Hand held fairground night-time shots are nothing new for Keith Robins Photography, but now we're trying the same technique with the addition of a flash.
Camera settings for these shots are half a second exposure at f5.6, 100 ISO and my motorcycle battery powered Vivitar 285 HV on 1/16th power. I asked Grace to stand about six feet in front of me with the brightly lit fairground ride another twenty feet beyond and hand-held my Canon 400D.
I've visited the Great Dorset Steam Fair on many occasions over the last thirty years but only ever used flash successfully back in the seventies on slide film.
Now, with digital you'll be thinking that things are a lot easier - not so! When you love pushing the boundaries of flash photography nothing is easy, or is it? I practised with a flash plus a small twisting curl of the camera body in the first image, then used the same settings for the remaining images which gave me time for a flash plus zoom (the second image).

For the third image there was plenty of time to wave the camera in a small semi-circle without a flash.
Although I did have a Manfrotto tripod with me I just had to try this little experiment without it. Besides my tripod was being used by another member of my little group who had accidentally left his at home.
On the third image I managed to carry out all three manoeuvres while the shutter was still on half a second.

This final image shows Grace lit by 1/16th powered flash quickly followed by zooming the lens towards the telephoto end and tilting the camera slightly downward. Okay, so it took a few attempts to get the fourth shot but the final result works for me and to hear Grace's gasp of astonishment when she saw it, that was reward enough.
Next challenge for YeoPhotoGroup members is a gritty urban portrait using both my Elichrom D-Lite 200 studio lights on a single 12 volt battery. Yes, of course I've tried this rather extreme approach - it works fine - he said with fingers crossed. Look up a new post in a week or two to see how we get on with what are basically indoor lights in an outdoor environment.
http://www.keithrobinsphotography.co.uk

Flash and blur in the same shot! I said it was possible, but we did take over an hour to perfect it. Second curtain flash was already agreed long before we arrived on site, although why my Canon remains fixed in the first curtain mode regardless of menu settings does baffle me.
With a gale blowing like a demon we were on top of Hamhill frantically holding onto my Elinchrome D-Lite 200's. The softboxes nearly blew away, the rainclouds threatened but the wet stuff held back just for us.
We got beeped at by grinning motorists and Nicki received a quiet yet complimentary wolfwhistle. Meanwhile the shots mounted up as we struggled with shutter speed and panning techniques until Kelv's preview screen produced this super picture with the elusive blur.
1/20th of a second at f11 on 200 ISO - Fantastic! I've even framed it in my excitement, plus I have added a little escapism for the front wheel.

Now I wanted just that little bit extra umph. Lifting the D-Lite head off the lighting stand, which was tied to a 'No Waiting' sign to prevent the wind whisking it away, I then mounted it on the end of a decorators extending pole . I managed to hold the light with its dished reflector about six feet above Nicki's head and another six feet in front.

At some twelve feet long the unwieldy pole proved quite a handful, even though the flashhead weighs next to nothing it was over ten feet away from my hand and being whipped about by a gusting wind.
After twenty attempts we managed to finally get a natural looking background blur and becoming frustrated with trying the judge speeds and distances with one second shutter speed in second curtain flash mode
We ended this challenging shoot in damp darkness at around 9pm and were glad of our yellow safety vests which kept the traffic at bay.
I am definitely more than happy with these great results and am now busy planning the next challenge which is a flash lit subject, plus movement of some sort of ambient light or available lights in the background. Maybe the Great Dorset Steam Fair will help shed some suitable lighting. Keith (Strobist) Robins