Natural Flash at Night and Sync Speed: Ask David Bergman
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 10 พ.ย. 2019
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David Bergman answer a viewer's question about shooting with flash at night while making it look natural. Go to www.AskDavidBergman.com to submit your own photo question, see David's gear list, and view the episode archive. Attend David's live concert photography workshops at www.ShootFromThePit.com
Products Used:
Canon EOS R Mirrorless Full Frame Digital Camera Body www.adorama.com/car.html?kbid...
Canon BG-E22 Battery Grip for EOS R Mirrorless Digital Camera www.adorama.com/icabge22.html...
Canon RF 28-70mm f/2 L USM Zoom Lens www.adorama.com/car28702.html...
Canon Speedlite 600EX II-RT Shoe Mount Flash www.adorama.com/ca600ex2.html...
Production Equipment Used:
Canon EOS-1DX Mark II Digital SLR Camera www.adorama.com/ica1dxm2.html?...
Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L II USM Zoom Lens www.adorama.com/ca2470.html?k...
Canon EOS 5D Mark IV DSLR Body www.adorama.com/ica5dm4.html?...
Canon RF 24-105mm f/4 L IS USM Zoom Lens www.adorama.com/car241054.htm...
Rode Microphones RODELink Digital Wireless System www.adorama.com/rdrodelfmk.ht...
Model: Marisa Roper
/ marisa.roper
Styling and Marisa’s dress designed by: Tahirih Toché
/ miss_toche
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#NaturalFlash #NightFlash #musicphotography - แนวปฏิบัติและการใช้ชีวิต
Adorama should hire Marisa as a Spokesperson. Always a bright shining face.
GREAT idea! Working with models. A beginners guide do's and don'ts from a model's perspective. I WOULD WATCH THAT!
I see Marissa, I click.
Such a beautiful soul.
For drag shows and indoor party events in general, I have had been granted the ability to use off camera flashes and color gels. It's the ideal way to do indoor, color heavy events. Works really well to light up dark environments that have a less than friendly lighting scenarios where overexposing the background means going far too high in ISO for more effective editing in post. It's not about the noise grain, it's the dip in color values for such vibrant events. Most of the time, you can talk with the club/bar/venue to let let you set things up before the show. The color gels really help in just making the show more seamless. Rarely shoot those without gels, depending on the act. Some of my best photos are at drag shows, honestly and I have some of the most famous drag queens under my belt with some of their best drag show shots. Kind of cool to have, since I live in a small city. Sadly, those bigger drag events have gone away where I live, but I at least have those as portfolio work if I ever want to jump back in to that world. Otherwise, definitely recommend it for indoor events otherwise, where color gels make up for the lack of lighting in a room and on the crowd. Also, more controlled light where you aren't solely relying on stage lighting. Always messing with the ETTL to balance depending on the scene. It's difficult in rooms where the lighting scenario is always shifting!
Simple solution that works. Thanks, David and Marisa!
Welcome to LA! Thank you for the info!
David u ability to explain any photography subject is 💯 Vasili
Always happy to see Marisa, great outfit!
A lot of thanks for making and sharing your video!!
Dave, I would also recommend her to also add panning and use slower shutter speed to show motion instead of freezing the action every time mix it up. When you freeze the drag cars they look like they are just parked on the dragstrip.
Spot on about using flash to freeze the action with flash.
AGREED
Good idea!
Marisa `s we love you in LA David you are blessed whit that hermosura on your side
Great job! Looks like y’all are having fun too.
So good sir, thanks heaps.
