And You Will Know Us By The Use Of Slow-Sync Flash…

Today's blog post is an example of a technique that I like to use whenever I'm photographing live music: slow-sync flash. Unfortunately, the usual rules in the photo pit at gigs is "three songs, no flash", so it's not often that I get to use it. When I do however, it's a great way of showing the movement and excitement of the action on stage.

Slow-sync flash is all about combining a sharp, flash-lit image with a longer exposure that captures the ambient light and motion of the subject. In this case, the flash was balanced with an exposure of 1/15 second, which was enough to get a bit of movement into the picture without letting it get too messy.

Using an SLR for slow-sync flash shots can be a little tricky, because the viewfinder is blacked out while the shutter is open. You quickly learn just how much a subject can move in a fraction of a second when the mirror drops back down and they've moved out of the frame, so anticipating the right moment to shoot is essential.

This picture was taken at an And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead… gig at the Astoria in London.