AmSnaps - Digital Photography Basics For Amateur Snappers

Learn Some Basic Digital Flash Photography Techniques The Easy Way!

Watch the video below and learn some of the basics of digital flash photography. The video introduces camera shutters, Key Shifting and Sync speed.

The shutter in a digital camera adjusts the time during which the image sensor collects the light from the lens. It is made up of two light-blocking curtains that move in tandem across the image sensor with a small gap between them.

The curtains travel at a fixed speed and the width of the gap determines the effective exposure time. This is known as the shutter speed.

Sync speed, also known as xsync, is the shutter speed on your camera that allows the first curtain to fully open before the second curtain begins to follow.

i.e. It’s the fastest shutter speed you can use with a flash. You can find the sync speed for your particular camera in the user manual.

A good tip when using a flash is to set the shutter speed to your camera sync speed or slower. Key Shifting is a term used when you mix ambient light with flash light in a picture.

It’s the name given to the process of using your shutter to show more or less ambient light by either slowing down the shutter or speeding it up.