David & Mary, (for focal plane shutters) the camera's maximum sync speed, yes max 1/250 at top-pro and 1/200 for most other cameras; high-speed sync, yes, your flash needs to work like stroboscopically and each flash pulse is much less powerful than one full power flash. So what are the options? 1) buy or rent a camera with an (in lens) LEAF SHUTTER. Leaf shutters can properly trigger flash at any speed as they are in the center of the lens next to the diaphragm that gives us the aperture and open/close in a similar way as the diaphragm. The disclaimer is the speedlight's maximum speed. (Another disclaimer is the latency of the camera. A leaf shutter is open for framing and needs to close before it can record a shot through another open/close.) If the shutter speed is 1/1000 sec and the flash's maximum duration is 1/880 sec then we already lose a bit of light from the flash. Here the solution to losing light is, using two speedlights: double the power means the flash duration can be halved. So if one flash needed a 1/880 sec pulse for proper exposure, then two would need 1/1760 and with 1/1000 shutter speed we are in the safe zone. 2) for ANY type of SHUTTER, use several speedlights with radio triggers that each light the subject properly at their distance to the part of the subject that they are lighting. One could light an interesting part in the foreground, one in the background, etc. A couple superclamps can do wonders to fix these radio/speedlight combos to anything. 3) with FOCAL PLANE SHUTTERS (these shutters are also called curtain or slit shutters because they have two "curtains" that fly along the sensor/film as if they are two curtains both going in the same direction, where the travel speed of the curtains is constant and the exposure time is determined by the time between them) HyperSync - the concept of PocketWizard FlexTT5 flash radio triggers that uses knowledge of the camera's timings and places the (keep at full power) flash pulse just before "first curtain" sync. The effect is that we use the entire flash pulse time and get a darker edge in the top and bottom of the screen. The top dark edge may be the night sky and no problem, the bottom dark edge may actually solve an overexposed foreground. If your camera is compatible, then this can do wonders! (the 1/880 sec is based on my Nikon SB-910. Using HyperSync may benefit from "cheap" brands that may have a longer longest flash duration (the flash duration at full power, but these emanate less light per millisecond, of course). So a battery powered studio flash that has a 1/200 sec full power duration may be even better.
Note (a): leaf shutters expose every bit of the frame (sensor, film) at the same time. Focal plane shutters expose parts of the frame at different times depending on the shutter speed. Faster than formal sync speed, the sync speed is an indication of the difference in time. This gives another option to freeze motion with any shutter (but will not work at the drag strip) in that, in a dark studio, we can open the camera's shutter and use the speedlight to expose. If we need only a bit of the speedlight or strobe's power then the flash duration will be accordingly faster. For each F-stop we reduce a flash's power, the duration will be roughly cut in half. For my Nikon SB-910, setting manual flash to 1/128 would theoretically mean its 1/880 sec (roughly 0.001) max duration is cut down to 1/112,640 sec (roughly 0.000009). In F-stops, 1/128 is 7 F-stops less light.
Note (b): Artistic choices. Wanting to completely freeze a fast moving thing gives a shot that looks like the fast thing is not moving. With focal plane shutters, the default flash synchronization moment is when the first curtain has fully opened (i.e. arrives at the other side). At that moment the second curtain is about to start moving. So, the fastest flash sync speed is a speed that has a moment when both curtains are in a position that completely exposes sensor/film. Some cameras can alternatively trigger at the departure of the second curtain. This means that for the time the shutter was open, until the flash, the available light gives an exposure based on that, so if the moving object, relative to exposure time, does not move too fast, we get motion blur and then the second curtain flash pulse freezes the motion at the last moment. Nice. (If the object moves too fast it will not be visible at all.)
Been looking for ways to do on camera flash for the under lit scenes, thank you for sharing this tip, will definitely give it a try!
Super helpful!!
Nice teaching
Thanks! Good Tips...!!!!
thank you
This was great! The Model is super pretty, too!
good tutorial
Great stuff!
Learn something new everyday...very informative video.
Ever notice that your FLASH picks up DUST in the night air when you shoot with flash at night outdoors using a FAST SHUTTER SPEED with NO "drag the shutter" effect? Those white spots look like big, out-of-focus sensor dust spots! (You can avoid the problem by using a longer shutter speed or by taking the flash OFF-CAMERA.)
Perfect thank you
Awesome trick
Gotta say, the untouched TTL didn't look that bad even with the flash pointed directly at the model. The -1 and -2 ones looked the best for me. Maybe it's also dependent on the background, those lights do trick my eyes that the subject would look better really bright as opposed to just putting a touch of brightness. It might be different if the background didn't have much light, or like during the very late afternoon with the sunset in the background. Thanks for the video!
