Dancing Lights: 2nd Sync Camera Flash

You can use your off-camera flash - I use an Olympus Flash FL-50R - in various scenarios. If you are using them in low-light scenarios, then you most probably have slow shutter speed.

The shutter is open for a certain amount of time, and you have the option of either firing the flash when the shutter first opens, OR when the shutter is just about to close.

If the flash is fired when the shutter is just about to close, then you have chosen the second curtain sync.

What this basically does, is let your camera capture all the ambient light, including whatever movement there is, and then finally freezing the last image.

I have several examples that I've taken in nightclubs. The equipment I have for nightclub photography is

1 - My Olympus E-510
2 - My Olympus Flash FL-50R
3 - My Sto-Fen OmniBounce flash diffuser
4 - My off-camera flash chord (this allows me to move the flash in all directions)

One AWESOME way of using this is when taking pictures of a crowd. You can use a relatively large shutter speed (I sometimes use up to 1 second), and wave your camera around slightly. This does two things:

1 - It captures people moving
2 - It allows lights in club to literally dance in your photos

Then, when the flash fires, you capture the final positions of the people in your pictures, and freezes them. You end up with pictures like that below.

Another great way of using the second curtain sync of your off-camera flash is to freeze motions.

You can do this by also using a slow shutter speed, though not as slow as that above, and to capture someone moving. There are a couple examples of this below.

The first is simply someone putting her glass down. You can see how the movement has been captured.

The second is that of a DJ rapidly spinning his discs.

This is only one example of how playing with the settings of a powerful flash (which is usually not possible with your on-camera flash) can result in great pictures.

The more you practice with this trick, the better your pics will get. I'm still learning a lot, and I've only just started!

As always, have fun with your camera!