Another flash question

[Spinners]

My EOS-10D has a maximum sync speed of 1/200, so if i am using a 300mm lense, how do i not get blurry pictures..

i thought you would get blur if you werent shooting 1/X (X being lense mm)

[Yance]

It depends on the ambient light. If you are shooting in the pitch dark you can set the shutter speed at 1 second and get tack sharp photos with the flash. Also remember the flash duration is always over 1/1000th of a second so it will always prevent the blur from camera motion.

[scottbergerphoto]

When using flash, the shutter speed and aperture control the exposure of the background. The flash freezes the foreground regardless of aperture and shutter speed. The aperture will affect the distance the flash will travel. But as long as you stay within the flash range for the aperture the flash will nail the foreground. When using slow shutter speeds and flash such as slow sync, you are trying to capture a background and should use a tripod or other support. May I suggest "Mastering Flash Photography" by Susan McCartney.

[hmhm]

If the foreground subject will be primarily lit by the flash, with minimal input from ambient light, then the flash itself will "freeze" the subject, as the flash is a very fast burst of light, much faster than a fast shutter speed.

If a significant portion of the light on the subject is ambient, for instance if you're using fill flash to lighten shadows in daylight, then you may still need a fast shutter speed, in which case high-speed sync (e.g. "FP flash") may be an option.

All that said, the combination of flash and very long telephoto isn't one I've ever had to use much, though there are certainly applications for it (e.g. lightening shadows in wildlife photography).