8man _ Photography is half technical and half creative. You can light to you own style and taste. :)
Maybe -2 1/3rd looks good and the background 1/3rd of a stop brighter but that’s being picky
Good stuff as usual. Maaaaaaan flash shooting can be tricky....
Make sure that when you do the flash compensation in TTL, the adjustment is made in the menu of the flash, not the flash adjustment on the camera body.
Good point! That's why I show myself adjusting it on the flash.
@@DavidBergmanPhoto
Does it make a difference which? My cameras have flash compensation and on the ones with built-in flash there is no other option. Works fine. Hot-shoe flash, yes, I use the TTL EV-comp on the flash but while I have not consciously tried it, surely the camera body compensation control would work just as well? Or not?
Interesting! What's the difference? Isn't ttl supposed to be there to override all the manual stuff?
@@patrickb4321 Not quite the point of TTL, no. It's an alternative to using your flash in Manual mode (but not too consistent/reliable).
Stop confusing the audience. If you have flash controller mounted on your camera you should be able to change flash compensation.
Awesome shots, awesome Marisa (hair & outfit) and awesome Bergman
I like it! :)
First want to say, congratulations and thank you for your videos.
Second, would be great if camera settings were added on still images in your videos.
Marisa looks awesome as always
Marisa is amazing!!!
I am located in California's Central Valley and very often I do jobs in very dark places with no light at all. These corporate meetings, politicians gatherings, and fundraising parties are "chick" or at least for them, it is nice doing these events in the middle of grapes fields, almond trees, etc. They move a lot and in the politicians' case, they want a picture with almost everybody. The only solution I found was like you say: blast the flash so I can have decent pictures in the dark.
greetings from the Central Valley, Kern County to be exact.
Thank you so much for this video - this helps me answer much the same question for wedding photos [near the dance floor and stuff].
Question: I understood the process in getting that all set up .. I did notice that the zoom on the flash was set to 50mm .. so in answering your question .. if after adjusting using the compensation it was still a smidge too much .. could adjusting the zoom have made a difference? Or? And is 75mm more flash or less flash .. does it move the light closer or further from the front of the flash device?
Thanks again
Jae Robinson Happy to help! The zoom does not have any effect on exposure when shooting TTL since the camera is reading the light reflecting off the subject to decide when to shut off the light. Zoom will only effect the “spread.” It’s at 50mm in this case because it automatically matches where I am zoomed and in this case, I must have been around 50 in the 28-70 lens. Since she is primarily in the center of the frame, I could have manually zoomed in the flash a bit more with no change on the look of the final image. That would make the flash a tiny bit more efficient (no wasted light traveling around here) and, I suppose, would help recycle time and make batteries last a little longer. But if I move her off center, then I don’t want to have to worry about manually changing the zoom for each frame. I just let the auto zoom do it’s thing and I’m covered.
Was the camera set on manual mode? Great video thank you.
His face is overexposed😂😂. Possibly his cameraman has learned the lesson after this video😂😂❤
That model looks terrific
You got that looking really nice to my eye....I see a lot of images where the subject is just blasted with light, and what it does is almost make ii look like the subject has been photoshopped in because the flash lighting environment is so different from the ambient....
Its a very cool style tho
Thanks for the model, I mean thanks for the tips! 😁
What metering mode were you using to get your initial shot before you introduced the flash. Where did you focus your metering for your first shot? Thanks for great video.
that`s a scenario when I like to use the built-in pop-up flash of my Nikon D700 😊 its power is significantly lower then the power of my speedlites but it`s strong enough to lite up such a portrait very effectively and good looking and it`s easy to use in i-TTL mode ... when shootingh such nighttime portraits try to test out "Slow Sync" flash mode via camera settings if available
Another option is to use TTL for the first shot to get a flash power that is in the ballpark, but then IMMEDIATELY drop back to manual after that and adjust the flash power to taste.
Staying in TTL means the camera is going to re-meter all over again with each and every shot, and every time you change the Compensation you are just adjusting to what the camera metered the time BEFORE-- which is not necessarily how it is going to meter THIS time (when you are taking the shot.) You could be like a dog chasing its tail. I really, really, really don't like even the concept of using Compensation against possibly changing metering.
