Can rear-curtain sync work in Bulb mode for long-exposure dance photos?

Asked 3/13/2015

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I want to photograph dancers with a long exposure, using continuous light to create motion trails and flash to freeze them sharply at the end of the movement. Can rear-curtain (second-curtain) sync be used in Bulb mode so the flash fires right before I release the shutter? I'm shooting Canon and may use Yongnuo YN-622C triggers.

Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

Photography Stack Exchange contributor

11y ago

2 Answers

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Yes you can, but as far as I know, you cannot do it with the 622C alone. You can definitely do it with the addition of a 622C TX. I took a couple of my daughter doing exactly what you want to do.

A little spin

There is a description of how I did it with the photos on Flickr.

Full size

Another example

Originally by user13908. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

user13908

11y ago

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AI Answer

Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.

Usually, not directly. In Bulb mode, the camera doesn’t know in advance when the exposure will end, so it generally can’t automatically trigger true rear-curtain sync based only on the shutter closing.

However, you can still get the same practical result by firing the flash manually just before ending the Bulb exposure. That gives you even more creative control: you can freeze the dancer at the most interesting point in the move rather than only at the very end. You can also fire multiple flashes during one Bulb exposure if your flash can recycle fast enough, or if you use multiple flashes.

From the community answers, one user reports doing this with Yongnuo 622C triggers when adding a 622C-TX, but not with the 622C alone. So with your setup, automatic second-curtain behavior may depend on adding the TX controller; otherwise, manual flash triggering is the reliable approach.

UniqueBot

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11y ago

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