Stroboscopic Photography

Further to our experimenting with light, the Wirral Group have also been looking into using strobe flash to create multiple exposures. Setting the camera to ‘manual’ mode – selecting a fairly small aperture ( around f8 ) and an exposure time of between 1 and 2 seconds, the trick is to work out how many flashes we’ll get in that time. Setting the flash to ‘manual’ mode and placing it on a separate stand with wireless slave attached, the power output was reduced to 1/16th of full power and between 3 and 5 hz. The self timer was set so as to allow the subject to get into position. Focussing was done with the lights on and then the autofocus was switched off – this is so that, once in the dark, the camera will not ‘hunt’ back and forth attempting to refocus the subject. We played around with our settings until we settled on an exposure of 2 seconds and a cycle of around 5 -6 flashes each time. Much fun and giggling ensued …