 5 min. • f/16 • Canon 430EZ flash popped at least 30 times with blue, red, and orange filters
