Huronmary Loc: Ohio

Although I have had the flash for a long time I have never really used it. So I'm trying to learn how it works. In the instructions for second curtain synchronization it says "When you photograph a moving subject with slow synchonization, usually the furrow of the subject will be exposed in front of the subject." My question is what does furrow of the subject mean? Thanks in advance.

andypop Loc: Carmel CA

The part that represents the movement; the trail.

PixelStan77 Loc: Vermont/Chicago

Welcome to the forum. A furrow is a groove or a depression. Originally, furrows were created in soil for water to flow. Now, its most common meaning is of a deep line or wrinkle on the face. You also you have to understand the people in who write the instructions don't understand English well.

DWU2 Loc: Phoenix Arizona area

The flash's manual also contains this instruction abut manual flash operation: "The shooting in Manual Mode requires a very advanced technique. We recommend you use the Auto mode."

Huronmary Loc: Ohio

I know the dictionary meaning of furrow. But not what it means in this context. Lighting up a wrinkle in a person's face makes no sense.

amfoto1 Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA

Think of photographing the tail lights of a moving car at night...

With standard "first curtain flash sync", the flash fires at the beginning of the exposure, when the shutter first opens. But the tail lights of the car will also record in the image and it will appear to be going backwards. The "trails" of light from the tail lights will be ahead of the flash exposure that illuminates the rest of the vehicle.

With "second curtain sync" the flash is delayed to fire just prior to the shutter closing. This way the trailing tail lights are recorded in the image first and then the flash illuminates the rest of the car. With 2nd curtain sync the trails from the tail lights will appear "behind" the vehicle and it will appear to be moving forward... the image will appear more "normal".

It's not just when there are car tail lights... 2nd curtain sync can be needed when doing any exposure that's a mix of flash and ambient light. Shadows and "ghosts" (essentially double images) that the flash causes also look more like "normal" movement when 2nd curtain sync is used. Here's an example that was shot at 1/30 with 2nd curtain sync flash:



The above image involves both movement from the subject and panning movement of the camera. Flash helps freeze the subject because it's duration is like a fast shutter speed. But the ambient portion of the exposure is blurred. Most flashes fire at the equivalent of at least 1/720 shutter speed... some can be as short as 1/10000 or even faster.

I suspect those instructions were written by a person with English as a second language, which they aren't very well versed in ("in which they aren't very well versed"?).

Perhaps "furrow" was actually meant to be "follow"... as in "movement trails that FOLLOW the subject".

I believe your Sigma EM140 is a Macro Ring Light... Maybe you'll find use for 2nd curtain sync shooting macro. Personally I use two macro flashes and can't recall ever using it with either of them. Most of the time when I'm shooting macro it's a stationary subject. And other times the flash is the strongly dominant light source... i.e., there's no ambient light being mixed in. 2nd curtain sync serves little purpose in those cases.

Huronmary Loc: Ohio

Thanks for the help.