Slow shutter and flash photography (or Nightshot mode)

Nightshot mode is available on most cameras. "Nightshot" is the Canon term. It sets the camera to expose the background while the flash lights up the foreground. Usually a picture taken with flash has a high shutter speed but the background ends up dark. This means a photo taken in a chic bar won't capture the cool lighting int he background. The high shutter speed makes sure there's no haze in the shot where camera shake means detail gets blurred. DSLRs on Av, Tv or M modes with flash act like using Nightshot mode.

No nightshot mode (Canon 40D, 28-70 f2.8L and 580EX flash bounced off the ceiling, unedited)



Nightshot mode. (I've used selective guassian blur (a Gimp filter) on this shot which is why their faces are smoothed)


If you want to get loco with nightshot mode there's a technique where you zoom the lens while the shutters open and the flash fires at the end of the shot (you may not be able to set second curtain sync on most cameras without an external flash). The zooming creates a streaks of blur radiating outwards totally optically and the flash freezes the centre of the image so it's sharp. The zooming must be smooth so it takes a lot of practice and trial and error to get it right. This technique also requires excellent handholding to get sharpness at very slow shutter speeds like 0.5 or 1 second. A beer to steady the hand definitely helps.

The shot below is done without editing. It's my favourite from around 400 I shot when I was experimenting with a technique that involved rotating the camera and zooming at the same time. The shot's taken on a Canon 350D with my beloved 28-70mm f2.8 L and 580EX flash. The zoom ring was held firmly and the camera rotated to get this effect. This image hasn't been edited.




It's a take on a technique know as light painting or light graffitti. The UK king of this is Micheal Bosanko (www.bosanko.com if remember right). It's where a camera is set on a tripod at night and the scene light with selective flash or bright light sources are used to paint with light. It's really photography as a medium but is also truly the epitome of the art and craft of photography.