Using multiple flashes to freeze high speed motion question (Page 3): :thumbup:...

NormanHarley Loc: Colorado

sterrill wrote:

you use 3 flashes to get enough light output to light the subject and stop the motion. Remember we are talking about cutting the duration of the flashes. I use 3 flashes on hummingbirds and would use 4 or 5 if my wife would let me buy them. I haven't used radio triggers because I have had good luck with optical triggering.

:thumbup:

NormanHarley Loc: Colorado

BobHartung wrote:

Shutter speed is almost irrelevant, and that flash duration will the be most important aspect. With less than full power the duration is shorter. I think that some of the Nikon SB-900s and SB-910s can get down to 0.0001 second at 1/8 or 1/16 power. You will have to check you specific flash information.

The faster shutter speed, up to and maybe over 1/250th sec will help darken the backgrounds.

:thumbup:

twowindsbear

NormanHarley wrote:

When photographing very small, highly reflective s... (show quote)

Makes perfect sense! I'm 'with you.' I was wondering if you wanted the flash units to fire in really quick sequence, perhaps just a few micro seconds apart - or maybe longer, or if you were worried that they WOULD be in a quick sequence and didn't want it. Or if, somehow, you were trying for a main light & fill light & a hair light - which really makes no sense at all. I see, now, that what you're after is 3x the light output from the 3 flash units.

Thanks
and good luck!

NormanHarley Loc: Colorado

twowindsbear wrote:

Makes perfect sense! I'm 'with you.' I was wondering if you wanted the flash units to fire in really quick sequence, perhaps just a few micro seconds apart - or maybe longer, or if you were worried that they WOULD be in a quick sequence and didn't want it. Or if, somehow, you were trying for a main light & fill light & a hair light - which really makes no sense at all. I see, now, that what you're after is 3x the light output from the 3 flash units.

Thanks
and good luck!

Thank you, and I have found that using the optical slave gives me synced flashes that suits my purpose. I guess 'speed of light' is pretty darned fast! What I was really worried about was the electronic relays putting the flashes just a hair out of sync, but even if they do, it's not noticeable in my application.
:thumbup:

twowindsbear

NormanHarley wrote:

Thank you, and I have found that using the optical slave gives me synced flashes that suits my purpose. I guess 'speed of light' is pretty darned fast! What I was really worried about was the electronic relays putting the flashes just a hair out of sync, but even if they do, it's not noticeable in my application.
:thumbup:

GOOD!!! I had - well, have - a ca 1971 Honeywell Strobonar 880 that has a (as I recall) Kodachrome 64 guide number of f8 or so, and a flash duration of 1/40 000 sec to 1/20 000 sec at an auto exposure flash distance of about 1 foot and then 'slowing down' to 'only' about 1/1 000 sec at full power.

NormanHarley Loc: Colorado

twowindsbear wrote:

GOOD!!! I had - well, have - a ca 1971 Honeywell Strobonar 880 that has a (as I recall) Kodachrome 64 guide number of f8 or so, and a flash duration of 1/40 000 sec to 1/20 000 sec at an auto exposure flash distance of about 1 foot and then 'slowing down' to 'only' about 1/1 000 sec at full power.

I wanted one of those so bad when I was a kid! What I had instead were two Vivitar flashes and later a Bruan flash with the tilt head. I bought two optical slaves for the Vivitars and would have classmates hold them for wide shots like the orchestra and choir pictures on stage for the yearbook.

twowindsbear

NormanHarley wrote:

I wanted one of those so bad when I was a kid! What I had instead were two Vivitar flashes and later a Bruan flash with the tilt head. I bought two optical slaves for the Vivitars and would have classmates hold them for wide shots like the orchestra and choir pictures on stage for the yearbook.

Cool!!! My school had a professional come in to shoot the portraits & the 'important' group shots. I shot the 'candid' pix & basketball pix for the yearbooks, oh so long ago!

NormanHarley Loc: Colorado

twowindsbear wrote:

Cool!!! My school had a professional come in to shoot the portraits & the 'important' group shots. I shot the 'candid' pix & basketball pix for the yearbooks, oh so long ago!

My best friend was two years ahead of me in high school and was the photographer for the yearbook and newspaper. When he went to college, I took over, and the teachers had every confidence in me to shoot all of the group shots after seeing what we could do. I was in heaven, I had three darkrooms available to me, my darkroom, the school's darkroom, and the yearbook/newspaper darkroom. I preferred my darkroom, but used the other ones when I could because it was FREE for me. :thumbup:

twowindsbear

NormanHarley wrote:

My best friend was two years ahead of me in high school and was the photographer for the yearbook and newspaper. When he went to college, I took over, and the teachers had every confidence in me to shoot all of the group shots after seeing what we could do. I was in heaven, I had three darkrooms available to me, my darkroom, the school's darkroom, and the yearbook/newspaper darkroom. I preferred my darkroom, but used the other ones when I could because it was FREE for me. :thumbup:

I had my own darkroom, none at the school - my 'perk' was getting the science teacher to let me buy a HUGE bunch of photo chemicals, scales, good graduated cylinders & other 'stuff' through the school. I was also in 7th heaven being able to make all sorts of exotic developers & such.

NormanHarley Loc: Colorado

twowindsbear wrote:

I had my own darkroom, none at the school - my 'perk' was getting the science teacher to let me buy a HUGE bunch of photo chemicals, scales, good graduated cylinders & other 'stuff' through the school. I was also in 7th heaven being able to make all sorts of exotic developers & such.

Very nice! I never used anything other than the standard chemical mixes. We bought B&W bulk film in 100' rolls and color slide film in 50' rolls and developed them. I never did print a color picture, only black and white. I would send my slide film choices (mounted in the little cardboard holders that we would iron closed) out to be printed by the grocery store mailer. :thumbup: ...memories....

Bozsik Loc: Orangevale, California

NormanHarley wrote:

I want to experiment capturing bugs in flight usin... (show quote)

Didn't read all of the replies, but your biggest concern will be how to compensate for shutter lag as these speeds and DOF will create a large problem to work around.

If you are intending to capture insects in flight, as opposed to insects that are taking off, they are much more difficult to capture than a hummingbird. Hummers are fairly easy and predictable to capture in flight. Insects are a whole different ball game.

If you are attempting to shoot bees and insects attracted to a food source, the shooting becomes more simplified. Don't try to over-complicate a simple capture. Setup at hive entrance or work at the host flower source.

Good luck.

Elliott Design Loc: West Tennessee

From following the thread it appears you are getting your flash setup polished, now the hard part, getting the bees to cooperate. Most bees are attracted to fermenting fruit, you might try an over ripe apple near your flower, and even spreading a bit of the juice in the flower head. With the flashes set on low power you should be able to get multiple shots before they need to fully recharge their capacitors. If your camera allows multiple frames per second try that when a bee gets within the focus area. I know this strayed from your original question of optical or radio triggering but thought it might help with the actual shots.

NormanHarley wrote:

I want to experiment capturing bugs in flight usin... (show quote)