# Long exposures with a human subject?



## 0ptics (Jan 12, 2012)

Hello,

So I've gotten really into long exposure photography, but I was wondering how to include a person as my subject without them being blurry? For an example, I wanted to do a nighttime long exposure of the city near the highway as my background and my subject sitting in the foreground; so the picture comes out with my subject and behind her are vibrant lights/color as well as having the light trails of cars. But naturally humans slightly move/shake a little even when sitting still as possible thus causing them to be blurry because I tend to have a shuttle speed of 20-30". Is there some way/technique of capturing a nice long exposure background look as well as a sharp high-quality shot of my subject?

Thanks!
0ptics


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## Josh66 (Jan 12, 2012)

Pop a flash on them.

Set the camera exposure for the ambient light, set the flash exposure for the subject.  Once the flash fires, the subject can even leave the scene.  Depending on how long the ambient exposure is, you might get a little bit of ghosting though...


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## MK3Brent (Jan 12, 2012)

O|||||||O said:


> Pop a flash on them.
> 
> Set the camera exposure for the ambient light, set the flash exposure for the subject.  Once the flash fires, the subject can even leave the scene.  Depending on how long the ambient exposure is, you might get a little bit of ghosting though...



Good tip. 
You'll definitely have to play with the shutter speed, and the final exposure with the subject plus the exposure of the background.

I'm definitely looking forward to your shot. 
I too was goofing off with this last night, but didn't try a fill flash because I was going for a ghost effect. 







http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v252/MK3Brent/365 ME/_DSC0010copy.jpg


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## Josh66 (Jan 12, 2012)

2nd curtain sync would probably be best.  Say the exposure is 30 seconds - the subject would be blocking the light behind them during the exposure (preventing the light trails from cutting through the body), then at the end of the exposure the flash will freeze the subject.

You'll probably still want to experiment a little though.  Ideally, you would want to expose long enough to get the trails you want - but not enough to expose the subject at all.  (If you did that, I don't think it would matter if it was 1st or 2nd curtain sync...)


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## Majeed Badizadegan (Jan 12, 2012)

Have him hold really still.

I saw a pic in a thread here not too long ago where a guy popped a 30 second exposure on a human subject without the slightest bit of ghosting.

Although that is exceptionally difficult to achieve


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## analog.universe (Jan 12, 2012)

Depending on the effect sought, I'll often not even sync the flash, but instead just hold it in my hand and pop it when it's most convenient during the 30 seconds.  I've shot fire dancers this way, a long exposure timed to capture the right amount of motion, and then just fire a speedlight by hand when they're facing the camera.  Don't be afraid to gel your speedlight either!  City light is usually comparatively warm..


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## iresq (Jan 12, 2012)

What about two exposures and combine in post?


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## Edsport (Jan 12, 2012)

You can put something black in front of the lens after the long exposure and then let your subject enter, remove the black lens covering and then you can light the subject with a flashlight which can be done very quickly. Another way which was mentioned is to do the same trick as i just stated but at the end of the long exposure and covering the lens, subject enters, remove the black lens covering and the rear curtain sync fires...


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## bratkinson (Jan 12, 2012)

Several years ago, while doing some late night winter photography, my more experienced friend showed me the exact same trick. My camera was on a tripod on a 60 second exposure (or whatever it was) at a high-enough f-stop to record the cross-river downtown scene. Near the end of the exposure, he told me to quickly step in front of the camera, about 10' away and smile, while he hit his flash. I then quickly exitted and the exposure completed. The results were suprisingly good!

The opposite effect is also true.  30+ years ago, while visiting Disneyland in California, I put my camera on a trash container for a 30 second exposure of the Magic Kingdom Castle at dusk.  Some clown walked right across the field of view during the exposure.  His white tennis shoes showed up as very faint ghosts in the picture.  Everything else was moving too fast to register on the film.  Today, I could easily Photoshop out the feet, but it -is- an interesting image!


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## 0ptics (Jan 14, 2012)

O|||||||O said:


> Pop a flash on them.
> 
> Set the camera exposure for the ambient light, set the flash exposure for the subject.  Once the flash fires, the subject can even leave the scene.  Depending on how long the ambient exposure is, you might get a little bit of ghosting though...



Ohhh I seeee! Ya I'll definitely try that and using the in camera flash should be fine, no speedlight required, right?



Edsport said:


> You can put something black in front of the lens  after the long exposure and then let your subject enter, remove the  black lens covering and then you can light the subject with a flashlight  which can be done very quickly. Another way which was mentioned is to  do the same trick as i just stated but at the end of the long exposure  and covering the lens, subject enters, remove the black lens covering  and the rear curtain sync fires...



Ya that actually sounds interesting too, I'll trying using another camera's flash/flashlight and try your method!

Thanks ya'll for the advice/help!
0ptics


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## Buckster (Jan 14, 2012)

Edsport said:


> You can put something black in front of the lens after the long exposure and then let your subject enter, remove the black lens covering and then you can light the subject with a flashlight which can be done very quickly. Another way which was mentioned is to do the same trick as i just stated but at the end of the long exposure and covering the lens, subject enters, remove the black lens covering and the rear curtain sync fires...


The subject will show up as a ghost, with everything behind them showing through them.


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## Edsport (Jan 14, 2012)

Buckster said:


> Edsport said:
> 
> 
> > You can put something black in front of the lens after the long exposure and then let your subject enter, remove the black lens covering and then you can light the subject with a flashlight which can be done very quickly. Another way which was mentioned is to do the same trick as i just stated but at the end of the long exposure and covering the lens, subject enters, remove the black lens covering and the rear curtain sync fires...
> ...


Ahh, I read that this is a good method for getting multiple fireworks on one image, i assumed it would be the same for the OP's situation but i think you're right...


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## Tiberius47 (Jan 14, 2012)

The only way is to have the person stay still.  If they leave after the flash fires, anything that is behind them will show through them, making them look like they are semi-transparent.


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## manaheim (Mar 3, 2013)

Dip them in starch.


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## techniker (Mar 3, 2013)

Valium?


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