Blurry skiers

.jr

.jr

Active member
Ok so we all know sync speeds are typically 1/250th, well Ive found out that this isn't always fast enough to keep skiers sharp, regardless of the power output. Depending on the trick, the skiers can be blurry and Im not sure how to fix it. I know with the D7000 with off camera flash you can sometimes pick up 1/320th, and sometimes only half the frame is lit, Ive shot this way some, but its not perfect. Is there anything I can do?
 
hm. then yeah im assuming you know about flash durations.

my guess would be its ambient light after the flash. try underexposing your ambient by a stop or two. try underexposing your ambient by one or two stops.
 
Uh vaguely, I know that the higher power output the slower flash duration. Ok so the slight drag could be do to either ambient or extra light output from the flash. I was shooting today, overcast, ISO 100 at 1/250th or 320th with two 600s shooting at either 1/1 or 1/2, everything was well exposed, besides the slight blur. I can't drop the ISO anymore, or cut the shutter speed anymore, so lets say the only way to cut ambient would be ND filter or aperture which would affect the flashes. Both the ND filter and lowering the aperture would force me to raise or maintain the flash output which wouldn't solve the flash duration issue. I could of raised the ISO, and dropped the power output, but that would cause the ambient to be overexposed seeing as my sync was already maxed.

Is there even a solution with my current gear? Fuck someone please make me realize Im not paying attention and the answers obvious.
 
Well it sounds like the blur is from ambient and not flash duration. I don't know if you're familiar with using flash with indoor sports, but the general technique is to underexpose ambient by a couple stops, as noted above, and have your flashes be the sole light source. The flashes' durations are short enough that they'll freeze the action ( 1/900 at full power according to google) so you just need to cut out the ambient.
Within that, the challenge is having enough juice to sufficiently light your subject with no contribution from ambient light, which I believe is the issue you're having.
 
1/1 miiiight be a little long. could lead to the blur. 1/2 should be ok, is there no way to simply move flashes closer?

i would recommend metering for your spot, 1/250th at sayyy f8. instead shoot at 1/250th at f11, and then set your flashes accordingly.

sample shots of your issue might make this easier to figure out/explain too.
 
actually nevermind. first duration i read for 1/1 was totally wrong. definitely sounds like an ambient light problem.
 
I forgot to mention, the ambient light is already stopped down some. I dont want to cut ambient out completely or even close to completely, as that isn't the look I am going for, but I feel that may have to be the case. Even then, what would you suggest as my ISO is as low as it can go wth the sync speed as fast as it can. Bringing in a ND filter or stopping the aperture down would force me to up the flash output which is some cases, was not an option. I had the flashes in as tight as I could with out being in the shot/causing flares/being hit by a drifting or decking skier.

Looks like Ill have to make due since I cant be replacing 3 600's with 900's. No dinero.
 
Cutting ambient is pretty much your only option with your current setup. Other solution would be HSS which isn't very popular among sports shooters, but i'm not really familiar with it. Or get/borrow a camera with an electronic shutter (d40, d70, some others,) and have a higher sync.
And yea you just have to stop down to cut ambient, which is going to strain your flash power/capability, but it's all you got. If you don't have enough flash power, either wait till the weather's darker, or borrow/mooch some monolights and be able to overpower the sun.
 
You should stick around and help some of the misguided M&A kids..

Yeah I know what I got to do now. Guess Ill just stick with draining my batteries at 1/1 to get mediocre shots. Fucking midwest.
 
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