time exposure with flash!

[TomFred]

I am using a Nikon D40,

I'm trying to get the effect that is seen often in Nightclub photography, where the subject is photographed with flash after the shutter has been open for a second. The end result being a solid subject with light trails and motion blur.

Is this something to do with 'Rear curtain sync?'

What do I need to do?

How do I control the shutter speed before the flash?

 

[reznap]

It's called 'dragging the shutter' and it's done usually in manual mode. You'd want to set your shutter speed for 1/4 or 1/2 second and have you aperture set for a correct flash exposure. The flash fires right before the shutter closes.

 

[Blake.Oney]

Do what rez said. Note that if you do it wrong it will look like a normal photo. In very low light, whether available, or caused by aperture, a flash can almost be used as shutter speed as in you can freeze a subject with flash.

 

[KmH]

Yes, configure your D40 to sync the flash on the rear curtain. The shutter speed will control the ambient light exposure and the lens aperture will control the strobed light exposure. The in-camera light meter will be essentially useless to make that kind of a photo, save metering the ambient light to establish the shutter speed.

See pages 34 - 36 of your D40 users manual.