November Photo Competition - Long Exposure (PRIZE!)
Discussion
Not car related I'm afraid - but 3.2 sec exposure with hand triggered off-camera flash
Dance and Jump by Ivan Trotman, on Flickr
Dance and Jump by Ivan Trotman, on FlickrEdited by Beggarall on Friday 24th November 10:32
Beggarall said:
Not car related I'm afraid - but 3.2 sec exposure with hand triggered off-camera flasH
Dance and Jump by Ivan Trotman, on Flickr
Mmm - interesting image, well done Dance and Jump by Ivan Trotman, on Flickr
Beggarall said:
Not car related I'm afraid - but 3.2 sec exposure with hand triggered off-camera flash
Dance and Jump by Ivan Trotman, on Flickr
Nice shot.Dance and Jump by Ivan Trotman, on FlickrEdited by Beggarall on Friday 24th November 10:32
Could you explain how this was taken as my son is a dancer and I would love some 'arty' shots like this. 3 seconds is a long time in the air for a jump so is the shutter open before the jump starts; but how is there no blur?
Ebo100 said:
Nice shot.
Could you explain how this was taken as my son is a dancer and I would love some 'arty' shots like this. 3 seconds is a long time in the air for a jump so is the shutter open before the jump starts; but how is there no blur?
The 3 second exposure has created significant blur - it's the ghostly effect most obvious to the right of the dancer, but as it was a low-light situation it hasn't created ghostly effects that overpower the image. Aperture and shutter speed are controlling the level of exposure on this part of the image.Could you explain how this was taken as my son is a dancer and I would love some 'arty' shots like this. 3 seconds is a long time in the air for a jump so is the shutter open before the jump starts; but how is there no blur?
As the description says, it's a long exposure with hand triggered off-camera flash. Basically, while the shutter was open, a flash has been triggered which creates the "frozen" mid-air image of the dancer. Exposure of this part of the image is controlled via the combination of aperture and the power of the flashgun.
If you are going to have a go at this type of shot, you can also often trigger the flash automatically rather than manually.
One feature to look out for on your camera if you have a go at this is there is often a custom type setting which allows the flash to be triggered via "rear curtain" or "second curtain" sync. Basically, the default on most cameras is the flash is synchronised to go off as soon as the shutter is released - so if you have set a 3 second exposure, the flash fires immediately, freezing the still part of the image, then the shutter remains open for the rest of the 3 seconds, recording the ghostly blurred part of the image. This has the effect that the blurred parts of the image appear to move away from the frozen image, giving the effect that the subject is moving backwards.
If you set the camera to "second curtain" or "rear curtain" sync, when you release the shutter, it opens, recording the blurred lines, than at the end of the 3 seconds the flash fires freezing the subject. This gives the impression of the subject moving forwards with a sharp image, and blurred lines behind them.
Hopefully that makes some sense - more on it here: Second curtain sync
ETA
Similar technique to this shot below, with a longish exposure capturing the movement of the sparkler, but combined with flash to freeze the picture of the boy. In this instance I can't remember if it was set to 2nd curtain sync or not, but it doesn't make much difference in this case - switching to the opposite would have had the effect of the sparkler stem appearing to be linked to the opposite end of the light trail. It probably was 2nd curtain, as I tend to set this custom function on my cameras and leave it set there (unless specific reason to change it).
IMG_5861 by conradsphotos, on FlickrEdited by C&C on Monday 27th November 09:44
[quote=C&C]
The 3 second exposure has created significant blur - it's the ghostly effect most obvious to the right of the dancer, but as it was a low-light situation it hasn't created ghostly effects that overpower the image. Aperture and shutter speed are controlling the level of exposure on this part of the image.
As the description says, it's a long exposure with hand triggered off-camera flash. Basically, while the shutter was open, a flash has been triggered which creates the "frozen" mid-air image of the dancer. Exposure of this part of the image is controlled via the combination of aperture and the power of the flashgun.
[/quote]
Yes - C&C has described the technique pretty well. amongst the difficulties with this type of shot is getting the ambient light right and having a suitable backdrop. The ambient light gives the blur effect, the flash freezes the moment (you hope) when the action occurs. Using hand fired flash gives you the opportunity to fire when the movement is right (as in the jump). Using rear curtain flash does not really allow you to capture exactly the moment so either you have to time very carefully or just get lucky! I tried it once to freeze action at a wedding disco and maybe got about 2 or 3 usable images from 100 or so (my strike rate isn't that good at the best of times!!). This would have been better with a bigger black background so I have had to do some work in pp to extend the backdrop and blur out the extraneous objects round the edge which is one of the reasons why the movement blur isn't quite what I wanted. Needless to say at this length of exposure with any sort of ambient you need to be stopped right down (f18+) and the lowest iso possible otherwise you risk over-exposing when the flash fires. It is all a matter of trial and (many) errors!
The 3 second exposure has created significant blur - it's the ghostly effect most obvious to the right of the dancer, but as it was a low-light situation it hasn't created ghostly effects that overpower the image. Aperture and shutter speed are controlling the level of exposure on this part of the image.
As the description says, it's a long exposure with hand triggered off-camera flash. Basically, while the shutter was open, a flash has been triggered which creates the "frozen" mid-air image of the dancer. Exposure of this part of the image is controlled via the combination of aperture and the power of the flashgun.
Edited by C&C on Monday 27th November 09:44
[/quote]
Yes - C&C has described the technique pretty well. amongst the difficulties with this type of shot is getting the ambient light right and having a suitable backdrop. The ambient light gives the blur effect, the flash freezes the moment (you hope) when the action occurs. Using hand fired flash gives you the opportunity to fire when the movement is right (as in the jump). Using rear curtain flash does not really allow you to capture exactly the moment so either you have to time very carefully or just get lucky! I tried it once to freeze action at a wedding disco and maybe got about 2 or 3 usable images from 100 or so (my strike rate isn't that good at the best of times!!). This would have been better with a bigger black background so I have had to do some work in pp to extend the backdrop and blur out the extraneous objects round the edge which is one of the reasons why the movement blur isn't quite what I wanted. Needless to say at this length of exposure with any sort of ambient you need to be stopped right down (f18+) and the lowest iso possible otherwise you risk over-exposing when the flash fires. It is all a matter of trial and (many) errors!
Wow sorry, late! Did think about this Friday then got distracted ( with beer... 30 degree weekend spent not at computer..)
So some epic shots this month and I really expected to be handing over the prize to Chris but then along came Malcom with something even more epic...
So 1st place and grabbing the book is... (though I doubt he needs a book to tell him how to shoot cars...)
So some epic shots this month and I really expected to be handing over the prize to Chris but then along came Malcom with something even more epic...
So 1st place and grabbing the book is... (though I doubt he needs a book to tell him how to shoot cars...)
Malcolm Feth said:
My long exposure from this month with Lotus Evora GT430 rigshot.
Second spot to Chris.chrismarr said:
And a couple of strong entries here also:
CC said:
chandrew said:
Craikeybaby said:
DibblyDobbler said:
Hi All.
As Malcolm does not appear to be around can I suggest that I set the December topic? Any objections or any other volunteers?
Cheers, DD
I'd give him at least 24 hours since his last post!As Malcolm does not appear to be around can I suggest that I set the December topic? Any objections or any other volunteers?
Cheers, DD
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