How to have a faster shutter speed in low light with flash..

[zelda]

Today I took some model shots in my office fluorescent light with my SB800 and D80 Nikon.. When I was taking jumping shots of them, the shutter speed was about 60/1 second to 200/1 .. As you probably are able to guess,some shots of my models' feet are blurred..
It is not ideal for me to increase my ISO to any more than 100 because the photos are needed to design a huge wall.
As I have not mastered my flashlight very well, I was shooting using TTL BL mode today. Can anyone enlighten me on how to get a faster shutter speed ? Any changes for me to make on my settings?

Thank you so much!!

 

[nixontkl]

with spd of 1/200 and u still get blur feet? u sure not OOF

since u got a model, lock your focus, and snap at the right moment.

the only way to increase spd is to up ISO or have more light. D80's ISO is good up to 400, else u use more flash. and for D80 your flash sync is max at 1/200 unless u turn on 'auto FP' menu item 25 to allow u to go faster

jump shots are not uncommon to have blur feet as usually your subject's feet is still moving at the peak of the jump, its just natural motion of a person jumping.

 

[bubbagump]

Hmmm, move under the hot afternoon sun and don't use flash lor.

Alternatively, rent one of those lights for video like a blondie, confirm you can have it as bright and fast as you want.

 

[nixontkl]

and one other way to achieve good shots of jump is by FPS, but sadly D80 only got 3fps
and flash will be a problem as flash will not be able to refresh in such a short time.

try doing your shot in day time so u dont need flash?

 

[Headshotzx]

Low-light can be an issue.

However, with almost no light, the burst of flash is actually all that matters. That is, if there is no light, you could expose at 1 sec and fire the flash only once (at a lower power of course, something like 1/16) and your subject will be frozen.

 

[Dream Merchant]

Err ... sorry.

You can shoot someone jumping in mid-air waving arms around wildly (got lots of movement) with a 1, 2 or even 10 second shutter speed at ISO 100 and still get every single detail of that person frozen razor sharp.

When shooting moving subjects with flash as the only source of light, shutter speed has absolutely nothing to do with freezing movement.

It also has nothing to do with FPS. Really.

What you need is to find some way to fire your flash at a higher speed (duration of the burst), or use a flash that fires at a faster duration for the same/required amount of light for the correct exposure.

 

[zelda]

Hmmm, move under the hot afternoon sun and don't use flash lor.

Alternatively, rent one of those lights for video like a blondie, confirm you can have it as bright and fast as you want.

Seriously! You mean kobolt light ( 200W , 300W ,650W) or a blondie( 2K) will help? THen I go and borrow one from my TSO

 

[catchlights]

you have to scarify the ambient light, use flash only, it will freeze our subject. keep your shutter speed at 1/200 is fine, but use a small aperture like f8

btw, use TTL, not TTL-BL

 

[zelda]

you have to scarify the ambient light, use flash only, it will freeze our subject. keep your shutter speed at 1/200 is fine, but use a small aperture like f8

btw, use TTL, not TTL-BL

I will give it a try at a smaller aperture tomorrow morning. Thank you..

 

[zelda]

Err ... sorry.

You can shoot someone jumping in mid-air waving arms around wildly (got lots of movement) with a 1, 2 or even 10 second shutter speed at ISO 100 and still get every single detail of that person frozen razor sharp.

When shooting moving subjects with flash as the only source of light, shutter speed has absolutely nothing to do with freezing movement.

It also has nothing to do with FPS. Really.

What you need is to find some way to fire your flash at a higher speed (duration of the burst), or use a flash that fires at a faster duration for the same/required amount of light for the correct exposure.

Can you tell me one or two way of firing flash at a higher speed or faster duration? I just googled on line and have not been able to find the right information. Many thanks! Sorry I have to ask question like this because my re- shoot is tomorrow early morning..

 

[catchlights]

Read your SB800 user manual, page 122, the slowest flash duration at full output is 1/1050 sec, it is fast enough to freeze some one jump in the mid air.

 

[Dream Merchant]

Switch off the ambient lights after you've settled poseing/positioning etc or make sure your ambient light have no effect on the photo.

Check post #5 #8 and #11. Catchlights is very experienced with Nikon systems and can give you specific information you need.

Basically, the more light a flash has to give out, the longer the duration would be.

Lower the flash power (say 1/16 or whatever works) and the flash duration would be much shorter. This shorter duration is what frezes action.

Set appropriate ISO and aperture to get the correct exposure. Balance it all till you get the results you want. If you have to use a higher ISO and get noisy photos, use a noise reduction program in post production. You could also open up your aperture, but make sure you've got the DOF you need.

If all those fail, get more flash units and use lower power settings.

Most of all, be willing to learn and have FUN! :cheergal:

 

[zelda]

Thank you thank you thank you to Dream Merchant ,Catchlights and headshotez !!

 

[Dream Merchant]

Glad to be of help Zelda.

Show us your shots when you've finished yah?