Rear curtain flash: Almost neat (Wedding photo just for fun.)

[MK3Brent]

Sometimes I crash weddings for fun.
I had an idea for a shot and wanted to try it.
If I remember correctly, the exposure was approximately 15 seconds long.
Had I think to put my OCF on rear curtain, do you think I could have frozen her face?

In my experience, rear curtain flash on exposures past 20s or so will not fully expose my subject. (I will attach an example below the wedding shot.)

What could I have done?
Composite of 2 photos?
More light? (higher power flashes?)

I guess it has everything to do with ambient light... In pitch black, I can freeze all subjects with direct light, while the background remains exposed to blackness.

Notice how my subject is transparent due to the exposure behind her being brighter:

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Any thoughts on other methods?
I want to do a series of timeless moments, such as engagement kisses with long light trails in the background, however if this crap is going to keep happening I think the only other way is through composite of 2 images.

 

[camz]

Even when doing long exposures and second curtain sync, you still need to balance your flash with your ambient right where the flash has to be stronger than ambient.

#1. Yep you're right. You could've killed the ambient more in camera and went stronger on the flash. If you were already going full power the flash than that means you need a stronger light source - maybe combining two or more flashes.

#2. Same thing, your ambient was way more dominant than your flash. You could've easily overcame the ambient with flash especially at night. You don't even really need a long exposure for this shot. I say you can pull it off way shorter than 15 seconds. Or you could've recomposed and had her background set to the night sky.

You can bracket two images but where's the fun in that? :mrgreen:

 

[MK3Brent]

Yeah, I've seen what I think they call "Hyper Photos," which I actually may try to see what kind of extra detail photos like these can pull.

Has anyone ever done a long exposure/light painting workshop?
The ones I find on youtube are really fun looking.
There's one coming up near me, but is $475. Wondering if they're worth it.

Night Photography: Finding Your Way In The Dark - YouTube