Photography News issue 27

Photography News Issue 27 absolutephoto.com

Technique 30

Lighting academy Get amove on Combine sharp and blurred elements in the same shot using slow-sync flash effects

Words & pictures by Kingsley Singleton

This month we’re getting to grips with slow- sync flash – a technique which combines a burst of flash with a slow shutter speed. This might sound complicated, but you’ve almost certainly used slow-sync flash in the past without knowing it; it’s most often applied when shooting at night and, in fact, the Night Scene modes on compact cameras and entry- level DSLRs and CSCs use this system by default. But slow-sync flash is useful for lots of other subjects and creative effects, and is by understanding how to set it up manually you can have more control and improve the look. Essentially, slow-sync flash works like this: using a slow shutter speedmore of the ambient light is pickedupand the flashpower is lowered to match, creating a balance between the two. By contrast, a regular flash exposure will default to the flash sync speed, usually 1/60sec, which is too fast to pick up the dim ambient light, making pictures look unbalanced.

A by-product of this slower-than-normal shutter speed is that any movement in the subject, background, or camera position is also recorded. It’s that movement we’re interested in here, as we’re going to use it to add an excellent twist to a daylight shot. This, combined with the flash will create a picture that mixes sharp and blurred elementswith a ghostly or ethereal look. You can use it on sports and action shots, or, as here, in a creative portrait. Time and place Time and location is important for this technique; if the conditions are too bright it will bedifficult topickup themovement, andharder to get the long shutter speeds required. Ideally, find a shaded location and a background that’s darker than the subject so it reflects less light. A bright background just won’t work. I shot this image under a railway arch, but you can try it in the shadow of a building, or any interior, too.

You’ll also have more success if the subject is wearing lighter tones, as those aremore readily pickedupby the camera, and flowinggarments, or scarves, long coats or dressesworkwell from an aesthetic point of view. Exposure settings I set the camera on a tripod so that only movement from Amber would be picked up. This isn’t vital, and you can shoot images like this handheld, deliberately moving the camera during the exposure, but this will look more chaotic, with everything blurred and only the subject’s final position frozen by the flash along with anything else it strikes. Next I set the exposure for the ambient light. This is best done in manual mode (M) and I framed up on the scene then, using the exposure bar as a guide (the +/- indicator in the viewfinder or on screen) set the shutter speed to length required. Here, it’s best to get the

If the conditions are too bright it will be difficult to pick up the movement required…

Above Slow-sync flash doesn’t just provide great shots, it’s also a good way to learn how flash mixes with available light and how the settings used to control one are different to the other.