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Oh, No!!!! You would have to ask me!
It’s the best way to learn! And isn’t it fun to see new doors of knowledge and creativity opening up?!
All right, I experimented!! “I” think this picture turned out to be a little better than the first quick shot I got! To use the flash, I had to put it on Auto which then I couldn’t bring the shutter down to 1\20, so the picture is 1\60, and ISO 200. It was fun experimenting! The color I used since I didn’t have beet juice was, red food coloring. I think I was able to figured out the “T”-with three legs too!
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I know next to nothing about flash photography, but I’m seeing that there is a lot to learn!
You can say that again! If you’ve learned the basics of photography, learning to properly utilize flash in your photography is a whole ‘nother subject.
Does it make any difference if the flash is at the beginning or end of the exposure?
Good question! In this case I don’t think it would have made much difference, but I don’t know that I ever tested to see if there was a difference! That would be an interesting experiment to try!
And why can’t you see what is there when the flash isn’t lighting it up?
Aha! That’s one of the tricks of flash photography! As I mentioned above: “Remember that any time you use a flash, you’re actually working with 2 separate exposures. “
If you keep that principle in mind, then you can understand why photography like this works. Basically, in this case the “physical” shutter was not adding anything to the picture. Theoretically, I could have set any shutter speed that I wanted, as long as it was under the max flash sync-speed for my camera (1/250 of a second). I was close enough to the subject that the flash provided all the illumination needed for a proper exposure.
Here’s an experiment for you to try for yourself: Look at the metadata for the droplet shot that I posted here: https://www.lenspiration.com/forums/topic/high-speed-water-drop-photography/
- Shutter Speed: 1/20
- Aperture: f/14
- ISO Speed: 200
Set up your camera inside the house, leave all the lights off, and take a picture with the settings above. Now do you know what I mean about the “physical” shutter not contributing to the picture? If it wasn’t for the flash, there wouldn’t be a picture, just a blank, black frame!
So the flash is not only the only light source that’s contributing to the photo, but it’s also the only thing that’s providing the “fast” shutter speed necessary to “freeze” the motion.
If there’s something else you want to know, just ask, and I’ll try to give you an answer!
Does it make any difference if the flash is at the beginning or end of the exposure?
Technically, when the flash fires at the beginning of an exposure, it’s called “1st curtain sync flash” (which in English means that the flash is synchronized with the shutter, or curtain, to fire when it first opens at the beginning of an exposure) or “2nd curtain sync flash” (which in English means that the flash is synchronized with the shutter, or curtain, to fire before it closes at the end of an exposure).
It can make a difference in certain situations, but really only when you have longer exposures of several seconds or more. Here’s a simple example of the difference it can make: http://web.canon.jp/imaging/flashwork/functions/curtain/index.html
Technically, when the flash fires at the beginning of an exposure, it’s called “1st curtain sync flash” (which in English means that the flash is synchronized with the shutter, or curtain, to fire when it first opens at the beginning of an exposure) or “2nd curtain sync flash” (which in English means that the flash is synchronized with the shutter, or curtain, to fire before it closes at the end of an exposure).
Thanks for explaining that James! I think there is a situation where it does make a difference when you’re trying to balance your flash with the background lighting, but I can’t think of the reasons right now… Maybe I’m just dreaming. 🙂
As I mentioned above: “Remember that any time you use a flash, you’re actually working with 2 separate exposures. “
If you keep that principle in mind, then you can understand why photography like this works. Basically, in this case the “physical” shutter was not adding anything to the picture. Theoretically, I could have set any shutter speed that I wanted, as long as it was under the max flash sync-speed for my camera (1/250 of a second). I was close enough to the subject that the flash provided all the illumination needed for a proper exposure.
OK. That made sense. It also explains why when I working with a flash the other day, I needed either to decrease my flash’s intensity or use a narrower aperture to keep the picture from being blown out. Changing the shutter speed didn’t do anything. So now I’m wondering, why did you use 1/20? Why not 1/100? Or is there no particular reason? And is this the concept they use to get night photos of ocean spray? That would take a big flash, though!
Technically, when the flash fires at the beginning of an exposure, it’s called “1st curtain sync flash” (which in English means that the flash is synchronized with the shutter, or curtain, to fire when it first opens at the beginning of an exposure) or “2nd curtain sync flash” (which in English means that the flash is synchronized with the shutter, or curtain, to fire before it closes at the end of an exposure).
It can make a difference in certain situations, but really only when you have longer exposures of several seconds or more.
