Dragging the Shutter

[Desertbird]

I have heard this term used before and was wondering what it meant. Is it an old term for having a slow shutter speed? If not, what is it used for and how do you use it?

I use a Nikon D90

 

[Christie Photo]

Yeah... also called "a pop and a burn."

Dragging the shutter is simply a way of describing the use of a longer shutter speed with a flash. It's quite useful when shooting wedding "formals" at the alter, allowing the warm ambient light to fill the background rather than allowing it go black as the flash falls off.

-Pete

 

[Desertbird]

ok, thanks!

 

[KmH]

Some other resources:

dragging the shutter - Google Search

 

[maxairedale]

I realize that this is an old thread, but I have a question that is related to the topic.



Is it better to have the flash synced to the first curtain or the second curtain?

Thanks

 

[tirediron]

Depends on the effect you want to achieve.

 

[manaheim]

And a totally different subject, I believe.

 

[Garbz]

Think of it this way. If you drag the shutter on a car driving past and you use standard front curtain sync the car's blur and headlights will make it look like it was travelling backwards.

On the flip side when you're taking photos of a chaotic scene if you rear curtain sync you don't know the state your subjects will be in when your flash goes off which could destroy a shot.

There's reasons to use both, and neither are better, just different.

 

[KmH]

Think of it this way. If you drag the shutter on a car driving past and you use standard front curtain sync the car's blur and headlights will make it look like it was travelling backwards.

Because the flash stops the car a soon as the shutter opens and the blur happens as the exposure continues and the car keeps moving before the rear shutter curtain closes, so the blur preceeds the motion. If rear curtain sync is used, the shutter opens, the moving car blurs until the motion is stopped by the flash going off just as the rear curtain starts to close ending the exposure. So, the blur trails the direction of motion.

The short duration of the flash of light (strobed light) stops the motion instead of the shutter speed, and is one of the big advantages to using strobed light

On the flip side when you're taking photos of a chaotic scene if you rear curtain sync you don't know the state your subjects will be in when your flash goes off which could destroy a shot.

Anything moving in the shot when using rear curtain sync would have the blur trailing the direction of motion, regardless the direction that movement is.

There's reasons to use both, and neither are better, just different.

Word!

Gaining a good understanding of how this all works can really help your understanding of how the camera functions and how a photograph is made.

 

[480sparky]

Straight from the D7000 manual:

 

[KmH]

Essentially the same illustration is in the OP's D90 user's manual too.

I just noticed this is an old dug up thread, and that the grave digger, maxairdale, gives no indication what kind of camera they use.

 

[maxairedale]

Hi all,

I realize that I did not provide much info in my question, and that is my error up front. As for the camera, let if be said that my manual has the same diagram as 480sparky posted above. Even though I have a High Tech Camera I do most of my shooting in the Manual mode.

I understand the blurring of motion results are based on if the flash is synced to the first or second curtain as in the above-mentioned diagram.

What I’m wondering about is during portrait photography when I’m using an off camera flash to illuminate the subject when the subject is backlit with ambient light. I know that amount of ambient light that reaches the sensor is dependent on both the shutter speed and lens opening.

As I understand some things that I have read, it is best to measure the ambient light and underexpose that by 1.5 – 2 stops depending on the amount of detail I want in the background while adjusting the flash output in manual or letting ITTL of the flash get the proper exposure for the subject.

Thanks
Gary

 

[Garbz]

Indeed. The timing of the flash will make no difference to the exposure. What you will find though especially if you use iTTL is that when you rear-curtin sync a lot of people will make stupid faces. People instinctively think a photo is over when they see a flash and will move slightly unless they are very prepared for it.

 

[480sparky]

If you're shooting portraiture with the Nikon High Tech (who sells that model?) and you're wondering about whether to use front- or rear-curtain synch, you're gonna have awfully poor portraits.