Dragging the Shutter

HAVE YOU EVER BEEN AT A
really cool party and wound up with
uncool pictures with pitch-black
backgrounds that lack the life and
excitement you experienced? You
were probably shooting in your camera’s
auto or program mode. That
usually means shutter speeds in the
1/60–1/90-sec range—too fast to
record background detail for indoor
flash photos taken at night. Remedy:
Make an end run around program,
and set slower shutter speeds in manual
or shutter-priority. Pros call it
“dragging the shutter.”
You can set slower shutter speeds
(1/8–1/30 sec are the norm) in fairly
dark scenes and not worry about
blur, because, in situations where the
flash is the primary light source, its
burst lasts only a fraction of a sec-

ond—far too short for subject or
camera motion to record. Result:
sharp subjects. These slower shutter
speeds, however, will record backgrounds
with much more detail and
ambiance than those made in the
program mode.
Dragging the shutter can be very
effective, but use it carefully in situations
where the lighting is variable
or the subjects are moving. Another
caveat: you can set slower shutter
speeds in your camera’s manualexposure
mode, but keep your flash
in its TTL or auto mode. Setting the
flash to manual too probably will
lead to disaster!
Even if you own a relatively inexpensive
camera—one without manual
or shutter-priority exposure controls–
you may still be able to drag the shutter.
Just set your camera’s “night”
mode. It will automatically set the
slower shutter speeds that can capture
background detail. These speeds
can dip below 1/8 sec, however, so a
tripod may be required. (But be careful:
some “night” exposure modes
prevent the flash from firing.)

~ by paragonhost on March 28, 2007.