But, if you ask 10 people you will get at least 11 ideas on how to do something--- so there is always more than one way.
Thank you. I wished he would have only spoken about manual, but your suggestion is better.
@@seanharris7545 kinda misses the point of the video. Hes not talking about all options available hes talking about specific examples related to the question at the start of the video......!!
Wilson Newman I only shoot TTL in “run and gun” situations where the flash to dis Jeff distance is changing constantly. If you watch my other videos, you’ll see that I’m all about manual in most cases!
Normally I will agree with you but since David is shooting at f/2 and ISO 400, even at the lowest manual flash setting, it is too powerful at such a close distance. An equivalent manual flash setting to a TTL with minus 3 flash compensation is probably around 1/2048 flash power or even less. Since the lowest manual setting is 1/128 power, it is still way too powerful.
@@felixfong6532 Which is why indirect flash would have been better here. I would have thought he'd have used a bounce card instead of direct flash (and not that crappy one that's built in to speedlights either). I personally thought Marisa's skin tone looked muddy at such a low flash power. I might have at least raised it by 2/3 of a stop (yes, I know she's supposed to be just kissed by light but I'd still raise the flash power a touch). But it's down to preference I suppose. Still....he got the point across pretty well.
Good information, explanation and tip! Thank you.
Why doing ev comp? Just turn on flashes manual mode & select the lowest number 1/128, 1/64..... Same thing.
David, how much of an ambient light in your model did you had when shooting? Light on her looks pretty strong and even...
what about changing the angle of the flash at a upward angle instead of directly at her and using the little white pop up card ?
do you have a video about same scenario (night) with off camera flash? can i just hold it out to the side with my hands? (with a remote attached on camera)
nice tuto. apparently you didn't need any diffuser, no spot on face due to direct flash at short distance ? personnally i am using manual mode for flash in that case but with my godox V1, there is an amazing TCM button which shows me what TTL advised and then i can manually set manual 1..3 stops lower as a good basis.
Diffusion would have made a more flattering portrait for sure, but I was working fast on the street and just trying to demonstrate the concept using the same gear as the person who asked the question. I don't like spot metering because you really need to be directly on the skin. That "TTL to manual" is a good feature. But once you switch to manual, you can't change your distance to the subject. So neither you not she can move closer or further away. TTL with exposure compensation is much easier in this case.
❤great 1
Oops. I hit send too soon. For a speeding car, the flash can and will freeze the moving car much better than a 1/500 shutter speed. By freezing the car with flash, and then dragging the shutter, the photographer can get the car and the background.
Agreed.
Great video David. What meter method is the camera set to?
John C I leave it on matrix, but it really doesn’t matter. I don’t look at the meter and since I’m shooting manual, it has no impact on the image.
Thank you David, I have one question.
After choosing TTL mode in Flash , did you change setting of camera , I mean ISO , SHUTTER SPEED or F stop ?
Or you work with previous setting for ambient light ?
Thank you in advance for reply.
Leave them. The idea is to decide how you want your background to look, then add in flash for the foreground. The flash will not effect the background in most cases since it's so far away. It will only light up the foreground so it's about finding the balance you want between the two.
@@DavidBergmanPhoto Thank you
David, please can you do a video on light feathering?
isaiah asieba Submit your question at www.AskDavidBergman.com
super tuto, didn't imagine 1/250s for city lights. i suppose you used high sync. you use F/2 not usual on 24-70. so with my d750+sb900+24-70 F/2.8 i suppose i will need -1 or -2 flash compensation at F/2.8 ( in consider i keep 1/250s to be in high sync situation) ?
you have some highlight on forehead. So, which diffuser would you advise with perhaps only -1 or -2 flash compensation ? i like gary fong lightsphere but in high sync it cannot reach the subject because lot of flash goes in all directions, including to the sky.
Marc Labro If I’m close to the subject outdoors (no ceiling) and have to shoot on-camera, I like the magmod magbounce because it pushes most of the light forward. www.adorama.com/mmbounce01a.html?kbid=66043
On Gary Fong outside I direct my flash on subject with the round part inside the Fong... always one hand for camera and one hand on flash
You dont need to do three test shoots and this is for the tutorial right?