Yes! That comes back to me now! I remember learning about why one might want to use the 2nd curtain sync flash (only I didn’t know the English term since our class was in French…). I’ve just never used it, so I had forgotten. Using both 1st and 2nd on the same shot must make for a double exposure?
All right, I experimented!! “I” think this picture turned out to be a little better than the first quick shot I got! To use the flash, I had to put it on Auto which then I couldn’t bring the shutter down to 1\20, so the picture is 1\60, and ISO 200. It was fun experimenting! The color I used since I didn’t have beet juice was, red food coloring. I think I was able to figured out the “T”-with three legs too!
Good job, @Hannahm! That’s quite an improvement!
Now when you say “To use the flash, I had to put it on Auto which then I couldn’t bring the shutter down to 1/20, so the picture is 1/60, and ISO 200.”
Are you talking about the flash, or just your camera’s “Auto” Mode? You should certainly be able to use flash in S or A or M mode… Usually if you pop it up, it will fire, unless you tell it otherwise. There should be a little flash button on the side of your camera that will pop up the flash, then you can use it whenever you want to.
If you look closely, you can see that there is still some motion blur noticeable in the drop, but the camera-shake blur is taken care of! That’s a good start!
Now, this might sound rather backwards, but to get rid of the motion blur, you’re going to have to turn off the lights in the room where you’re working. Yes, I’m being serious! When I first started water-drop photography, I thought that I would need all the light I could get, so I brought in some additional lamps to really brighten it up. All that did was bring on the motion blur! Keep in mind the rule about flash photography having 2 separate exposures. Unless you have a shutter speed of about 1/5,000 you’re not going to stop the motion in a water drop. So when you are using only 1/60 (or 1/20), you’re going to have a whole lot of motion blur! The trick in this case is to make your camera’s exposure dark enough that you can’t see anything important, that way the flash will do all the work to light it, and to freeze the motion!
Alternatively, you could stop down several stops, to about f/11 or so. It’s actually better to stop down, because then you’re increasing your DOF too, which should give you sharper results. If stopping down makes your picture too dark, you’ll need to move closer so that your flash can get enough light to the subject.
Keep trying! At this rate you’ll be a pro at this in another week or so! 🙂
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OK. That made sense. It also explains why when I working with a flash the other day, I needed either to decrease my flash’s intensity or use a narrower aperture to keep the picture from being blown out. Changing the shutter speed didn’t do anything. So now I’m wondering, why did you use 1/20? Why not 1/100? Or is there no particular reason? And is this the concept they use to get night photos of ocean spray? That would take a big flash, though!
Yep, shutter speed and flash don’t mix very well. I risk sounding like a broken record, 🙂 but again, it’s because of the two exposure concept. You are right, I could just as easily have used a shutter speed of 1/100, I’m not sure why I didn’t! 🙂 Of course, back then, I didn’t really know much about flash either…
Night photos of ocean spray? Do you mean a photo of water drops from a wave frozen in mid-air? I don’t know that I’ve ever seen one, but yeah, that would take a pretty big flash! (Or just a lot of little ones)
Using both 1st and 2nd on the same shot must make for a double exposure?
Well, I guess it would, but I don’t think that any current camera manufacturer allows you to use both… You can use external flashes though, I had a flash that would fire a burst of flashes, you could set the # of flashes, and the interval between them to create a multi-exposure. I never actually tried it for anything, I guess I should have! 🙁
Are you talking about the flash, or just your camera’s “Auto” Mode?
I snapped the picture in the “Auto” mode, because I couldn’t think of any other way to get the camera to flash! Wow! I just tried the flash, and it flashed! 🙂 I normally shoot in Manual, to be able to have total control, but it always seemed to be grainy without the flash, so then I would turn it to Auto to be able to get a clear picture!
So, I did have one of my brothers hold the flash light directly on the bowl of water, and I turned on as many lights as possible to get as much light as I could!! 🙂 Oops! I think I’m beginning to sound like someone else I know who used to do it! 🙂 Thanks for letting me know about that @buddingphotographer . I’ll have to try another shot at that.- This reply was modified 56 years, 8 months ago by .
I snapped the picture in the “Auto” mode, because I couldn’t think of any other way to get the camera to flash! Wow! I just tried the flash, and it flashed! 🙂 I normally shoot in Manual, to be able to have total control, but it always seemed to be grainy without the flash, so then I would turn it to Auto to be able to get a clear picture!
Ok, gotcha! Now I’ve got another question: see the bolded words above… What is “it”? The water drop?
