bmx photography lighting help

Im wanting to get into bmx photography. I have a t2i with a sigma 10mm fisheye and nothing more. I was trying to shot mid day today with the flash up to get fill light because the sun light was blacking out the riders face and some other details and because i had the flash open the max shutter speed i can hav was 200 and that wasnt fast enough the rider would have a little bit of moton blur to him still. Any tips or ideas on how to use the flash i have or a cheap way i can get lighting but have a higher shutter speed than 200?

shooting with the pop-up flash? That's not going to get much distance. What shutter speed did you get with the pop-up?

200 is the max and since i have the fisheye i dont really need distance because i kinda have to be closer than usual with the 10mm i just want to know if theres anyway to get higher shutter speeds with using a pop up flash or a cheap way i can increase the shutter without buying tons of light equipment

you can't go higher because of sync speeds. You could do high speed sync with a flash that supports it, like the 550ex, 580ex, 580ex II.

Does the onboard flash on the rebel series do HSS?
I thought it did..therefore he should be able to get higher shutter speeds.
The thing is, even if it IS possible to get higher shutter speeds, the output of the flash is GREATLY reduced when using HSS. So it's not really an option.
You options are....
1)use manual mode and try to almost expose properly for the RIDER at 1/200. Then your flash won't have to work too hard to ad a bit of "pop" to the riders face. You will probably blow out the sky though. But it's the best you can do.
2)Get an bigger flash.

For example with this picture without the flash his face was extremely dark and the only way i could have gotten detail in his face was using flash, but it wasnt fast enough to catch him completely

First off, great timing! You've got a good eye for what looks good...
Second, yes, a flash would help it to pop. And a flash helps to "freeze" the action, so the shutter speed you think isn't good enough now might be ok once a decent flash is used.
It's an age-old problem. You expose for the sky to make it look good, but his face, which is dark already, is facing down away from the light. Imagine Wedding photogs having to deal with a white dress, black tux, and the same conditions. Except maybe the grind rail. lol.
A decent flash will also let you "drag" the shutter a bit, which might be a cool effect for a shot like this.
As a super cheap, possible-alternitive, could you have an assistant with a reflector at your spot reflecting just a bit of light back onto his face?
Nice credit too.

Wow TipsyFlipped, that's a great image even if you feel it has some issues .

Ty guys and yea the more i ask around im getting the same advice i might really just consider buying a 430ex ii or 580ex ii now its deciding if ill be fine with just the 430 or if i should invest the extra 200 for the 580 :P thanks though i didnt know having a better flash would allow you to up the shutter speed.

TipsyFlipped wrote in post #12245382
Ty guys and yea the more i ask around im getting the same advice i might really just consider buying a 430ex ii or 580ex ii now its deciding if ill be fine with just the 430 or if i should invest the extra 200 for the 580 :P thanks though i didnt know having a better flash would allow you to up the shutter speed.

It doesn't allow you to up the shutter speed, per se. The shutter will stay open for, say 1/200th or 1/250th of a second, which may in fact be quite less, but in that time your flash will fire and light the scene in a fraction of that time essentially freezing motion (430/580 flashes are really short duration). Depending on the sun and your flash power, you can somewhat remove/lessen the sun from the equation.

Until you get a flash trying going for Spot Metering and pointing at the shaded areas. Your BG is going to be blown, but the shadow areas of the subject will be nicely exposed.

There is a video online by Scott Kelby where he shows how to do pretty much exactly what you're wanting to do (albeit with some pretty expensive gear). Look into getting multiple flash heads (so you can use the power of both and get faster recycle times), a trigger/receiver combo that do HSS (high speed sync), like the Radio Poppers, and something called a Four Square (http://www.lightwaredi​rect.com/).

Not saying that you NEED all this gear, but its what he is using in the video, so it is something to strive toward.

I will try to find the video when I get home and I'll post it in here.

thank you thank you for the advice.

Kechar I never thought about that ill definitely give it a try

Sorry, I was mistaken... it was Dave Black, not Scott Kelby. Check this link out: http://www.daveblackph​otography.com/workshop​/11-2010.htm

If you are able to plan your shot, and aren't just doing this with random people who won't "work" with you to obtain a shot, it might be wise to invest in a reflector. No sync issues when you have the sun as your 1st and 2nd light source!

Also, if you just CANNOT get around a 1/200th sync speed, learn to pan your camera effectively so you create a desireable motion blur. Many times, background motion blur is more desired than subject motion blur, depending on the look you are going for.

Kechar wrote in post #12245440
It doesn't allow you to up the shutter speed, per se. The shutter will stay open for, say 1/200th or 1/250th of a second, which may in fact be quite less, but in that time your flash will fire and light the scene in a fraction of that time essentially freezing motion (430/580 flashes are really short duration). Depending on the sun and your flash power, you can somewhat remove/lessen the sun from the equation.

Until you get a flash trying going for Spot Metering and pointing at the shaded areas. Your BG is going to be blown, but the shadow areas of the subject will be nicely exposed.

Why would his bg be blown? shooting at 1/200 or 1/250 in daylight he can stop down to f/16 to f/22 and just adjust his light manually. In fact, that might even be a little dark for his liking.

Here's what I would do... Set your camera to M and max sync speed (say 1/200). Play with your aperature until you get the look you want. I personally like a slightly darker ambient so I like to stop it down quite a bit. Once you've got the ambient to look the way you like it, add flash and tweak the power/zoom until you get the desired look you're going for. It's that simple really... just remember not to change the camera settings once you've got the ambient the way you like it. If anything, just keep adjusting the power/zoom on your flash. Hope that helps!