dummy qu: how to balance flash and freeze movement?

Hi,

 

Sorry, I'm sure this is really dumb question but I find very little

is written on this subject in most photo books. I am trying to

photograph mountain biking in a dimly lit area (under trees) and am

having difficulty balancing flash with the available light. If I

set the flash to auto and set the apropriate aparture I get a 'deer

in the headlights' type look and a black background. If I try to

shoot with -1 stop exposure comp on the camera and -1 stop on the

flash I find the picture is under-exposed and motion is not properly

frozen. I am using a Pentx ME super(so no auto flash settings!) and

a vivitar 283.

 

Any hints would be greatfully recieved.

 

Chris

I don't know on your camera what the shortest exposure your shutter can be set for the flash sync.

 

With that said, perhaps this can help you. The amount of light from your flash is controlled with the f stop of your camera.

 

The ambient light is controlled by your shutter and f stop.

 

So meter to the ambient (available) light. Let's say it's f 8 at 1/30 of a second. Then set your camera to those readings. Then set your flash to send out enough light to properly expose your film at f8. This would balance your flash with the ambient light.

 

Experiment. Make several exposures. Vary only 1 of the above. I suggest to start with the shutter. As you shorten (less time) the length of the shutter the background will go darker. As you lengthen (more time) the shutter the background will get brighter. You may want the background more subdued so as your subject your putting with the flash is dominant.

 

The reason the shutter doesn't make any difference (remember my 1st sentence for exception) relative to the flash is because the flash is a short burst of light much quicker than the fastest shuuter speed on your camera.

 

Experiment with this until you get to know it like you talk and this will become old hand for you.

 

Hope this helps you.

thanks for your help. I think my mistake may have been to treat it like fill-in-flash and reduce the flash exposure.