Feedback from last week's wedding

Just a quick post today as I'm getting ready to go and photograph Linda and Michael's wedding at the Three Tuns in Staple, Kent. I received some lovely feedback from Rachel and Colin, whose wedding I photographed at Upnor Castle and the Corn Exchange last week, so I thought I'd share it with you.

David, the photos are amazing. We couldn't be more thrilled. David captured the perfect mix of contemporary and formal pictures. Our family and friends have all admired the results and agreed how beautifully the day will be remembered through them. Anyone can take wedding photos but David's have so much more of a story to tell. He was a pleasure to work with and we would definitely recommend him to anyone seeking a wedding photographer. Thanks again.

Rachel and Colin Norman

Rachel and Colin were an exceptionally charming, fun and charismatic couple - it makes the wedding photographer's job a lot more entertaining!

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First and second-curtain sync

It's worth reading the previous two posts before tackling this one. Except for when using FP mode on your Speedlite, the shutter is fully open when the flash fires. The shutter is fully open when the first curtain has come to rest, and before the second curtain has started moving - the time that the shutter is open is at least 10x longer than the flash duration. When does the flash fire? By default, at the first possible opportunity - when the first curtain has come to rest and the shutter has just opened. This is termed first-curtain sync. More sophisticated flash units also give you the opportunity to fire the flash just before the second curtain starts moving and the shutter starts to close - second-curtain sync. This is accessible on the 580EX II Speedlite by the button just below the red box shown in the previous post.

To see the impact of curtain sync, check out the images above. The camera was in aperture priority mode (the flash behaves differently depending upon which mode you're in - a subject for a future post) and to expose for the ambient light conditions a shutter speed of 1/2 sec was required - using flash with long exposure times to record ambient light is known as 'dragging the shutter'. In the first example I set the toy rolling (right to left) and used a remote shutter release to trigger the camera, mounted on a tripod, without firing the flash - the toy travelled for the entire duration of the shot and hence is completely blurred. In the second example I switched on the flash. It fired as soon as the first curtain had come to rest, freezing the motion of the toy, and then the shutter stayed open (to record the ambient light) for the remainder of the 1/2 sec exposure time - thus a sharp image of the toy was recorded (when the flash fired at the beginning of the exposure) followed by a blur - the result of which makes the toy appear as if it is travelling backwards. In the third example I set the Speedlite to second-curtain sync. Now a blurred image of the toy was recorded until the flash fired just at the last moment (before the second curtain started to move and close the shutter) to record a sharp image - in this case, the toy appears to be travelling forwards and gives a visually more appealing sense of movement.

Capiche? Please post a comment if further explanation is required.

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High-speed sync (FP) flash

As I mentioned in my previous post, the EX-series of Speedlites have an option that allows you to use flash even when your shot requires a shutter speed faster than the X-sync (flash sync) speed. It's termed high speed sync mode (technically known as FP, or focal plane, mode for historical reasons, though this abbreviation has been referred to as fast pulse, which more accurately describes what the flash unit is doing) and is highlighted by a red box in the picture above. A quick remider - at shutter speeds faster than the X-sync speed only part of the sensor will be exposed to the scene at any one time, as one curtain starts to move before the other has come to rest. To overcome this, the unit pulses the light very quickly (50 KHz), effectively creating constant light for the duration of the shot - this is the elegant solution that FP mode offers. When I'm shooting outside I always have the flash unit set to FP. The price you pay is that the flash output is significantly reduced (to about a third), but by shooting at a wide aperture and getting close to your subject, less light output will be required as fill to balance the ambient, or key, light.

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X-sync (flash sync) speed

The shutter in your camera consists of two metal plates (known as the first- and second-curtains) which travel sequentially (the time lag being determined by the shutter speed you set) to expose the digital sensor to light. They travel vertically, as the distance is shorter and allows faster shutter speeds. The sequence is illustrated in the above pictures. Once the shutter speed reaches a certain point (known as the X-sync speed), the second curtain is on the move before the first curtain has come to rest. This means that the sensor is only ever exposed to a narrow band of the scene at any moment. Have a good think about it - once you've got to grips with the concept we can explain flash sync and second-curtain sync.

A burst of flash lasts only milliseconds, and since you want all of the area in your shot to be illuminated equally, the sensor must be fully exposed to the scene when the flash fires. It's no good if only a narrow band is exposed as only this area will be lit by flash - the rest will be dark. Therefore the camera needs to synchronise the firing of the flash with the movement of the curtains. The fastest shutter speed at which this can occur is known as the X-sync, or flash sync, speed. The faster the curtains can physically move, the faster the X-sync on the camera will be. On a Canon EOS-5D it's 1/200 sec - not that impressive.

So what, you might ask. Unfortunately, this does create limitations (particularly for the long-suffering wedding photographer). Imagine you're outside on a very bright sunny day - it's midday and there's no shade available. You want to take a picture of the bride and you're aware that the lighting will create high contrast shadows under her brow (panda eyes) and nose. Since you're a competent photographer you decide to add a touch of fill-flash (maybe with some positive flash exposure compensation). You've stopped your lens down to f/22 and set your ISO speed as low as it will go (to get the slowest shutter speed you can) but the camera still only needs 1/1000 sec to expose the scene correctly. You switch the flash on to take the shot and you see the X-sync shutter speed flashing in your viewfinder. This is the camera telling you that if you use the flash you're going to get this shutter speed and consequently over-expose the shot. You could add a neutral density filter and polariser to reduce the amount of light reaching the sensor, but at a wedding you're unlikely to have the time. If you have an EX-series Speedlite there is an alternative escape route - I'll tell you about it in the next post.

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Wedding at Upnor Castle and Corn Exchange, Rochester

I had a wonderful time on Saturday photographing Rachel and Colin's wedding at Upnor Castle and the Corn Exchange, Rochester - both are great venues. A really lovely couple who gave me plenty of time to do a proper job with the photography. The ceremony was held in a very dark room within the castle - this is when it really pays to have a decent flash system. The light outside, on the other hand, was incredibly strong giving high contrast conditions, so we took as many photographs in open shade as possible. For exterior shots I had my 580EX II set to high speed sync mode (labelled on the flash unit as FP, or focal plane, mode) which allows you to use flash at above the X-sync speed - very useful!

Check out more of my photography here: Kent wedding photographer