2013 CCP Photography
This is one for the most technically challenging images I have ever created with a photographer. Charles found a beautiful image and making of a dancing story. The photographer captured the movement of the dance yet still had a sharp image.
We created this image by having a strobe on, but not up to full power. I would start a movement when the shutter on the camera was opened and try to hit looking into the strobe when Charles manually flashed the strobe and closed the shutter a split second later. The time on this was so hard to do but when we got it right we got it really right.
We plan on doing this shoot again when we can rent a theater space with black walls and floors and possibly bring a lead (man) in to help with more complicated dancing movements. I will post more images from this shoot in the future but
Yeah, this was a tough shoot. I thought I had the technical aspects worked out, but I didn't. So, Mollie and I did a crap-ton of trial and error, and made it (basically) work.
ReplyDeleteThe meat of the technique is just about like what Mollie describes -- the streaks are created with continuous lighting and a long shutter speed, and the solid image at the end is created with a strobe and rear-curtain flash sync, which triggers the flash right at the end of that long exposure.
For those of you playing along at home, the Canon 7D will not do rear-curtain flash through the PC sync cable. You've got to use an appropriate-advanced hot shoe flash, or similarly-advanced wireless trigger. For some reason, I had forgotten that on the day of the shoot. So, what I had to do hold the shutter open manually (the "bulb" setting) and then manually trigger the flash *just* before I closed the shutter. The two photos here are about the best examples of me getting the timing right between those -- though in the first one, you can see just a skosh of a streak to the left edge of the motion, where I left the shutter open just a bit too long.
I *definitely* want to try this again. I think I even know the appropriate space for it...