In Camera Effects

[Joshua]

I am sure we would all agree that in camera effects are awesome and me being new I have limited access and experience on how to do them. I was hoping to start a thread that would help educate and bring inspiration. The rules are as follows:
-Post a favorite pic(s) that utilize in camera effects: lol now I know all you techie are going to be drooling to correct me here and say that any setting is an effect... so I am going to keep it generic... examples: dragged shutter, open shutter zoom, in camera settings adjustments for extreme effects... etc. There is no right or wrong just make it something that is a bit more dynamic and extreme...
-After each image post as much of the in camera settings as you can remember or find in you're EXIF
-Comments if you can put any suggestions on how to duplicate the effect so that us beginners get a learning experience.

NOTE: of course there is going to be post processing on these, which is fine! this is not a purist thread trying to single out only in camera effects... just post your favs and let us know why :) and how to execute the moment you find joy in!

[rott]

Shutter drag:




About the shutter drag... The idea is to capture motion. I'll share the technique, then suggest some things to watch out for.

Technique:

• Manual mode! You're using the flash -- it'll take care of the foreground.
• Set your shutter speed to something long, like 1/4 to a full second, but so your meter still says you're two or three stops underexposed
• Set your flash to "second curtain sync." On the Canon flashes, it's a little three triangle icon with the one on the right solid.
• click the shutter, pan with your subject if it's moving across your field of view. Flash will fire, and voila! The flash will stop the motion of whatever is in the foreground.

Watch out for:
The technique is total hit or miss. You can set yourself up for success if you watch out for a few things:

• Try to avoid bright lights behind where your main subject will be when the flash fires. If there is a bright light behind the main subject, it will show through as though the subject were a ghost.
• Have your main subject separated from the background by some distance. The flash will illuminate them much brighter that the background, thus overriding the ambiant light that might be "ghosting" behind them.
• You'll want to aim the flash at the main subject, no bounce for this technique. (Same reason as previous point.)
• The reason for 2nd curtain sync is that you want any streaks to be behind your main subject, not in front. Imagine in slow motion: shutter opens, captures streaking ambiant light, flash fires, shutter closes. If you swapped the two middle steps, it would look odd.

My sample is a "pan" technique. MyKey's got some good samples of "zoom" and "rotate."

[Joshua]

rott, thank you so much for posting and being so thorough... exactly what I was hoping for and look forward to trying! Thanks again!

[KeepsakeGirl]

i've gotta try this tonite! i'd love to have this effect down for my next wedding :)

[lscottpht]

I really want to learn to do this!! what is second sync, is that anything like rear curtain sync? i've done something similar with rear curtain sync, but not as well as the above example.

[LoungeLizard]

Originally Posted by lscottpht

I really want to learn to do this!! what is second sync, is that anything like rear curtain sync? i've done something similar with rear curtain sync, but not as well as the above example.

Exactly.

[hookem]

Thanks for the details Rott. I think a lot of people will be trying this. I know I will.

[haraki74]

You know, this is what I like about TPF. People willing to share their knowledge and experiences. Thanks, Rott I will try this at home.

[Joshua]

Does anyone else have any cool examples of in camera effects?

[chriscantu629]

Rott,

Thanks for sharing the info. I too have to try this at my next wedding. I always wondered how that effect was captured.

Thanks again.

:)

Chris

[Jake]

If you posted this in a different section you might get more example. I know you want to apply them to weddings but just for the sake of seeing more it might help if more people posted.
Someone might have something they use for sports and or PJ work or whatever, but they don't look here in the wedding section.
You could still use the effect for weddings......

[Joshua]

Originally Posted by thejakestir

If you posted this in a different section you might get more example. I know you want to apply them to weddings but just for the sake of seeing more it might help if more people posted.
Someone might have something they use for sports and or PJ work or whatever, but they don't look here in the wedding section.
You could still use the effect for weddings......

Great suggestion Jake! Thanks!

Could a mod be so kind to move this to a forum that gets more traffic and would be more inclined to share their knowledge?

Thanks,