[Help Needed] on Light Trails/Bright Lively Photos

[crealism]

Hi guys,

Would like to know how the photographer managed to take the light trails in clubs so nicely? It's like the people are captured sharply with flash lights (which means the light trails won't be captured), but yet the light trails are soo nicely done as if the shutter speed is set to almost 2 seconds.. I'm hugely puzzled. The photographer is using a very normal compact Canon IXUS 70.

Thanks for help in advanced!

 

[BrokenDown]

Slow sync?

 

[crealism]

What do you mean by slow sync? Is it a function only available on Canon IXUS? Thanks

 

[darrrrrrrrrr]

slow sync / night mode + flash, plus a lot of wild camera movement.

the flash burst will expose the people sharply while the long exposure time will capture the ambient lighting. move the camera around violently and bright light sources will appear as streaks.

 

[Octarine]

What do you mean by slow sync? Is it a function only available on Canon IXUS? Thanks

It's available on most cameras, some call it "slow sync", others name it "night mode". The idea is: have a long exposure time (very slow shutter speed, e.g. 1s and more) to capture ambient light. Optionally, on top there is the flash highlighting just the object close to the cam and freeze the motion.

 

[crealism]

Thank you, you guys have been very helpful

I'm trying out ISO 100 (the lower the better?), and a shutter speed of 1 second.

Current camera is a Panasonic Lumix FX 36..I don't there I can change my aperture on a compact right? The Lumix allows me to adjust the exposure (the screen turns brighter or darker)..is this similar to exposure settings? If so, how should I use it for Slow Sync?

 

[Yoricko]

Theres the rear-curtain sync and front-curtain sync if I recall.

Rear-Curtain sync that means the flash will only fire at the very last moment before the shutter closes.

edit: http://digital-photography-school.com/slow-sync-flash woot

 

[aryanto]

this is definitely rear curtain, shutter opens, capture ambient lights then flash just before closing
you will get traces of bright light.

Fast shutter speed with rear curtain flash


Slow shutter speed with rear curtain flash

 

[crealism]

Thanks Do I need to use a small aperture for slow sync mode..or is a low ISO + slow shutter speed enough?

 

[Blur Shadow]

Thanks Do I need to use a small aperture for slow sync mode..or is a low ISO + slow shutter speed enough?

The whole idea is the achieve an adequate shutter speed.

For light trails, yes, you may wish to use a smaller aperture and a low ISO to achieve a shutter speed of anything between 5s to as long as you want.

For the portrait images capturing some slight motion blur, the shutter speed is typically from 1s - 1/15s. So you need to adjust your aperture or ISO accordingly.

Your Panasonic Lumix FX-36 will do the adjustments automatically anyway, so I don't think your aperture setting is much of a worry.