Santa has Arrived

This is the last image from this location and features reindeer lining the path to the home. I have two cameras and only one of them is fully prepared for complicated shooting scenarios and by that I mean equipped with radio remote,flash remote and wi-fi unit. Trying to do shots involving added off camera flash and then having to run and look at the camera lcd screen to see the result is maddening. Using this shot as an example, my normal routine is stand with my flash wherever I want ,trigger the camera and look at my tablet without moving. For this camera only shot, I need to set the self timer,run to the spot,quickly aim the flash and then trigger the flash by pushing the test button when I hear the shutter open. That may sound easy, but the problem is the shutter speed needs to be fast enough to keep the snow dark and for the flash to have full effect,the iso needs to be up at anywhere from 1000 to 3200 which increases shutter speed. So I can try to shoot at two seconds at iso 200 so I have time to fire the flash and it is ineffective or raise the iso to 2000 and then get a shutter speed of  an eighth of a second and flash power increases. Have you ever tried to listen for your camera’s shutter to open for a fraction of a second and try to fire a flash in that time? Well I thought I might be good enough to pull that off but after 15 frames and nothing on them,I knew it was a joke to try. The beauty of the wireless remotes and a tablet with wi-fi is you can use fast shutter speeds at high iso and even if you shoot at a 250th of a second,your flash will be synchronized with the shutter firing and you can look at your light positioning and adjust rapidly. I was trying to get the shadows from the deer cast onto the snow and if I used my tablet setup, this may have taken 8 shots to perfect, but instead it took over thirty and included walking to the camera to look at the result every time. Some shadows were out of the frame, some were at a terrible angle,some had lots of flash flare. but this one was spot on. I included this info for others wanting to try these types of images and to explain what I go through to accomplish things.

4 responses to “Santa has Arrived

  1. The first thing I noticed were those great shadows before reading the detailed explanation of the comedy behind your work.

  2. You lost me at “prepared for complicated shooting” ! Appreciate the hard work you go thru to get us these shots. Love the shadows on the snow.

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