# off camera and 2nd curtain flash... plus white ambient light....



## jdramirez (Mar 5, 2015)

So I'm being more creative than I am talented. What I want to do is take a long exposure shoot, 1/4 second or so, of a baseball swing... 

I want to start the shutter at the beginning of the swing and have the flash go off at the end of the swing. I'd like to use bulb mode, but I need to see if it is compatible with 2nd curtain. And both flashes/umbrellas will be on my peripheral. (If I'm at 6, that are at 4:30 and 7:30)

And I want ambient light so the swing path is evident during the shot... So I want cheap bulbs that will give me close to white light, since flicker will be minimized by the long shutter... And I can use a lamp... a normal house lamp. 

Alternatively, I can open the shutter, see the swing, and hit the flash release on the st-e3-rt..., then close the shutter.

So... is this a fools errand? I feel it will work.


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## jdramirez (Mar 5, 2015)

& I'm thinking of layering over their signature using a second exposure and a laser pointer... or is that just to Damn fancy?


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## Valvebounce (Mar 7, 2015)

Hi jd. 
I don't understand the "layering over their signature" with the laser. Also have you thought about using the stroboscopic setting to track the swing? 
Don't think second curtain works off camera, something to do with the timing lag might mean the curtain is closing when the flash goes. 

Cheers, Graham. 



jdramirez said:


> & I'm thinking of layering over their signature using a second exposure and a laser pointer... or is that just to Damn fancy?


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## privatebydesign (Mar 7, 2015)

It isn't a difficult setup, and the YN-E3-RT will allow remote second curtain sync wirelessly for less than $100. 

Don't worry about the colour of the 'ambient' constant lights, just gel the flashes to the same colour then you can set WB wherever you like, or even be creative with the two exposures at different WB's.

The signature is a nice touch, just put it and the batting image in PS as layers and set the blend mode to lighten, a couple of seconds work, if you do a team then you could make an action to do it all automatically.


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## gbchriste (Mar 7, 2015)

On the 5D3 you can't even enter the 2nd curtain sync setup menu unless you have a Canon flash mounted on the camera. I tried to setup a second curtain sync scenario with manual off camera flash by mounting a 430EX II to camera so I could access the 2nd curtain sync menu, then once the 2nd curtain sync was configured, remove the flash from the camera and put it on the light stand. Unfortunately, once the Canon flash was removed from the camera, the actual behavior reverted back to 1st curtain sync.


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## privatebydesign (Mar 7, 2015)

gbchriste said:


> On the 5D3 you can't even enter the 2nd curtain sync setup menu unless you have a Canon flash mounted on the camera. I tried to setup a second curtain sync scenario with manual off camera flash by mounting a 430EX II to camera so I could access the 2nd curtain sync menu, then once the 2nd curtain sync was configured, remove the flash from the camera and put it on the light stand. Unfortunately, once the Canon flash was removed from the camera, the actual behavior reverted back to 1st curtain sync.



Trigger the remotes via PC socket and leave the 430 in the hotshoe in M with the power at lowest setting pointing away from the subject. Might work.......


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## gbchriste (Mar 7, 2015)

privatebydesign said:


> gbchriste said:
> 
> 
> > On the 5D3 you can't even enter the 2nd curtain sync setup menu unless you have a Canon flash mounted on the camera. I tried to setup a second curtain sync scenario with manual off camera flash by mounting a 430EX II to camera so I could access the 2nd curtain sync menu, then once the 2nd curtain sync was configured, remove the flash from the camera and put it on the light stand. Unfortunately, once the Canon flash was removed from the camera, the actual behavior reverted back to 1st curtain sync.
> ...



In my case I was using Cybersync triggers so needed the hotshoe to mount the trigger transmitter.


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## privatebydesign (Mar 7, 2015)

gbchriste said:


> privatebydesign said:
> 
> 
> > gbchriste said:
> ...



Cybersync triggers are PCB's and they can be triggered via a PC port, both the Cybersync and the CyberCommander can, not that all cameras have PC ports nowadays anyway! Though I think the 5D MkIII does have one, and there is still no certainty that the method would work, I know some Canon models didn't fire the PC port when there was a flash in the hotshoe.


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## jdramirez (Mar 8, 2015)

All these years of photography and it still sounds like Greek. But that is what google is for. Thanks for the suggestions... I'll give it a search and see if I can't come up with something cohesive.


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## jdramirez (Mar 8, 2015)

Valvebounce said:


> Hi jd.
> I don't understand the "layering over their signature" with the laser. Also have you thought about using the stroboscopic setting to track the swing?
> Don't think second curtain works off camera, something to do with the timing lag might mean the curtain is closing when the flash goes.
> 
> ...



If i do that (stroboscopic)... all of the images blend together... but I want the flash to really bring out the image so it trumps the look... and I suppose I was looking for continuous... but... i don't dislike the idea... and I guess it would be easier to have all the shots in one image... but I think I would rather have multiple shots and then blend them together via photoshop... so I get to have my image trump the others... but it would be a progression... not a smooth tracing of the swing... hmm... and I might be talking gibberish... but it makes sense in my head... 

minutes later...

I figured it out... if I shoot individual images and blend them in post, I'm limited by the fps of the camera... so 6ish for the mkiii... but I can have the flash shoot 20 times per second... so for a single 1 second exposure I can get 20 progressive images... ok... so that makes sense.


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## jdramirez (Mar 8, 2015)

privatebydesign said:


> The signature is a nice touch, just put it and the batting image in PS as layers and set the blend mode to lighten, a couple of seconds work, if you do a team then you could make an action to do it all automatically.



I need to start practicing and writing settings and techniques down in a notebook. I was thinking layers too... but I was just going to select the white background and delete that leaving only the red... I'm thinking the lighten and blend mode sounds so much easier... so I'll play around with that.


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