When is second curtain/rear curtain used in off shoe lighting?

Specifically, sunset/sunrise in the background with a still subject lit by off shoe flash/strobe. The camera has longer exposure to properly expose the background sky. Is it safer to use second/rear curtain sync in case the subject moves slightly and want to prevent ghosting?

I hope that made sense...or am I just going about this the wrong way? I want to try some sunset shoot today with my daughter

You'll likely never have to use a long enough exposure to worry about ghosting when shooting sunsets because the sky is going to be quite bright compared to the rest of the image. This image was shot well after the sun dipped over the horizon. My shutter speed was still fast enough that I could easily hand hold the camera.

IMAGE LINK: http://s182.photobucke​t.com …ancun/cancun-954.jpg.html

IMAGE LINK: http://s182.photobucke​t.com …kevin/lupton-462.jpg.html

Okay Thank you. I've done plenty of second/rear curtain while the subject was moving and fire off with the flash mounted but wasn't sure if it was required. Love the photos by the way

Aki78 wrote in post #16323921
Specifically, sunset/sunrise in the background with a still subject lit by off shoe flash/strobe. The camera has longer exposure to properly expose the background sky. Is it safer to use second/rear curtain sync in case the subject moves slightly and want to prevent ghosting?

I hope that made sense...or am I just going about this the wrong way? I want to try some sunset shoot today with my daughter

Just a few things I wanted to point out as an FYI:

1) 2nd curtain sync is useful if there is an implied direction to the motion blur such as when photographing a walking or running person. Movement of the subject by itself does not require that 2nd curtain sync be used. Unless there is an implied direction to the motion blur, it really doesn't matter whether 1st curtain sync or 2nd curtain sync is used.

2) Unless you are using a triggering device like the PW FlexTT5 remotes which has the 2nd curtain feature built into it, you will not be able to set the camera to fire an off-camera flash at 2nd curtain even when using an on-camera Canon-dedicated flash as a master.

The Yongnou 622c's also support wireless 2nd curtain sync. One other thing to consider is your shutter speed. If you're shooting at speeds faster than 1/30th of a second, 2nd curtain sync is automatically disabled on the camera.

PacAce wrote in post #16324460
2) Unless you are using a triggering device like the PW FlexTT5 remotes which has the 2nd curtain feature built into it, you will not be able to set the camera to fire an off-camera flash at 2nd curtain even when using an on-camera Canon-dedicated flash as a master.

I didn't realize this! Whoops. I guess my current setup will do

Listen carefully to Leo.
A lot of people seems to think that there will be a difference in the image, even of a stationary subject, if the flash is fired at the beginning, at the end or maybe even in the middle of the exposure.

There isn't.

It's just light that adds up, and when it's added doesn't matter. It will look the same. Now if the subject that's mainly lit by flash moves around, then there's a difference, but only in such a way as that the subject is rendered in the position it was when the flash fired. Nothing else.

By the way, 1/30th of a second is included in the range that disables 2nd curtain sync. So you have to use 1/20 s or longer for it to get activated.