Night and Low-light Photography Photo Workshop

    ■   Rear curtain sync. Many cameras allow you to

set when the flash fires during the exposure —

at the start, when the first shutter curtain

starts to move, or at the end, right before the

rear curtain starts to close. If you use the rear

curtain sync and longer shutter speeds, the

ambient light present in the scene is captured,

and the subjects are frozen not by the shutter

speed but by the flash. This can add a sense of

movement to an image but only works well

when you have the flash light freeze the sub-

jects. This can be seen in Figure 5-6, where

photographer Kenny Kim captured the move-

ment of the first dance by using a slow shutter

speed and having the flash fire at the end of

the exposure.

■   Use a flash bracket. Getting the flash as far

away from the lens as possible is really helpful
in getting good portraits. This can be done by
placing the flash off camera, on a light stand
for example, but it is not practical when you
have to move around and take photos.
Another option is a flash bracket that
attaches to the camera using the tripod screw
at the bottom. It uses an articulated arm to
place the flash up high over the camera. Many
flash brackets can also be quickly adjusted so
that the flash is always above the camera, no
matter what orientation the camera is in.

For more on bouncing the light, see

Chapter 4.

x-ref

ABOUT THIS PHOTO The first dance was captured to show movement in the image by using a rear curtain sync. Taken at 1/2 second, f/2.8,
and ISO 1600. © Kenny Kim

5-6