I am assuming you already metered the background with 3 stops underexposed and once you have done that you could have put the speedlight already straight away on 3 stops under right? If you would have metered the back ground om 2 stops compensation you would do the same on the speedlighr, correct?
Tha ks!
Correct! Just for demonstration. I already know that -3 would be the best look for this scenario. :)
👍👍👍 Marisa Roper👍👍👍
Some of us have just kit lens. We have just 3.5 to 5.6 g, lens. Wish we had a F1.4 or 1.8.
hello i have a X1 trigger for canon but i use nikon V860ii speedlight can i set high speed sync
It would have been educational for Mary R. if the subject was a moving car at least 20 feet away.
True, but I wanted to answer the question in a way so that it helped her, but also helped as many other people as possible.
When I heard the phrase "drag racing" my ears perked up. In the professional categories, Top Fuel nitro and Funny Car, it is better effect if one uses no flash when the dragsters leave the line. If one catches it just right, one gets a moment in time just as the driver steps on the gas and flames shoot from the sides. That makes a very effective picture. I'm not sure to what she refers, whether she's just a spectator or (unlikely) media working the event. If just a spectator in the stands, flash is not necessary. The same would apply to media as well. The only difference being the type of lens used. And use a higher ISO to let in more ambient light.
If it's just photographing the car (or driver) outside of an action situation, then Mr. Bergman is 100% correct.
Please please can you talk about mirrorless cameras when you talk about syncing night shots please please please
I agree for me -1 or -2 was better than -3.
Edis Gaiz You light to you own style / taste.
Doesn't TTL automatically make up for the decreased exposure? What if I have a manual external flash.Wouldnt that be more logical?
The TTL setting on the flash only adjusts the output of the flash and, in my experience, it tends to overexpose the subject. Yes - manual flash is a good way to get absolutely consistent exposures from the flash, but only if your distance doesn't change. I prefer to use TTL with the exposure compensation so that I (and she) can move closer or further away and not have to worry about making those adjustments on my flash before every frame.
what about adding a small softbox on the flash to soften the light ?
That is exactly what I would have done. Soft boxes are relatively cheap and not too bulky. The on camera flash also have a drop down diffuser. I don't remember seeing that used on this video. Thank you David for a good explanation of single on camera flash se.
TravelJournalist.com For the question I received, I imagine that there’s some distance between the photographer and the cars. In that case, all a small modifier would do is cause you to lose some power / distance. Since it’s far away from the cars, the extra few inches on diffused light would be imperceptible.
I have to shoot dark on dark😐😐😐 and I don't even know how to go about this, it's why I am watching this video
How to take marriage dance photos. at night ? What are there setting ?
This is a good place to start, but as you said, on-camera flash isn’t ideal. I wish you would’ve touched on how to do ideal night portraits with off-camera flash.
What was your metering mode?
What about high speed sink?
Ok, so what if we have manual flashes? My flash doesn’t have TTL
If it's a black and black., you may want to bring multiple lights.. Might also want to add a cone in the kit.
If she moves around, perhaps multiple speedlights set up as slave carried and held by an assistant.
Agreed! Didn't sound like she had that kind of setup.
@@ekevanderzee9538 Also agreed.
How would you place your off camera flash in the scenario you demonstrated?
With the light on a light stand
Bing!
could you say which camera was used to record this video?
ian chapman I used two Canon 1dx mark 2 bodies with 24-105 and 16-35 lenses.
Ohhhhhh you could adjusted on one no flash shot to get a better pic
55x
Great video, what if you only have one shot and not multiple chances to take more than one, thank.
Gregory Sargeant, take a test shot, use spot metering to gauge the difference between where the subject will be and the background, then use that number to dial in the compensation.
Once you are in the ballpark you can use post processing to finely adjust things.
Agree with Ben! And good luck. :)
I think you can fix that on post editing
To a point, yes. But why not get it right in camera and save the time in post?
Marisa is the best!
