Should you go first or second?

Change the flash sync mode to make more natural-looking shots of moving subjects

Combining a relatively long exposure with a burst of flash gives you the potential to combine both a sharp flash-lit subject with blurred streaks of motion blur. The results can be highly effective, making slow-moving subjects appear to be travelling at light speed.

Your camera and flash unit may give you the opportunity to select a ‘second curtain sync’ or ‘rear curtain sync’ flash mode. This triggers the flash at the end of a longer exposure rather than at the start. The advantage is that any streaks of motion are recorded before the flash fires, so the blur appears behind the subject in the photo. The drawback to second curtain sync is that it’s hard to know where the subject will be when the flash fires. With a standard flash exposure, the subject is frozen when you press the shutter button – it’s not so easy to time a second curtain sync shot.

With first curtain sync, moving objects can appear to be reversing at high speed!

Second curtain sync fires the flash at the end of the exposure, for more realistic results.

Sync up Your camera will use ‘first curtain sync’ by default, so you will need to make the change in your camera’s flash menu. If you’re using a flashgun then you can also make the change there.