Which mistake happened to me here?

[LaFoto]

Is it a kind of slow synch?
But look at the exif data (unfortunately my programme speaks German with me, I did not tell it to speak German, it just does), and I took the photo at 1/60 sec and on the first curtain (for it takes some changing things to get to the second curtain).

Since I still know next to nothing about the use of my Speedlite, the camera was set to P-mode (almost fully automatic), and the flash set to AUTO, too. And most photos came out well, but some have these outlines.

 

[chris_arnet]

she might have moved her arm. my .2 cents. but her back is like that too so i dunno.

 

[Patrice]

To me, it looks like a processing artifact of some kind. The image data shows that it was shot in raw (I think - I don't read German very well) but the top of the image says jpg at 100%. How big is this artifact in relation to the full image? I'm not much of an expert on image procesing though.

 

[JIP]

Looks like motion to me if you look at her head it looks a little blurry too. I am assuming it was done with a flash correct?. Even 1/60 can be a little slow when you are using a little zoom 86mm if I am reading correctly.

 

[Mike Jordan]

It could be movement but it looks more like reflective ghosting to me... like when you see a ghost image on TV from a bad signal or you look into a mirror or glass and see double reflections that are off just a hair. Did you have a lens hood on to block light hitting the front of your lens?

The reason I don't think it's movement is that her shoulder doesn't show any movement. Unless she was wiping her hand on her dress and just moving her arm, there should be movement in the shoulder. At least that's what I wold think.

Mike

 

[Garbz]

It's a "slow" syncing. Flash will freeze motion when it's the only source of light. If your 1/60th shutter speed is enough to give a lot of ambient light and it was judging by the background then you can still get motion blur.

 

[Alex_B]

as it appears on her back and front, I would consider motion blur as well. looks like she was pushing her left shoulder for or backwards. you also have some motion blur on her hair.

 

[LaFoto]

Yes, well, she was sort of dancing/performing and she was mid-movement of sorts (her hair shows it, it is in the process of "flowing back"). So that would be motion blur? OK, that explains it then.

In this particular position, I had the light from the windows, two little ones for the whole gym/dance rehearsal room, right behind me and the entrance glass door through which more light can get into the room opposite me, with the ceiling lights on. And the flash on ... all on automatic. And out of this particular position I got this effect, not only in this photo, only does this one serve best as an example.

When photographing out of different corners, from different POVs, and they were STILL dancing (of often even moving faster than she did here), I did not get this effect... :scratch:

I still have to learn sooooooo much about the use of my new flash!

 

[Alex_B]

Well in dancing there is often some abrupt motion. The speed at which parts of the bodies move can vary extremely within seconds. maybe just by chance you just caught some very fast movement when you pulled the trigger. looks like she is spinning around her own axis a bit.

 

[Mike_E]

I believe that you will find when you further study flash sync that if the ambient light is strong enough to register at the shutter speed you are using with your flash, then you will be subject to the normal effects of motion blur within the contribution made by the ambient light.

So, if ambient light makes 1/4 of the total then you will have 1/4 the strength of your motion blur- sort of like blending layers in photoshop.

If the exposure is made in such a manor that the ambient light is completely overpowered by the flash then you won't see any motion blur in the subject because it has been -blended out. (the flash giving the effect of a shutter speed of between 1/2000 and 1/10,000 Seconds)

For any reading this who has not heard of the technique of 'dragging the shutter' this is the principal behind it.

LaFoto, I realize I'm putting this badly but I believe that I am correct in a general sense. You might see if you can stir up Hertz for some input (maybe sit in on one of his classes ).

 

[Helen B]

A few of my cameras sync at 1/30 and 1/50, and this effect is often a problem. If appropriate I lengthen the shutter speed (I dislike the term 'dragging the shutter') to get more of the ambient light and hence a more definite feeling of motion. The 350D has a sync speed of 1/200 (I think) so you should be able to avoid, or at least greatly reduce, this problem.

The effect will vary at different subject magnifications (ie focal length-distance relationships) and different flash outputs (if the flash is on auto) as well as different subject velocity.

Best,
Helen