How can I photograph a night portrait with a clean, in-focus cityscape background?

Question

I can expose a night cityscape cleanly at something like ISO 100, f/8, and a long shutter time on a tripod. In the same scene, I’d like to add a person in the foreground while keeping the background image quality just as clean and keeping both subject and background in focus.

I can use a tripod and flash. My concern is that slow-sync flash often seems to use higher ISO or a shorter compromise exposure, which can make the background noisier or leave the person slightly blurred. Is there a good way to light the person while still using the low-ISO long exposure needed for the cityscape?

user67377 · Answer

When shooting in the studio, using 100% flash to light the subject, you quickly learn that your shutter speed is unimportant. Why is it unimportant? Because regardless of whether it's 1/60 or 10 seconds - if the flash doesn't pop, you have only a dark room.

So, how does one control the exposure when the shutter speed doesn't matter? By controlling the power of the flash and the aperture on the lens. More power or wider aperture = more light into the camera = brighter exposure.

Now, take this concept out into your cityscape. Set your exposure for the cityscape as needed. Adjust your flash power until you have a proper exposure of your subject at the same aperture as needed for your cityscape.

Here's a good article on mixing lighting and a good video explaining how to do exactly what you're asking.

How can I photograph a night portrait with a clean, in-focus cityscape background?

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