Vacation Pics - The power of flash

We recently took a trip to Myrtle Beach. I brought some of my equipment with me to try and squeeze in a quick photo of the kids. Well it was quick! I like both natural and flash photography. I have figured out how to use both to my advantage. The advantage is high speed sync. Most on camera flashes do not have this. If you are ever in the market for a new flash I would suggest one that has the capability to do so. This allows the camera to shoot at high aperatures (giving that nice blurred background). With a high aperature during the day or early evening you will run into the case where your shutter speed will need to be higher than 1/250th. If not you will have a photograph that is totally blown out when trying to use flash. Here is where high speed sync plays a role. This enables you to shoot at both a high aperature and high shutter speed while producing short bursts of fill light to lift the shadows. The time of the shoot was around 6pm. The sun was heading down behind the hotel and it was during the golden hour of shooting.

Take a peek at what I mean.

First - Picture with no flash.

Second - Picture with flash and high speed sync.

Third - Finished copy with some tweaking for effect.
F/2.8 - should have gone with about f/4
1/1600