High shutter speed with flash

[davholla]

I have tried to freeze wings of insects in flight whilst using flash. However I can't use more than 250 shutter speed with my speedlite (it won't go faster).
Any ideas on how I can use a flash with a higher shutter speed

EF7A3401_Male_Hairy_Footed_Bee by davholla2002, on Flickr

 

[RAZKY]

I have tried to freeze wings of insects in flight whilst using flash. However I can't use more than 250 shutter speed with my speedlite (it won't go faster).
Any ideas on how I can use a flash with a higher shutter speed

EF7A3401_Male_Hairy_Footed_Bee by davholla2002, on Flickr

Look into high speed sync - High Speed Sync Flash - ExposureGuide.com

 

[davholla]

Thanks I will do so

 

[RAZKY]

Look into high speed sync - High Speed Sync Flash - ExposureGuide.com

I've not used it myself, just hope it serves your needs. Let us know how it works out,

 

[davholla]

I have a little problem my Canon 270EX does not support HSS but its size is perfect for my Canon 60 mm.
Are there any flashes of the same size but that do support HSS?

 

[jeffashman]

My Godox TT685S II supports HSS, but it is larger than the 270EX. It is a very capable flash unit.

 

[smoke665]

According to the metadata on the image you're using a Canon EOS 7D Mark II, which according to what I read, supports HSS. You'll need to go into the menus and set flash to HSS and use a compatible flash that also supports High Speed Sync (HSS). I'm sorry I don't use Canon so I'm not overly familiar with it. Surprisingly there isn't a whole lot of information out there on the Mark II and HSS.

I've used HSS frequently on my Pentax K1MII, with a Pentax speedlight. I can tell you that my experience with it is-
1. It can be finicky especially if using a 3rd party speedlight. Just because a 3rd party speedlight "says" it's compatible with your camera doesn't mean it will be.
2. If you need to move the flash off camera not all synch cords will work with all cameras. Again, I had to search through several "so called compatible" cords before I found one that actually was.
3. You have to use one of the program modes with HSS, like Aperture Priority or Shutter Priority.

This was shot HSS f/5.6 at 1/4000 with speedlight off cameras

cotton fields 202220220923_5737.jpg by William Raber, on Flickr

Another HSS f/5.6, at 1/2500 with speedlight on camera.

December 202020201229_3848.jpg by William Raber, on Flickr

HSS to me gives a pop that can't be duplicated with ambient or conventional strobe lighting.

 

[smoke665]

With macro photography it's sometimes a combination of things to achieve the end result.

Something not mentioned in most tutorials on HSS is the benefit of using color correcting gels on your flash. In closeup work especially you get competing color temperatures (ambient and flash), which can cause a mismatch if the flash is stronger than the ambient. On portrait work I'm more careful, but I get lazy on casual shots. In the cotton field above I should have gelled the flash, you can see the significant difference in foreground and background temperature but, at the time, I didn't have my gels. In the 2nd shot, the ambient light was strong enough that it overpowered the flash, but if I were to reshoot I'd consider gelling. If you're planning on macros in ambient light I would consider using gels. How to Use CTO and CTB Gels to Change the Color of Your Background .

Another useful trick on macros with high specularity is to use cross polarization. Here's an article which uses Canon. Taming those Annoying Highlights: Cross-Polarization Flash Macro Photography

Finally DOF is a function of aperture and distance to subject. Even with smaller apertures you're encountering extremely thin DOFs due to the close distance to the subject. To get around that you use focus stacking Focus Stacking: The Ultimate Guide (With Step-By-Step Instructions) and combine the images post. Focus stacking can be done hand held but the best results are obtained with a tripod and focus rail, you can find them from $20 to $$$, just depends on how accurate you want to be. Here's a moderate price one Oben MFR4-5 Macro Focusing Rail

 

[Donde]

My flash is always set to high speed sync for birds in the forest.

 

[davholla]

My flash is always set to high speed sync for birds in the forest.

What flash is that? Does it freeze the movement? One problem I have is finding a flash that will be the right size.

 

[smoke665]

My flash is always set to high speed sync for birds in the forest.

Typically the effective range of a speedlight is only 10 feet on a little pop up in-camera flash, and maybe 20-25 feet for an external on-camera flash. Then you run into issues with focal length. For example a popular lower end flash has a guide number of 60. With a 50mm lens at f8, the maximum dustsnce would be kess than 11ft. With a 200mm lens at f8, you'd cut the effective distance in half. I would think most birds would be outside any useful range.

 

[jeffashman]

A ring flash that goes on the end of the lens barrel should work well. There are several brands that make ring flashes that have high speed sync, including Godox, Meike, and Canon. Some are pretty pricey, though. Ring flashes are designed specifically for macro photography.

 

[Donde]

Dave I'm using the Canon 600 EX ll. I can't say if it freezes the movement as such as I haven't really used it for that but of course I can shoot at higher speed.

 

[greybeard]

1st, You need to set your camera to high speed sync. On my Nikon I set the sync speed 200*. The asterisk means high speed sync. Then you need a flash that can sync at high speed. I use a Nikon SB700 but, there are several flashes from Godox and other 3rd party flashes that will sync at high speed. After you have done this you will be able to set shutter speeds higher than 1/250. The power of the flash will be cut down because the flash will now have to flash several times during the exposure. You didn't mention what camera you are using but I'm sure there is information in your manual on how to set it up for high speed sync.

 

[Donde]

I use a Better Beamer on my flash and it adds signifigant reach.