Rear Flash.

[sandimacleod]

 
I have one very bruised orange, due to trying to catch it with the rear flash setting
I have a nikon d60- and just learning to use these crazy bits on it.
I am more into portraits, but I think to drop someone from a height to catch a streak would be not nice.
If anyone can help me with what I am doing wrong.
Pleas please help!

[hardingbr]

Hi Sandi,
Upload your image here or in the photography help section and let us hsve a look.  Also let us know what it is exactly that you need help with.
Cheers

[sandimacleod]

Ah, I have deleted it.
What I am struggling with is- if you look in the menu of the Nikon, by going through the ? and to the flash, you get a picture
of pool balls, being hit, and there is a trail of colour following the ball.
Thus dropping the orange, I wanted to get the orange solid and crisp in the frame, then the orange trail .
I just wanted to know if I was setting my shutter speed and apeture wrong.
I tried 1/20 with a F5.6

I will try again and then upload it
thanks

[neiljohnson]

It sounds like a great picture sandie, a very difficult technique.  Would you be doing it all by yourself using continuous shooting?

[hardingbr]

I am a Canon user, and I only shoot in the manual mode, so I am not 100% sure what shutter and aperature settings you would use with this setting, but as Neil said, this is a very difficult shot.  Normally, you would use a slow shutter speed to capture motion blurs, but I think you have several obstacles to overcome.  One is that if you want the orange to fill the screen, you must be very close to it, which will make the speed of the orange passing the lens, very fast.  I would try to increase my shutter speed to freeze the orange as it passes the lens and there will probably be a motion trail.  I think f/20 is too slow.  Also, on my Canon cameras, if I wish to use the built-in flash, my shutter speed is locked at f/200.  Therefore, I would try to use an external flash if possible.  Flashes fire just before the shutter releases, which complicates this picture greatly.  I believe that you are using the mode correctly, but again, this is a difficult shot due to the speed of the orange. 
btw, use a mattress under the orange, LOL

[DaveB]

aahh...  rear curtain sync     Not sure about the settings to use on your Nikon, but
in general I usually start off with around 2 stops below the perfect exposure.

As for setting up...  I'm not sure what sort of set up you're going for but I've got some ideas that you or other people reading this link may want to try :

1. When to fire the shutter :

Have you tried positioning a pole or something at the top edge of the frame, but not visible through the viewfinder ?  That way you know when to fire the shutter using cable release or a willing volunteer to drop/throw the object.

 
2. Set up :

If you place the orange on a table in front of the camera and manually focus in to get a crisp image, then (remembering 2 stops below is a good rule of thumb) set aperture to maybe reduced but not minimum depth of field, and set the shutter speed. The shutter speed will relate to how far away the camera is from the subject and therefore how long it takes for the orange to travel to the position you want to capture it in the image.  You'll also need to set the flash distance/intensity and you may want to move the flash around so that it doesn't fire directly on to the waxy surface of the orange causing some parts of the orange to 'white out'. As for the ISO - well I'm not sure what you think but I would initially go for around 200 - 400 to reduce the noise.


3. Path of the orange :

Now you've set up for the correct focus and exposure you'll need to ensure the Orange passes through that point. If you take a piece of string with a weight on the end, place the weight over the orange and mark the pole and a cushion or beanbag with a cross on the floor so that you know where to drop from and the point you want the Orange to land.  The Orange should then pass through the manually focused point.

Then all you should need to do is set rear sync on you camera or external flash and good luck !  I look forward to seeing your results    (If you use front curtain it'll appear like the orange is travelling in the opposite direction !)


Oh... and you may want to consider a black background

Happy days !!  Hope this in any way helps 

[JamesC]

Why not just photograph the orange, make a layer in photoshop and add motion blur in the direction it was supposedly dropped from?

[DaveB]

Yep true - you can...  and it's a good tip....  but then....  you don't get to chuck an Orange around lol !   

[neiljohnson]

Why not just photograph the orange, make a layer in photoshop and add motion blur in the direction it was supposedly dropped from?

LOL I was going to suggest then when I first read the post, but thought it would upset the purists! 

[JamesC]

If it's done skilfully the purists won't know the difference .

[sandimacleod]

Why not just photograph the orange, make a layer in photoshop and add motion blur in the direction it was supposedly dropped from?

true, I could do that, but its cheating LOL
I did take a snap tonight with the rear sync, and it has worked, and not a orange in site.
It was a guy juggling in town tonight, and no I didnt drop him. I will post it.
Thanks for all your help!!

[neiljohnson]

Great Sandi  We don't get many people juggling in town here, what was he juggling? can't wait to see your snaps.

[neiljohnson]

BTW James I have only just come across your rainbow fern leaf, that is a beautiful image well done with it!

[JamesC]

Might do a 'how to' with that in a future mag if anybody's interested.

[neiljohnson]

Yes please! that would be excellent