So for the sport what happened to HHS? 1/8000
Speeder means darker background . When I shoot events I go to 1/30 not to kill the warm ambience light
Nice dress, Lookin Good in LA Marisa, now, get out of there and come back to NYC 😉😎
Actually, forget LA and NY, and get down here to Florida!
As Dan Norton said, FL is not a market, it's just a location 😉
Metering mode: for the beginners this video is aimed at....?
I really prefer manual, not TTL
Or use the flash on manual.
Pointing a small light source directly on your subject is not the best way to go except that is what you are looking for, you can diffuse the light or bounce it off a reflector or something. I think that will produce a better result
A simple Joe Demb diffuser would of done wonders
For portraits, I agree. I was just trying to demonstrate while answering the question I received.
So, I am not sure the question is clear enough. If the subject is a person, then your tutorial is useful. Of the subject is a speeding car, totally different.
Understood, but that question was pretty specific and the concept is basically the same so I thought this would be helpful to many more people, including the person who asked the question. Maybe I'll do another video about sports action with flash.
High sync speed man. You can shoot over 1/250 with flash
True, but there is a lot of power loss with HSS so might not be practical depending on distance to the car.
The idea is to get sufficient ambient light for this shot. Shooting at HSS will negatively impact the ambient light unless the ISO is increased which will result in more noise and may result in making the flash power too powerful even at the lowest setting.
Wouldn't High Speed Sync work well in that scenario?
Ofcourse. But as part of the solution to part of the problem.
It might, but you lose so much power that it really depends on the distance needed.
Not really HSS will cause motion blur or ghosting. To get a flash to freeze action you need to stay within sync and stay at generally lower power settings on the flash for shorter durations.
This flips with some studio strobe where they are at the shortest duration on full power. This does depend on the tech used in the flash/strobe.
I actually started reading the comments, just to see if anyone else suggested that.
I definitely would have suggested HSS in this scenario. Yes, you do lose a noticeable amount of power using HSS, but, in a night time situation, it doesn't take much light to balance the flash with the ambient. That's why a lot of LED's are ideal in night time shooting.
In my opinion, HSS is definitely the way to go, in this scenario.
HSS is a bad idea in this case since you will lose the ambient light that you want to capture. You may actually want to slow down your shutter, not make it faster. For example, instead of shooting at 1/200 and ISO 400, you can also shoot at 1/100 and ISO 200, etc.
Also use high speed sync as DB hasn't addressed your shutter speed issue at all. Also, try last curtain sync, might be a cool effect. PLUS, use a soft box / diffuser, gives better light. These are available for on camera speedlight. You might try a color gel A fast lens is imperative as your aperture controls ambient light (with the better colors). Under expose (in manual) as your camera otherwise tries to bring your exposure up to 18% grey, blowing out your subject. Look at the histogram and forget the rest. Expose to the right, but don't let it touch the side. Perhaps center weighted or spot metering, if you're not prepared to go manual. Try to position yourself in a way where you have motion, but perhaps less relative to you / plane of focus. The cuts down on focus and perhaps might allow you to slow shutter with proper panning.
Shutter speed controls Ambient
High speed sync loses a lot of flash power, so it really depends on distance. But as I said, shutter speed is not much of an issue with short flash durations. Agreed re: second curtain sync only if you want to get some ambient motion blur in there. Diffuser sounds good in theory, but if you're a good distance away from moving cars, you probably won't notice much of a change since the perceived size of the light isn't that much bigger the further away you go.
Maybe ıf you zoom your flash at 135mm let say would look even better
I tried this a few days ago and didn’t get results like this r all lmao it was embarrassing
This is why why you never shoot TTL
In a run and gun situation, manual can work against you because you have to make adjustments whenever your subject and camera change distance. In a controlled situation (in the studio, for example), the yes - I absolutely always shoot manual flash exposure.
Tired of the Bloomberg commercials on every channel.
So the “pro” advice here is just to lower the ttl EV on your flash? Kinda unbelievable that this qualifies as content
Your videographer should've listened to you and reshot this video... your overexposed the whole time
false information regarding the presented materials
All talk. Marissa is the only good thing in this video.
Canon never did have a good mirrorless camera !
I tried this a few days ago and didn’t get results like this r all lmao it was embarrassing