Drag the Shutter for Better Low-Light Flash Photography
This is my number one tip for better low-light flash photography. It’s simple to do as long (as your camera is capable) but I find it gives much more satisfying and atmospheric results than relying on the flash alone for your lighting. The technique is called dragging the shutter or slow sync flash.
All you have to do is set your DSLR to shutter priority (Tv) mode (or manual if you’re comfortable with it) and set the shutter speed to somewhere around 1/10th of a second (do experiment with longer or shorter exposures) but then tell the camera that you also want it to fire the flash (for the built in flash, this is usually just a case of popping it up with a button somewhere on the camera). Now when you take your photo, the shutter will open for 1/10th of a second but at some point in the exposure the flash will fire for a short burst freezing the subject in that moment. This technique can give some unusual results but with some practice and experimentation with different shutter speeds it can help you get a better balance between the flash lit subject and the ambient light of the background.
Here are some examples of the results you can get with a little practice:
by armcurl
by dcflamenco
by Dave Smith
This method is great for photography at parties or other events when you can’t move a lot of kit around with you but still need to use a flash. It can be used with a hotshoe flash as well as the built in flash and is a favourite of wedding photographers who often work in difficult lighting conditions such as dimly lit receptions.
Although you’ll have a lot more control (and probably get better results) with a DSLR, some compact/bridge cameras have a night portrait or similar mode that can be used to get a similar effect.
April 28th, 2009 at 7:14 pm
[...] 2. Bring your own light Most people prefer the look of photographs taken with available light but sometimes there just isn’t enough light available and we have to resort to a flash. Often photos taken with a camera’s built-in flash have a washed out look to the subject and an underexposed background and any ambience created by other lighting gets drowned out by the flash. That said, using a flash is usually better than getting blurry photos so if the rest of these tips are still not working for you, it’s better to use your flash than miss the photo. If you do decide to use your flash, you might want to make use of these top tips for indoor flash photography and learn about slow sync flash. [...]