Slow Sync Series - What is Slow Sync after all?
Just a series of articles and texts about photography that I am writing at the moment.
You mean slow sync?
Slow sync is often confused and misunderstood with rear curtain sync. Briefly, these are the most common “flash modes” in our cameras nowadays:
Fill Flash
Most of the cameras will set shutter speed to around 1/60 and the flash fires with each shot, brightening poorly lit portrait subjects.
Slow Sync
The flash is used to light the main subject - nothing new here, but the camera will allow/set shutter speeds that are slower to ensure that objects in the background that are not fully lit by the flash are correctly exposed. Portrait subjects will be brilliantly lit and the shutter will stay open after the flash has fired to ensure that night scenery or dark interiors behind the portrait subject are correctly exposed. Do not forget the reciprocal rule regarding shutter speed and lenses focal length and use a tripod if need be. It helps to ask the subject to stand really still if the intent of the picture is a “classic” portrait, otherwise blur will occur.
Rear-Curtain Sync
In this mode, the timing of the flash differs from that in other modes – and this is what really makes a difference. In different flash modes, the flash fires as the shutter opens, but in rear-curtain sync the flash fires just before the shutter closes. This ensures that light trails created by moving light sources appear to follow the moving object.
Manual mode
Not now, thanks. I am in some sort of auto-pilot and manual is something that I do not feel great about right now, but you need a light/flash meter to help you determine the right exposure, the flashes set to manual mode (!) and careful setting of your cameras's sync speed (focal plane shutters will always sync at lower speeds than leaf shutters, unless you have a system that allows high speed sync with focal plane shutters, but here flash effective guide number plummets at the speed of light) and... to be honest I didn't even start on the subject, so I will have to postpone the “dissertation”. But it is good fun, very good fun.
Example photo: http://jgalloblog.tumblr.com/#/post/72084313857/canon-eos-5d-canon-28-70-f2-8l-1-16-sec-f2-8
John Gallo
The Slow Sync Series, Volume Two
