Work Diary - Slow Sync Flash

Evaluation

This shoot was alongside the High Key Lighting shoot. As a class, we split into two groups and used two different backdrops, one white and one black. The black one was for Slow Sync Flash. This technique enables a photographer to capture a subject's movement, in the form of a blur. In this session, we used each other as models and chose different movements such as jumping, walking across the screen, dancing and also using two or more people within one shot. To do this, the shutter speed of the camera has to be longer, but we varied the lengths from 1-4 seconds depending on how much blur we wanted in the image, F16 and ISO 200. Due to only being able to set up two shoots, the groups were quite big which meant that we weren't able to shoot as many images as we would have liked individually. This is the lighting diagram for this shoot:

This photo is the first one I took, whereby I asked my model to 'star jump' into the air. I particularly like slow sync flash because it captures the subject within a still image first, then captures the blur depending on the motion. Therefore, in this image we can see the model standing still, and in comparison can also see her jumping in the air in the background. If i was going to recreate this image, I would try to capture a more distinct blur and to do this, I might ask the model to jump to the side instead, so that the blur appears next to her, not behind. 

This is the second image I took, which I'm actually quite proud of. To do this, I asked my original model to stand still, and then asked another model to walk from behind her and around to the front. Although the blur didn't capture the whole movement of the second model, it did create an incredibly coloured blur to the side of the first model. We can also see the head of the second model, which is in clear focus like the first model, and this shows that he walked out from behind her. I particularly like that we can see a colour difference in the blur, the top part being orange-red where the second models head appeared from, and below that it is yellow. I also like that the blur swifts over the first models face, so we can see that the second model did walk past her. I didn't crop this image because I liked the black, dark right side in comparison to the colourful left side. 

Progression

If I were going to use this technique within my personal project, I would like to test it out on Location, as it would be a good technique for capturing cyclists, people walking/running, cars driving past or trains moving along. I like that the still image is kept in focus, so we can see what the blur originally was to begin with. I could also re-shoot in the studio, and try to take better images, or even use this technique to blur over people's faces - which would coincide with my identity topic.