# Night sky and fill flash = ....



## Compaq (Nov 13, 2012)

Some cool portraits of the place where my girlfriend rents with some student friends. Ohh, and a few shots of my girlfriend 

1



Huset by Anders Myhre Brakestad, on Flickr


2



Huset 3 by Anders Myhre Brakestad, on Flickr

3



Huset 2 by Anders Myhre Brakestad, on Flickr

4



Heidi hoppar by Anders Myhre Brakestad, on Flickr

5



Heidi baklyst by Anders Myhre Brakestad, on Flickr


Thanks for watching. Comments always welcome!
Anders


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## jwbryson1 (Nov 13, 2012)

Cool post!


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## MLeeK (Nov 13, 2012)

LOVE the ghosting image!!!!


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## PlanetStarbucks (Nov 13, 2012)

Yeh, cool technique to get the ghost.  Definitely adding this one to my goodie bag.


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## Compaq (Nov 13, 2012)

Wow, thanks. This was pretty much for experimental purposes more than anything else, so I was happy to see that it actually worked. Now, if I spent some more time on the compositions and working out the best exposures, I could do something really kewl. Something to write down in the notebook!


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## WesternGuy (Nov 13, 2012)

These are neat images.  Shows what can be done with a little imagination and soem creativity - good job.  Just curious - how many "fill flashes" did you used in the building scenes?

WesternGuy


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## Compaq (Nov 14, 2012)

Thanks. Just used one, about 10 meters away (30 ft). Stood a little too close for the jump shot


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## sactown024 (Nov 14, 2012)

are these multiple exposure shots? how many?


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## 12sndsgood (Nov 14, 2012)

That last one turned out great. shows you why you should always try and go out and experiment sometimes.


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## Compaq (Nov 14, 2012)

sactown024 said:
			
		

> are these multiple exposure shots? how many?



One exposure. Fill flash on house and ground.


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## jfrabat (Nov 14, 2012)

OK, share more about the technique...  You DEFENETLY got me interested!  Where did you place the flash?  Is it a regular flash off camera?  What are the photo settings?  Where you triggering the flash mannually?  I want details!


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## Derrel (Nov 14, 2012)

Good post,Anders! I really liked #2. And the last shot as well.


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## AlexanderB (Nov 14, 2012)

Compaq said:


> sactown024 said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


From Flickr page of the photo: Fill flash, 30 seconds exposure @ f/2.8. ISO-800


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## Fairylensphoto (Nov 14, 2012)

The sky is awesome!


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## Compaq (Nov 15, 2012)

I can try to explain in a little more detail what I did, as some are interested  I'm always happy to help with what limited knowledge I do possess! 

I set the aperture to f/2.8, which is as wide as I can go on my Tokina 11-16/2.8. I wanted as much light as I could possibly gather with the lens, to get as much detail in the sky as possible. Secondly, I set the shutter time to thirty seconds. There's a two-point balance here, consisting of (1) the amount of light I want and (2) stars starting to "streak" due to a long exposure time. I chose thirty seconds, because I knew, from experience, that this is pretty much as long as I can go before the stars streak too much. You can see a tiny bit of streaking in the shots here, already. Thirty seconds gives me more light than, say, 20 seconds - I wanted to get as much light as possible.

The third thing I needed to decide, was the ISO. I chose ISO-800. Not too much noise, yet I get more detail from the light gathered (to say it like that). ISO-100 would give me "cleaner" shots, but with less detail in the sky.

Lastly, I had my flash. If I didn't use it, the light would be much, much darker (Image 1). I have an old Vivitar flash, on which power settings can't be directly changed. I just tried what it looked like from a certain distance, and just used that for all the shots. Seeing as the shutter speed was thirty seconds, I had plenty of time to move around to get the angle I wanted. In addition to this, I wouldn't really matter if I walked in the frame. I would be very dark, and ghost when I walked. If I stayed in the same place for long, then I might have appeared on the final image as some weird blurry shadow.

As for the angle I used, I chose one that didn't bring too many harsh shadows in the frame, either on the field or on the house itself. I made sure to be in front of the tripod, or else it would cast a shadow.

It's all just basic reflections of how light works in photography  Maybe this helped some!

Image 1



Unedited RAW file converted to JPEG using Irfan View.


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## WesternGuy (Nov 16, 2012)

Anders, thanks for the explanation.  It is most helpful.

WesternGuy


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## daymon (Nov 16, 2012)

Great photos. They show us how small we are in the world


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## Compaq (Nov 16, 2012)

It's incredible how small we are, and how some feel superior to others.


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## thiha (Dec 30, 2012)

how about ur gf photo?the jump one.
  she already stand in front of the camera and u shoot.then u start lighting and she jump.and after jumping
she go outside of the frame.right?
 i want to shoot like that. pls explain in detail.


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## Compaq (Dec 31, 2012)

Remember that the flash pretty much freezes her motion. 

I set up the shot at f/2.8 for 30 seconds. She stands in the frame where she shall jump. I count to three, at which time she jumps and I fire the flash manually. I pressed the shutter release at around two-ish. When she lands, she moves out of the frame, and we all wait happily for the shutter to close. 

It took two or three tries to get this right - mostly due to my poor flash timing


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## magdalene (Jan 8, 2013)

Compaq said:


> I can try to explain in a little more detail what I did, as some are interested  I'm always happy to help with what limited knowledge I do possess!
> 
> I set the aperture to f/2.8, which is as wide as I can go on my Tokina 11-16/2.8. I wanted as much light as I could possibly gather with the lens, to get as much detail in the sky as possible. Secondly, I set the shutter time to thirty seconds. There's a two-point balance here, consisting of (1) the amount of light I want and (2) stars starting to "streak" due to a long exposure time. I chose thirty seconds, because I knew, from experience, that this is pretty much as long as I can go before the stars streak too much. You can see a tiny bit of streaking in the shots here, already. Thirty seconds gives me more light than, say, 20 seconds - I wanted to get as much light as possible.
> 
> ...



Did you use a built in flash on your camera or a flash that you attach? Thanks for the info I am very inexperienced. love the crispness of your photos!


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## ilscuro (Jan 8, 2013)

Love these photo's, well done


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## Compaq (Jan 8, 2013)

Fun to see that this thread is still getting visitors. How, I can't explain 

I used an off camera flash. An old Vivitar flash that I held in my hand, not coupled to the camera. I fired it some meters away from the camera, somewhere in the 30 seconds time frame.


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## cgipson1 (Jan 8, 2013)

beautiful skies!


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## PhotoTish (Jan 8, 2013)

My favourite is photo 2.  Thanks for sharing how you shot some of these. :thumbup:


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## swashburn421 (Jan 8, 2013)

Seriously awesome stuff! Thanks for posting the workings of the shot.  I'm gonna go try this out for sure


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## mariohn (Jan 8, 2013)

Nice shots. Thanks for sharing your techniques


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## Compaq (Jan 9, 2013)

My techniques? Hmm. We all stand on the shoulders of giants.


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