Now I’ve got another assignment for you. Do some research, and figure out why “Auto” can get “clear” results, but “Manual” can’t. 🙂
Did you know that you can learn from your camera? If it’s actually true that Auto does give better/clearer results, then obviously it’s choosing settings that do the trick! So, next time you can’t get your picture to turn out in Manual and switch to Auto to get a good picture, take a look at your metadata! Figure out what settings Auto used, and tell Manual what to do so that it can get the same results!
“Auto” does not magically create grain/blur free pictures; all it does is change settings based on the camera’s light meter. So learn from Auto, and it will make your Manual shooting more profitable!
So, I did have one of my brothers hold the flash light directly on the bowl of water, and I turned on as many lights as possible to get as much light as I could!! 🙂 Oops! I think I’m beginning to sound like someone else I know who used to do it! 🙂 Thanks for letting me know about that @buddingphotographer . I’ll have to try another shot at that.
Isn’t that funny? I knew enough about photography to know that generally, the more light the better, so I piled on the lights! And all I did was create more of a problem, not get better results!
You are very welcome! For payment, I expect you to improve your water-drop photography skills until you are taking pictures that you would be proud to show to your best friend, or your parents.
While we’re on the subject of flash photography, here’s something to give you more headaches with “Manual”. Did you know that your on-camera flash has a manual mode too? (Well, not quite… But it does give you the ability to turn it up for more light, or down for less light!) I’ll leave it to you to see if you can figure out how that works. It’s no fun just to have someone tell you everything you need to know. You’re much more likely to remember it if you figure it our yourself! 🙂
see the bold words above… What is “it”? The water drop?
I was talking about taking any picture. I take portrait pictures more than Landscape. So, for the inside portrait pictures, I get more blurry ones than clear, but now that I can use the flash you told me about, the pictures may not be so blurry any more!
Yep, “the indoors” is notorious for poor lighting, and unfortunately you don’t often have a whole lot of options… (Of course if you’re made out of money, you can “invest” in the latest-and-greatest camera that goes all the way up to ISO 409,600!)
Flash helps with the brightness part of the problem, but on-camera flash often creates rather “ugly” lighting. Light shining straight into the face of the person you’re photographing doesn’t create the most flattering lighting for portraits. 🙂 That’s one reason that people enlist the help of off-camera flashes! One of the big advantages to using an off-camera flash is that you can aim the light in different directions. One thing that I often do is to bounce the light off of a white ceiling or wall. The large white surface basically acts as a giant diffuser to spread out the light and eliminate harsh shadows. So, if you’re having trouble getting enough light indoors, and have access to flash, that will definitely help a lot! On-camera is better than none, but an off-camera flash will give you more power and much better lighting options.
One thing that I have found useful in regards to on-camera flash…
Imagine this scenario: You’re outdoors, say you just hiked to the top of a mountain, and you’re taking a picture of your friends while the sun is shining brightly. You notice that their eyes look like the inside of a cave because the bright sunlight is creating dark shadows. So what do you do? You pop up your flash! It’s called “fill-flash” and can be very effective at reducing the dark shadows that you often see in the middle of the day when the sun is out full force. Many people say, “Face into the sun, that will take care of the shadows”! Yeah, then you get a picture of people all squinting at you because the sun is in their eyes. My advice is, put the sun behind their backs, and use flash to fill in the shadows. That way they’re not squinting, and you’re not getting hollow-eyed people in your famous mountain climbing photo!
Perhaps you could experiment using your sisters speedlite, @hannahm, when you’re ready for more dynamic lighting like @buddingphotographer is talking about.
And to keep “fill flash” actually fill flash, you can play around with Flash Exposure Compensation to decrease the amount of light your flash emits. http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/how-to-use-flash-exposure-compensation-on-your-can.html
- This reply was modified 56 years, 8 months ago by .
If you’re looking for how to control your flash for Nikon camera, here’s a link that might be helpful: http://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/d80/users-guide/controls.htm#front
I think my next purchase will be a flash! I have never used Emily’s flash before, and I love the even color it gives, but I do understand what your saying, @buddingphotographer, about the shadows being in the persons eyes. I’ve tried to keep that in mind to keep the sun behind the subject. I didn’t know that the flash would take care of the problem with the shadows shading the eyes!
Thanks for pointing the flash button out to me. I didn’t realize that if you hold it down, it would give you three options. I did a little research on it, but I must have not typed the key words in. I’m also not the type to research much earthier, so your link was very helpful. 🙂
I’ll have to practice sometime with the flash. That’s a whole other camera right there to learn about. (Almost!) Just watching and hearing, @buddingphotographer, and James talk about it, kind of went through one ear and out the other!! Hopefully sometime soon, I’ll KNOW about all the settings on the flash!- This reply was modified 56 years, 8 months ago by .
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